376 



On the Cultivation of Flax. 



handful at their left side, and they are tied up in sheaves, and 

 immediately taken to the steep-pool. 



The bolls are riddled, to separate the long stalks that may be 

 among them, and are put through fanners to blow off the leaves. 

 If the weather be dry, they should be spread on winnow-cloths, 

 in an airy part of the field, and turned twice or thrice a-day. In 

 this way they will soon dry thoroughly, and no more care will be 

 necessary than to stow them away in bags, or heap them on a 

 boarded floor. If the weather be showery, they should be thrown 

 into a heap before the heavy rain and covered with boards, and, 

 when it is again fair, spread out as before. But if the rain be too 

 continued to admit of this, they must be removed to a large loft, 

 where, by opening all the windows and doors, a thorough current 

 of air can be produced. By making them into long narrow heaps, 

 precisely resembling drills, and turning them twice a-day, con- 

 stantly presenting a new surface to the air, they dry slowly and 

 well. When nearly dry, they may be removed to a corn-kiln, and 

 by a gentle heat they will be thoroughly finished, so as to keep 

 any length of time without fermenting. Care must be taken to 

 spread a winnow-cloth on the tiles, as otherwise the cracking of 

 the bolls may allow some seeds to fall through, and, besides the 

 loss, cause a danger, by their ignition, of burning the whole. The 

 heat must not be above 60 or 70 degrees. 



On the second system named above, the flax, when pulled, is 

 set up in long narrow stooks, the tops of the stems resting against 

 each other, in this form /\. The labourer sets them up by taking 

 a portion of flax in each hand, stretching out his leg, and resting 

 the butts of the flax on the ground, making the tops meet above' 

 his knee. Fresh handfuls are reached to him, which he sets up 

 in the same manner, moving slowly backwards, the bolls inter- 

 lacing and assisting to keep the stems upright. He thus forms the 

 stook, retreating step by step, and adding the handfuls of flax in 

 a continuous line, until he has made it 6 or 8 feet long. The 

 seeds, thus exposed to the action of the atmosphere and sun, soon 

 mature, the stems becoming of a golden yellow colour, and all the 

 sap being absorbed. A week or eight days 

 is generally sufficient for this, but the time 

 varies according to the state of the weather. 

 The flax may then be put up in sheaves 

 in the field, in a stack formed by sticking 

 poles into the ground in the shape of a pa- 

 rallelogram, and packing the flax-sheaves, 

 butts and tops alternately, in this frame, 

 to the height of 5 or 6 feet, thatching 

 Bjiiiiii lightly with straw, and placing brambles 



Fig, 2. the bottom to keep the flax from the 



