however, to exceed 68 to 70 degrees F. all the year round. Why 

 should not large glass structures similar to those enormous winter 

 vegetable forcing houses, now so common in the United States, be 

 constructed with suitable tanks and drying racks? Then flax and 

 other fiber retting could be carried on winter and summer and the 

 scutch mill be kept in active operation to its fullest capacity all 

 the year? Some such arrangement will be necessary to satisfy 

 our American progressive and high pressure ideas. In Europe, the 

 scutching mill plant is laid off for several months while all hands 

 are employed in bunching, tieing and retting the flax. When that 

 is accomplished all hands are started at the scutching mill, thus 

 allowing a large portion of the invested capital to lie unproduc- 

 tive for months, seems to the ordinary American investor to say 

 the least, a very unbusinesslike proceeding and calls for American- 

 izing by enlarging the retting facilities and keeping the scutch 

 mill in operation without intermission. Thus by letting the tiers 

 tie and the bunchers bunch, and the scutchers scutch and retters 

 ret, a division of labor would be effected that would vastly increase 

 the skill and dexterity of the individual operatives and largely in- 

 crease the financial return. 



In water retting whichever process is adopted, the flax in 

 pool retting must be visited every day for the first three or four 

 days to see that the flux has not risen out of the water, and if any 

 signs of its coming to the surface are observed more weight 

 must be added. When the fermentation has well advanced the 

 flax will sink and settle down. It must then be examined fre- 

 quently. 



Just here comes a radical difference in practice, in the two 

 great flax growing localities. The Irish leave the straw in the 

 water until retted sufficiently and then take it out and spread it 

 very thinly on the grass to dry and bleach. This is called "grass- 

 ing." While the Belgian takes it from the water before the ret- 

 ting is completed and stands the bunches in the field to dry, packs 

 it in the crate and again submerges ti for a few days or more until 

 completely retted. Sometimes it is even taken out and dried and 

 submerged a third time. In view of those diametrically opposed 

 svstems retters, each claimed by experience, to be the best and 

 both producing good results. THE WIDE AWAKE AMERI- 

 CAN with the habit of cutting corners, is fairly justified in striking 

 a new trail. However, the double retting has been so fully demon- 

 strated as far superior to the single ret that I strongly recommend 

 it in all cases. See Mr. Barbour's report hereto appended. In this 

 matter of double retting it will be instructive to consider the fun- 

 damental principle upon which it is based. Retting has for its 

 object the removal by fermentation, of the pectose and gummy 

 matter which binds the flax fiber together. This fermentation 

 first renders the pectones soluble and afterwards dissolves it away. 

 Now in the single retting the fermentation, after rendering the 

 nectose soluble, continues operating on the flax at the expense of 

 the quality of the fiber, while the pectose is being dissolved, and 

 before completion of its removal. On the other hand in the double 

 retting the fermentation is only allowed to proceed far enough to 



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