as jyractiscd in Ireland and on the Continent. 415 
a plank, and securely lashed to the body of a cart taken off 
the wheels. When lull, the cart is to be lifted, and the wheels 
put on, and the bolls removed to where they can be dried ; 
or the rippling-comb may be fixed on a frame, if more con- 
venient, and the bolls allowed to fall on the ground or on a 
sheet. In this operation the flax should be handled with care. 
Three or four strokes through the comb will be sufficient. 
Each handful of flax must be held very tight with both hands, 
and slightly opened like a fan. The extreme ends should only 
enter the comb at the first stroke, gradually increasing at each 
succeeding stroke as far as the bolls extend. As rippled, 
children carry it to be tied in beets, which ought to be loose in 
the band and small in size. Rushes make the best band, but 
there is little or no waste in using short flax to tie with. It is 
then ready to cart to the dam. The bolls in the green state 
should be at once removed and spread over lofts, turned fre- 
quently, and when partially dried, taken to a corn-mill and 
finished on the kiln moderately heated. If the crop is very 
uneven in length, it is desirable to make two pullings, keeping 
the long and short separate, and steeping each apart. The dams 
should be made long before they are required, and dug out of 
clay if possible. Moderate-sized dams are recommended in 
preference to large — 9 to 12 feet broad, and 4 feet deep will 
answer, but the dimensions will vary according to the situation ; 
4 feet deep should not, however, be exceeded. Choose a shel- 
tered situation, with an aspect exposed to the sun. Make them 
sound, so as to retain the water, and bear in mind that flax-water 
will leak through what would retain clean Avater. It would be 
difficult to give the capacity of a dam which would contain the 
produce of an acre of green flax, so much depends on the crop ; 
a dam, however, about 50 feet long, 9 feet broad, and 4 feet deep, 
should contain the produce of a statute acre of an average crop. 
If the dams are so situated as to allow the water to be run off, 
fix a pipe in the bottom or side for this purpose ; never use the 
same water a second time to steep flax in. Soft water is by far 
the best ; however, exposure to the atmosphere will considerably 
improve water with some degree of hardness. Water impreg- 
nated with iron, unless in such quantities as to cause iron-rust 
(this is seldom to be dreaded), should not be rejected, if no better 
is to he had. The presence of iron will not make it hard, the 
only effect it has is to discolour the flax to some extent, and of 
course from this cause lessen its value. When a farmer has soil 
that promises to give a good yield, he should not be discouraged 
from sowing flax because he has no other than water with a 
tinge of iron in it to steep in. Bog-holes used as steeping-dams 
are not objectionable, but should be of old formation. What 
