350 
CULTURE OF FLAX. 
stem. If Used, it should only be on deep, loamy 
soils. Select plump, shining, heavy seed, of the best 
brands, from a respectable merchant. Sift it clear of 
all the seeds of weeds, which will save a great deal 
of after trouble, when the crop is growing. This may 
oe done by fanners, and through a wire sieve, twelve 
bars to the inch. Home-saved seed, grown from 
foreign, has been used in many cases with success. 
It is suggested, that a small portion of the crop may 
be allowed to stand, until the seed be fully ripe, and 
then pulled, and the seed preserved for sowing; but 
the seed saved from it in the following year, should 
only be used for feeding, or sold for the oil-mills. 
The proportion of seed may be stated at three-and-a- 
half imperial bushels to the Irish or Plantation acre ; 
and so on, in proportion, to the Scotch or Cunning 
ham, and the English or Statute measure. It is bet¬ 
ter to sow too thick than too thin ; as, with thick 
sowing, the stem grows tall and straight, with only 
one or two seed capsules at the top, and the fibre is 
found greatly superior in fineness and length, to that 
produced from thin sown flax, which grows coarse, 
and branches out, producing much seed, but a very 
inferior quality of fibre. The ground being pulveriz¬ 
ed and well cleaned, roll and sow. After sowing, 
cover it with a seed-harrow, going twice over it— 
once up and down, and once across, or anglewise ; as 
this makes it 'more equally spread, and avoids the 
small drills made by the teeth of the harrow. Finish 
with the roller, which will leave the seed covered 
about an inch, the proper depth. The ridges should 
be very little raised in the centre, when the ground is 
ready for the seed, otherwise the crop will not ripen 
evenly; and when land is properly drained, there 
should be no ridges. The sowing of clover and 
grass-seeds along with the flax is not advised, when it 
can be conveniently avoided, as these plants always 1 
injure the root-ends of the flax. But carrots may be 
sow T n in suitable soils in drills, so that the person 
pulling the flax may step over the rows, which may 
be afterward hoed and cleaned, and should have some 
liquid manure. A stolen crop of rape or winter 
vetches may be taken after the flax. Rolling the 
ground after sowing, is very advisable, care being 
taken not to roll when the ground is so wet that the 
earth adheres to the roller. 
Weeding. —If care has been paid to cleaning the 
seed and the soil, few weeds will appear ; but if there 
be any, they must be carefully pulled. It is done in 
Belgium by women and children, who, with coarse 
cloths round their knees, creep on all fours. This 
injures the young plant less than walking over it— 
which, if done, should be by persons whose shoes 
are not filled with nails. They should work also 
facing the wind, so that the plants, laid flat by the 
pressure, may be blown up again, or thus be assisted 
to regain their upright position. The tender plant 
pressed one way soon recovers; but if twisted or 
flattened by careless weeders, it seldom rises again. 
Pulling. —The time when flax should be pulled, is 
a point of much nicety to determine. The fibre is in 
the best state before the seed is quite ripe. If pulled 
too soon, although the fibre is fine, the great waste in 
scutching and hackling renders it unprofitable; and, 
if pulled too late, the additional yield does not com¬ 
pensate for the coarseness of the fibre. It may be 
stated, that the best time for pulling is when the seeds 
are beginning to change from a green to a pale brown 
color, and the stalk to become yellow, for about two- 
thirds of its height from the ground. When any of 
the crop is lying, and suffering from wet, it should 
be pulled as soon as possible, and kept by itself. So 
long as the ground is undrained, and imperfectly 
levelled before sowing, the flax will be found of dif¬ 
ferent lengths. In such case, pull each length sepa¬ 
rately, and steep in separate pools, or keep it separate 
in the same pool. If the ground has been thorough- 
drained, and laid out evenly, the flax will be all of the 
same length. It is most essential to take time and 
care to keep the flax even , like a brush , at the root 
ends. This increases the value to the spinner, and 
of course, to the grower, who will be amply repaid 
by an additional price for his extra trouble. Let the 
handfuls of pulled flax be laid across each other dia¬ 
gonally, to be ready for the 
Rippling —Which should be carried on at the 
same time, and in the same field with the pulling. 
If the only advantage to be derived from rippling was 
the comparative ease with which rippled flax is hand¬ 
led, the practice ought always to be adopted. But 
besides this, the seed is a most valuable part of the 
crop, being worth, if sold for the oil-mill, £3 per 
acre; and if used for the feeding stock, of all kinds, £4 
per acre. The apparatus is very simple. The rip¬ 
ple consists of a row of iron teeth screwed into a 
block of wood. This can be procured in Belfast, or 
may be made by any handy blacksmith.* It is to be 
taken to the field where the flax is being pulled, and 
screwed down to the centre of a nine-feet plank, rest¬ 
ing on two stools. The ripplers may either stand or 
sit astride, at opposite ends. They should be at such 
a distance from the comb as to permit their striking it 
properly and alternately. A winnowing sheet must 
be placed under them, to receive the bolls as they are 
rippled off; and then they are ready to receive the 
flax just pulled—the handfuls being placed diagonally, 
and bound up in a sheaf. The sheaf is laid down at 
the right hand of the rippler, and untied. He takes a 
handful with one hand, about six inches from the 
root, and a little nearer the top with the other. He 
spreads the top of the handful like a fan, draws the 
one-half of it through the comb, and the other half 
past the side; and by a half turn of the wrist, the 
same operation is repeated with the rest of the bunch. 
Thus the flax can be rippled without being passed 
more than once through the comb. He then lays the 
handfuls down at his left side, each handful crossing 
the other, when the sheaf should be carefully tied up 
and removed. The object of crossing the handfuls 
so carefully after rippling, when tying up the beets 
for the steep, is that they part freely from each other 
when they are taken to spread out on the grass, and 
not interlock and be put out of their even order, as 
would otherwise be the case. If the weather be dry 
the bolls should be kept in the field, spread on win 
now-cloths, or other contrivance for drying ; and if 
turned from time to time, they will win. Passing the 
bolls first through a coarse riddle, and afterward 
through fanners, to remove straws and leaves, will 
facilitate the drying. If the weather is moist, they 
* The best ripples are made of \ inch square rod! 
of iron, placed with the angles of iron next the ripples 
3-16th of an inch asunder at the bottom, | inch at th« 
top, and 18 inches long, to allow a sufficient spring 
and save much breaking of flax. 
