Some Minor Farm Crops. 135 
Fibre Separation. 
The valuable part of the straw — the fibre — is situated 
almost on the outside of the stem, where it forms a series of 
irregular groups or bundles which are held in position by 
a gummy or resinous material called pectose. Before the 
harvested straw can be utilised by the spinner in the cus- 
tomary way, these bundles of long fibres have to be isolated, 
and up to the present time this is effected most satisfactorily 
by allowing the stems to damp-rot — a process which is known 
as retting. 
From the earliest times to the present this process of 
retting has been conducted either by submerging the stems 
in water or by allowing alternate dew, sunshine and rain to 
carry forward the decomposition of the pectose, which holds 
the fibres in position, until they can be readily detached from 
the woody part of the stem. These operations, known 
respectively as water-retting or steeping, and dew-retting , 
are still the most usual and most satisfactory means to adopt, 
and, as carried out to-day, present little departure from the 
methods adopted in mediaeval times, except in the matter of 
certain refinements. 
It has been mentioned already that about the year 1860 a 
number of central retteries were established in this country, 
some of which continued in operation until 1896. Although 
large quantities of straw were dealt with at these depots, the 
custom remained in England of the farmer separating the 
fibre for himself by retting in pools or in pits containing 
water, or by dew-retting. At the present time water-retting 
is only rarely met with in Great Britain, although the disused 
retting pits which are frequently to be seen in Yorkshire and 
the eastern and south-western counties seem to indicate the 
prevalence of this method in former years. When the 
operation is undertaken it is conducted substantially on the 
lines adopted universally in Ireland and in certain other parts 
of Europe. 
Retting pits are usually some 4 ft. deep and measure about 
15 ft. by 6 ft., but they may vary in size considerably. They are 
not infrequently lined with “ puddled ” clay and filled with 
rain water. Into this the bundles of dry de-seeded flax straw 
are packed closely together and a light covering of straw or 
green foliage is placed upon the top, and upon this a few boards 
and some loose stones are arranged so as to keep the whole 
mass uniformly submerged during the whole retting period. 
Retting is generally carried out in August and the time 
occupied by the steeping is from ten to twelve days, but this 
depends upon the prevailing temperature, so that it is necessary 
to examine the submerged straw frequently. When the 
