18(?5.j 
AMF.TU^-AX AOTUC^riFTITRrST 
111 
ts hiiri ied au ay to be l otted as soon as praotinable, before 
It lias been allowed to cure. Tlie bolls, seeil, and 
chaff are all spread out on a floor and dried, and mingled 
with oats or barley, and ground into meal for feed. Tliis 
constitutes the difference between rippling and threshing. 
Both green and dry bolls may be separated from the 
haulm by rippling, but green ones can not be threshed. 
Rotting ok Retting. —After the seed has been sepa¬ 
rated the stiilks are passed into the hands of the 
manufacturer, wliose business it is to prepare the fibre 
for market by rotting and dressing it. If the producer 
desires tt> perform a portion of tliis itibor himself, lie 
should understand what to do and how to do tlie work. 
The stalk straw or haulm of flax consists of two parts, 
the fibre, whicli is the inner bark, and the sliives, which 
is the woody interior portion, and which is tilso frequent¬ 
ly called slioove, sliove, boon and hurl. Tiie fibre ad¬ 
heres firmly to tlie stalk by means of a glutinous sub¬ 
stance, and the object of rotting the stalks is to 
dissolve and decompose tlie mucilage which holds the 
fibre and the woody parts so firmly together , and when 
the flax is properly rotted, the shives will separate from 
the fibre as readily as bark wi., peel from a young willow 
sprout in early summer. There are two ways of rot¬ 
ting flax, preparatory to dressing it. One is called aeri¬ 
al rotting, and tlie other water rotting or steeping. 
Aerial or Dew Rotting—This is accomplished by 
spreading the flax on a smooth grass plot in long 
straiglit swaths, about half an inch thick. A lad goes 
before the man who spreads the flax and divides the 
bundles into handfuls, throwing them down where the 
swath is to be made. Tlie spreader either bends his 
body forward, or squats down with the tops of the stalks 
toward him : and with a quick motion spreads the 
handfuls as fast as they can be thrown to him. 
There are only two things to be observed when spread¬ 
ing flax, which are, to keep the butts even, and to spread 
it of a uniform thickness. Some men spread tlie swaths 
so closely that they touch each other. But 1 alw ays pre¬ 
fer to leave a space of a few inches between the 
swaths to [irevent the tops of one being tangled with anoth¬ 
er. After it has lain a week or ten days, it should all 
be turned upside dovvn, by running a long slim pole, say 
twenty feet long, beneath the swath, near the top ends 
of the flax, and let a man and a boy turn over a section 
of about twenty feet at once. I have always found that 
two hands would perform this part of the work better 
than one man could do it with a .short pole ; because 
every time a portion of a swath is raised, unless some 
one stands on the swath where the separation is to be 
made, it will be more or less tangled. 
The length of time required for rotting will depend en¬ 
tirely on the state of the weatlier. If alternate rains 
and sunshine prevail, two, three, or four weeks will be 
sutfioieut. The length of time that flax has been spread 
must never be relied on as a correct guide for determin¬ 
ing whether or not it is rotted enough. There are cer¬ 
tain rules which all experienced flax growers understand, 
which will enable a beginner to determine correctly, 
wihen it is sufficiently rotted. The most reliable rule is, 
the stalks when dry if bent with the fingers, will snap 
like pieces of glass, and the shives separate freely from 
the fibre. Beginners should watch their flax every day 
and apply this test, lest it be rotted too much, 
which will cause a great waste of good fibre. When 
flax has rotted loo mucli the fibre will separate from the 
shives at the junction of the main stem and branches ; 
and sometimes the fibre of the main stems will separate 
from the shive ; and portions of the stem will be seen in 
the form of an Inilian’s bow, when adjusted for the ar¬ 
row. It needs a little experience to determine the point 
at which flax is sufficiently rotted. 
Steeping or W ater Rotting.—The true way of rot¬ 
ting flax is to steep i' in w ater, because it cannot be well 
done by dew rotting If the weatlier be ever so favor¬ 
able. a good proportion of it will be rotted too much if it 
be kept on the ground until all the stalks are rotted 
enough. But when flax is steeped or water-rotted, there 
is greater uniformity in the process. In case it is kept in 
the water just long enough, it w ill all be rotted alike, and 
it will be done very much better than it can possibly be 
accomplished by dew rotting. Moreover, flax can be 
rotted very much sooner by steeping, than by dew rotting, 
the object being simply to dissolve the mucilage that 
holds the fibre and woody |iarts together, so that they 
will separate readily as soon as the flax has been dried. 
Prepare a pond of water in the same way that a mill 
dam is constructed, with a waste gate in the dam, to let 
the wmter off at pleasure. .A suitable place can be pre¬ 
pared on almost every farm at a trifling expense. The 
bundles are held in an erect po.silion, a few inches from 
the ground, so that the water may pass both beneath and 
above them. For this purpose a platform may be made 
of rails or boards, and fastened down with stones or 
stakes. Then set up the bundles and drive down stakes, 
•nd nail strips of boards from one to the other, over the 
lops of the bundles to keep them from rising out of the 
water which should be a few inches deep over the flax. 
Then shut the waste gate and let the pond fill. Some¬ 
times a orate is made, and launched on a mill pond and 
the bundles secured in it, when it is floated into deep 
water and sunk sufficiently with stones [ilaced on 
the orate. Soft rain water is superior to spring water for 
rotting. While it is in the water a partial fermentation 
commences which must be arrested at the proper time, 
or the fibre will be damaged in proportion to the degree 
of fermentation beyond the proper state. 
When to Remove from the Steep.—As the process 
of fermentation will progress very slowly in cool w eather 
and rapidly in warm, it is impossible to state any definite 
period of lime for keeping it in the water. If the water 
were of the correct temperature, the process of rotting 
would be completed in six or seven days. The cooler 
the water is the longer the flax will be in rottimr. After 
it has been steeping about live days it should be examined 
carefully everyday, for the purpose of ascertaining when 
it is rotted just enough. Pull a few stalks out of differ¬ 
ent bundles in several places and break into pieces a 
few inches long and pull out the sliive.s. If they separ¬ 
ate very freely from the fibre, the water should be let off 
without delay, and the flax spread out on clean grass to 
dry; and as soon as dry enough, it should be bound 
in large bundles and housed. 
Breaking. — The Hand-Rrake, —Fig. S is a cheap hantl- 
brake. The lower part consists of three slats of hard 
wood. 4 feet long, a inches 
"iile, IK inches thick, fas¬ 
tened firmly into the post of 
a building, at one enii, and 
the other emls mortised in- 
t'l a frame. The upper edges 
of each slat should be ciress- 
ed to an edge. Twohladesof 
the same form and size are 
bolted in long mortise.s in 
the post, as shoun, and the 
Ollier ends of the-e slats are 
fixed in a block. Set the two 
upper opposite the spaces be- 
tvxeen the lower slats ; and the 
edges of all, when shut to- 
Fio- —gavel holder, gelher, should be on the same 
level. A wooden pin in the head above the blades serves 
for a handle. The slats in brakes of this form are some¬ 
times made to shut betvseen one another, as a knife blade 
into its handle. This is a w rong construction, because 
when tlie edges of the slats pass by each other, they 
stretch and tear much of the fibre, and break out the 
shives no better. In using such a brake, crush a handful 
of straw between the slats, working the upper part 
up and down, moving the handful along, and turning it 
over, until the shives are well broken from end to end. 
For convenience in holding a handful while breaking it, 
make two slicks, ifig. 9.) about a foot long, and three- 
foiiiths of an inch in diameter, and tie them together, 
about 15 inches apart, with a small coid. The cord ii 
Fig. II.— SCUTCHING BOARD. Fig. 12. SWINQLI. 
passed around the handful of flax, as shown by the dotted 
line, and the tw o sticks are grasped with one hand. By this 
means a man can hold the flax firmly and keep it even, 
which he can not do w ith his hand alone. 
The Horse-Brake .—Figure 10. shows a cheap revolving 
break, w hich is driven by horse, or water-power. It con 
sists of two fluted, or corrugated rollers between which 
the bunches of flax are passed repetitedly. until the stalk.' 
are broken so finely that the shives may be readily separ¬ 
ated by shaking and w ith the scutcher. The rollers are 
about two feet long, and six inches in diameter. The 
lower roller is stationary, and the bearings of the tippet 
one play up and down in slots three inches long. This 
roller i.s held down to the other by iron laals, or strips ol 
band iron, which pass over the gudgeons ami beneath a 
stick, which hoMs a tubful of stones. The weight can 
be increased tit pleasure. A large driving pulley on the 
journal of the lower roller, gives them a velocity of about 
one hunilred revidiilions per minute. The rollers ma> 
be made of cast iron, or of wood covered with iron ridges, 
screwed firmly to its surface. A hamlful of flax is pl.aceil 
on the inclined feeding table, ami a man catches it at 
the rollers bring it through toward him. He then places 
it again on the feeding table, and continues to run it 
through until it is thoroughly broken. A .'ter the flax is 
broken, the loose shives are shaken out, and the remain 
der are scutched out. 
Scutching.— Figtire 12 represents a hand scutcher, oi 
swingling knife. It is of hard wood, 2 feet long, with two 
edges. The hand scutching board is about .2 feet long, and 
one foot wide, with a notch ;is shown in the cut, and fa.'ten- 
eil securely to a heavy block as shown in fig. 11. The 
length of the scutching botird is regulated by the stature ot 
the man who uses it. Ahandfiilof flaxisheld by the op¬ 
erator in one hand in the notch of tlie scutching board, 
when the knife is 
struck on it as if it 
were to be cut off 
on a line with the 
surface of the 
board. The hand¬ 
fuls are turned 
over, and both ends 
are scutcheti until 
the shives are re¬ 
moved. A revolving 
power scutcher is 
shown in fig. 13. 
This consists of a 
wooden shaft, with 
a system of scutch¬ 
ing knives set in it, 
like the spokes of a 
wheel.These knives 
have but one edge ; 
and they must re¬ 
volve as true as a F>g- 13— power 
mill stone. The shaft should make from one hundred 
and fifty to two hundred revolutions per minute ; it may 
be of any desirable length, with scutching knives every 
four feet. The knives revolve close to a scutching board. 
After the bunches have been well scutched, they are 
hatcheleil. The teeth of a fine hatchel are about six 
inches long, one eighth of an inch in diameter at the large 
end, and taper to a sharp point. About 10 of these are 
set about one fourth of an inch apart, in a hard board 
and the fibre is drawn through them until it is sufficieiitli 
lacerated and combed. The handfuls are then twisted a 
little, and packed in a clean box for market. In some 
markets, however, hatcheled fibre will command no 
larger price titan the unhatcheled. because the process 
of hatcheling is the business of the spinner, and requires 
skilled labor to do it prtqterly. An inexperience hatchel- 
erwill waste a large percentage of good fibre. For this 
reason, flax growers should aim simply to remove the 
shives or “ boon,”, and leave the fibre as whole and long 
as possible, and let the spinner perform the hatcheling, 
unless dealers make a great difference in the pr’ae 
tween the hatcheled and unhatcheled fibre, 
