FLAX OR LINSEED 



391 



^. 



in larger or smaller bundles. Some of the larger bundles have 

 from twenty to thirty fibres in each, and are very strong. 



In a full-grown stem each fibre has a very thick cell-wall and 

 small cell-cavity: it is 

 pointed at each end, and 

 varies in length from 4 to 

 66 mm. 



The fibrous bast strands 

 or 'flax' when isolated 

 are a pale yellowish tint 

 in the best kinds of plants, 

 and possess a silky lustre. 



When flax fibre is the 

 object for which the plant 

 is grown the stems are 

 carefully pulled by hand 

 before the seed is ripe, 

 and laid on the ground 

 for about a day, during 

 which time they dry a 

 little. 



The following day the f,g. 123A, 

 stems are tied into small 

 straight sheaves, 4 to 8 

 inches in diameter, and the latter are then set up in stooks 

 to dry more completely. In eight or ten days the plants 

 are 'rippled,' that is, the seed capsules are removed by 

 pulling the stems between the teeth of iron combs. The 

 capsules are afterwards threshed and the seed is either kept 

 for sowing, or, if unripe, utilised by the oil-crusher. After 

 cutting off the roots, the stems are subjected to the process of 

 ' retting ' or rotting, the object of which is to loosen the tissues 

 of the stem so that the bast fibres can be easily freed from 

 the cortex, wood, and other parts of the stem. 





-Transverse section of portion of a Flax 

 stem, ti, epidermis; 6, cortex; c, bast fibres 

 (' flax ') ; ei, wood or xyleni of the stem. 



