278 THE FLAX CROP. 



or bundles, care being taken that the band shall be 

 placed just under the seed-heads of the plant, and the 

 bottoms or butts left unconfined and open. If the crop 

 has been irregular in its growth, and the stems are of un- 

 equal lengths, it is desirable, as far as it can be managed, 

 to pull them in different bundles, according to their 

 lengths, as both in steeping and scutching much fibre is 

 otherwise lost. It is also desirable in binding them, that 

 the butts should be gently pressed on the ground, in order 

 to regulate the lengths of the different stems. After the 

 sheaves, or " bundles," as they are termed, are bound, 

 they are arranged in small stooks, usually of four, five, or 

 six each, placed in a circle, the butts being well spread out, 

 so as to admit the air freely to their centres the weather, 

 and the condition of the crop when pulled, of course, 

 regulating the period they have to remain on the field. 



The trouble and expense of hand-pulling flax are 

 always obstacles in the way of its introduction, or at all 

 events of its being grown a second time in a new district; 

 In the United States, where the consumption of linen is 

 even greater than with us, and where consequently the 

 flax industry is really of more importance to them, and 

 where labour is far less plentiful and more costly than 

 with us, these obstacles have greatly retarded its sys- 

 tematic cultivation, and led to the construction of a 

 machine for effecting the same work in a more expedi- 

 tious and economical manner. The following description 

 of the machine, taken from the report of her Majesty's 

 Commissioners to the New York Industrial Exhibition, 1 

 will give a tolerably good idea of its construction, and 

 show our own machine-makers how readily the American 

 mechanic applies his powers to meet the requirements 

 of industry, whether it be in the finer operations of the 

 factory or the mere crude labour of the field: 



1 Special Report by Professor John Wilson, F.R.S.E., &c., p. 114. 



