FOR SEPARATING FLAX, 217 
in the field, and afterwards stacked or conveyed to the factory 
or rettory. 
The Courtrai System.—This is the mode in which Flax should be saved 
for steeping on Schenck’s or Watt's patent systems. It requires to be very 
carefully done, as inattention will reduce the value of the straw, and yield 
inferior fibre. The Flax stems should be put together in bunches, about 
one half larger than a man can grasp in one hand, spread a little, and laid 
on the ground in rows after each puller ; the bunches laid with tops and 
roots alternately, which prevents the seed-bolls from sticking to each other 
in lifting. It should be stooked as soon after pulling as possible, and never 
’ allowed to remain overnight unstooked, except in settled weather. The 
stooking should go on at the same time as the pulling, as, if Flax is allowed 
to get rain while on the ground, its colour is injured.—It is then ricked, and 
allowed to stand in the field until the seed is dry enough for stacking.—The 
rick, if properly built, will stand secure for months. It can be stacked at 
leisure, or put in a barn, the seed taken off during the winter, and the Flax 
steeped in the following May; or it may be kept stacked, without receiving 
any injury, for two or three years, or even longer. 
If the capsules or bolls are brittle, or the stems have been 
stacked according to the Courtrai system, the seed is beaten 
out with a small wooden stick shaped like a cricket bat; a 
bundle of Flax is laid on a board, and the bolls are broken 
with the bat and fall on the cloth below; or they are separated 
by thrashing with a stick, the foot being kept on the root end 
of the Flax to prevent its turning about. In some factories 
or rettories, the stems are passed between plain rollers, by 
which means the bolls are crushed, and the seed falls out, as 
mentioned at p. 159. 
“ Breaking is simply crushing the bark and breaking the 
wood-like part of the stalk into fragments, in order to facilitate 
the separation of the fibre ; this is performed in various ways. 
- Tn order to give the boon such a degree of brittleness as to 
make it part readily from the fibre, whereby this process is 
rendered easy, the Flax should be well dried in the sun. 
“ Primitive mode of breaking. —The 
woody part and bark are broken by ; 
twisting a bundle of stalks as it is ee 
passed along between the hands, 
taking care not to ravel or entangle 
the fibre. The fragments of the 
stalk, &c., are then shaken, scutched 
or beaten off by a wooden knife 
eight or ten inches broad. The fibre thus cleared is the un- 
