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Various methods of ' retting ' are practised in different dis- 

 tricts, one of the oldest and best being that adopted in the 

 Courtrai district of Belgium. 



The dry flax stems are there kept from the time of harvest- 

 ing in one season until the middle of April or later in the 

 following year. They are then tied into bundles and sunk 

 in crates in the River Lys. After remaining under water 

 seven or eight days the bundles are taken out and arranged 

 in small stacks to dry. 



When dry they are sunk a second time for ten or twelve days, 

 and after being removed from the river and dried again, the 

 ' retting ' is complete. 



During this process the middle lamella between the 

 adjoining cells of the tissues forming the stem becomes more 

 or less completely dissolved, and the component cells are 

 loosened from each other. The middle lamella, according 

 to Mangin, consists of calcium pectate, and its solution is 

 brought about by the fermentative activity of two or three 

 kinds of bacteria, most of which are anaerobic or nearly 

 so, carrying on their work best in the presence of a small 

 amount of oxygen only, under conditions which obtain below 

 water. These organisms are most active at a temperature of 

 18° to 20° C. 



After the retting is completed the dried flax stems are sub- 

 jected to the processes of ' breaking ' and ' scutching ' in order 

 to separate the brittle epidermal and woody parts from the more 

 elastic tough fibres. 



Leaves. — The leaves are small, linear-lanceolate in shape, 

 with smooth surfaces, and arranged alternately on the 

 stems. 



Inflorescence and Flowers. — The upper part of the 

 single stems are branched in a corymbose manner, and 

 the flowers are borne on these branches in many-flowered 

 cymes. 



