282 THE FLAX CROP. 



are of no importance, as they can be carried on during 

 the winter as well as at any other period of the year. 

 These processes vary so materially in the principles in- 

 volved, and also in their practical details, that we propose 

 to give them a separate consideration, as although the 

 technical treatment of a crop hardly appertains to agri- 

 culture proper, still the after treatment of flax, so far as 

 its fibre preparation is concerned, is so generally carried 

 out by the grower, that it practically forms an exception 

 to the rule, and becomes a matter of inquiry and informa- 

 tion, as important to him as the mere tillage processes of 

 his crop. The improved processes, however, have given 

 rise to another branch of the flax industry, intermediate 

 between the grower and the consumer the spinner or 

 manufacturer that of its conversion from the straw into 

 the prepared fibre. This division of labour confers a 

 great benefit upon the grower, as supplying a regular 

 market for an article which a well-organized establish- 

 ment can handle and dispose of far more beneficially 

 than he could do at home, with imperfect means, and 

 too often but very imperfect knowledge. 



In commencing the technical treatment of flax, the first 

 operation is that of separating the seeds from the stems. 

 The seeds are then used either directly as food, or they 

 are first submitted to pressure, by which a large portion 

 of the oil they contain is extracted, and the residuum is 

 left in the form of a dry, hard substance, used largely for 

 feeding purposes, and known by the name of " oil-cake/' 

 The stems or straw thus remain for the preparation of 

 the fibre, which constitutes the chief value of the crop. 

 The ordinary method by which the seed-bolls are sepa- 

 rated is that of " rippling/' which is effected by drawing 

 the heads of the sheaves through a stout ripple, or comb, 

 firmly fixed on to the centre of a bench, or rather form, 

 from 8 to 10 feet in length, on which the operators sit 



