378 



Oil the Cultivation of Flax. 



this process, but the time will depend greatly on the temperature 

 of the air and the quantity of rain that falls. Linen made from 

 flax thus wetted requires a shorter time to bleach, as the col@ur 

 is already partly extracted from the fibre. 



The second plan is practised to a very great extent in localities 

 of Belgium and France, through which the river Lys flows. This 

 stream is very sluggish and deep. It rises in the north of France 

 and flows through West Flanders. Such is the celebrity of its 

 water for steeping flax, that the latter is drawn from great dis- 

 tances to its banks, and even brought from Holland and France 

 to be steeped ; and the steeping, which is carried on as a regular 

 trade, affords employment from April to September to great 

 numbers of people. A vast quantity of flax, saved on the drying 

 system described before, is steeped about Courtrai; and hence 

 this method of managing flax is often termed the Courtrai system. 

 The flax is packed in crates, made of round wooden staves, 10 to 

 14 feet long, 8 or 9 wide, and 3 deep. The sheaves are put in 

 perpendicularly, or should be, but latterly, in consequence of the 

 great increase in quantity of flax sent for steeping in the Lys, eco- 

 nomy of space has become an object, and they are pressed tightly 

 in horizontally, although this does not allow so fine and even 

 wetting. The crates thus filled are sunk in the stream, being 

 kept a few inches under the surface by large stones. 



The great repute of this water for steeping flax induced me to 

 have a small quantity of it analysed. I accordingly procured in 

 the month of November a stone bottle full, from the middle of 

 the stream, in a part where much flax is steeped in summer. It 

 was submitted to Professor Hodges for analysis, and the follovv^ing 

 is the result : — 



A gallon contained — 



Inorganic matters . 



. 19-67 



Organic matters 



2-86 





22-53 



matters consisted of 





Chloride of sodium 



1-90 



Sulphate of lime . 



1-22 



Carbonate of hme 



13-58 



Carbonate of magnesia . 



1-27 



Oxide of iron 



1-13 



Siliceous matter . 



0-80 



The steeping of flax in running streams cannot be made gene- 

 rally available in Great Britain, as m.ost of them are too rapid.* 



* In Ireland a clause in the fishery laws prohibits the steeping of flax 

 in rivers or streams, as it renders the water poisonous to fish, vast numbers 

 having been killed in the steeping season. 



