2 BULLETIN 1092, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
able years. Selections have been made in England, Canada, and 
Eussia for increased stem length, but they are not yet a factor in 
the industry, because of the limited supply of seed. 
The seed flax grown extensively in the Xorthwest for the produc- 
tion of linseed oil is more widely known in this country than fiber 
flax, which is grown in limited areas. Although there are inter- 
grading forms, these varieties of seed flax are fairly distinct from 
the fiber varieties, and the relation between the two is quite like 
that between 'beef and dairy cattle. The short seed varieties will 
produce fiber under favorable moisture conditions, but they will not 
yield so much nor will it be fiber of so good a quality as the fiber 
strains. Similarly, the tall fiber-flax varieties when grown under 
seed-flax conditions will yield a fair quantity of seed but not so 
many bushels per acre as the seed-flax varieties. 
A brief discussion of the fiber-flax plant and the processes of 
handling it to produce the fiber is introduced here for the better 
understanding of the crop of fiber flax and the type of plant desired. 
The fiber-flax plant, under field conditions, has a single straight 
stem less than one-tenth of an inch thick, which grows 25 to 30 
inches high and then sends out branches, forming the flower panicle. 
(Fig. 1.) Some idea as to the small size of the plant may be 
gathered from the fact that it takes nearly 600 of them to make an 
ounce of fiber. 
Stems of small diameter produce the be^t quality of fiber and also 
the largest quantity per given weight of stalk. Seeding broadcast 
thickly, at the rate of 80 to 120 pounds per acre, tends to induce a 
growth of fine stems. Broadcasting results in stems of uniform size 
which are also desirable for good fiber production. From the heavy 
rate of seeding, about three times that practiced with seed flax, a 
stand is secured which shades out the weeds and in addition shades 
out the side branches on the flax plants, which would produce uneven 
places in the fiber. 
The flax fibers are located in the cortex, and since they form part 
of the fibrovascular system of the plant most of them run nearly 
the full length of the stem. Some terminate in each leaf and many 
in each branch. Those in the branches are of practically no value 
for spinning. The fibers of the main stem are extracted by a series of 
processes: (1) retting, a decay process which loosens the fiber from 
the woody portions of the stem; (2) breaking, which breaks up the 
woody portions into small pieces; and (3) scutching, which removes 
the woody pieces, leaving the prepared fiber. 
The flax stems are retted by either spreading in a meadow or sub- 
merging in a tank of water until bacterial action has proceeded long 
enough to loosen the cortex from the pith without weakening the 
fiber. After drying the stems thoroughly the process of breaking is 
