Lesson 59 Flax

The bast fibers of the flax plant are so important, said Fred, "that teacher gave us a special lesson on the plant and its cultivation. The flax plant grows from two to three feet high, and bears pretty blue flowers at the top of its long slender stalks. When the flower dies off it leaves behind a pod, or seed-vessel, full of little, flat, oval seeds."

It is a curious fact that in warm countries the plants produce excellent seeds, but the bast fibers of the stem are not so good as in plants grown in temperate climates.

In warm countries therefore the flax plant is grown chiefly for its seeds. When pressed, these seeds yield linseed oil, and the oil-cake which is left behind is used for feeding cattle.

In cooler climates the plant is grown mainly for the bast fibers of its inner bark, which is used for making linen. In the north of Ireland, and in Belgium, Holland, and Russia, we may see fields of flax plants growing like corn and other crops. The plant is an annual, and very easily grown. It is sown in the spring, and is ready for gathering in July.

When the plants are fit to gather, their leaves fall off, their stems begin to turn yellow, and the seed-pods to become brown. Men, women, and children are then sent into the fields to uproot the plants by hand. They are all pulled up separately, carefully dried in the sun, and then laid in order, crossing each other, with the root ends pointing one way.

A great deal needs to be done to the flax before it is fit for the manufacturer. First of all, the seed-pods have to be removed from the stalks. This is done by a process called rippling. Men called ripplers sit in front of a coarse, iron comb fixed with its teeth uppermost. This is the ripple. The men draw the stalks one by one through the teeth, and so separate the seed-pods from them.

The next process is known as rotting or retting. The object of it is to separate the bast fibers from the woody part of the stem. To do this the stalks are steeped, root downwards, in a shallow pool for about ten or twelve days.

At the end of that time the fibers become loose, and may be easily removed from the rest of the stem, which has rotted into a soft pulpy sort of matter. The hard, woody parts, which have not rotted, have been made very brittle by the steeping. These are separated from the fibers by a process called breaking and scutching.

The flax, freed from all this useless matter, is tied up in bundles weighing from 16 to 24 lbs. each, and is ready for the workman.

SUMMARY

The flax-plant grows from two to three feet high, and bears pretty blue flowers. Its seeds are the linseed from which we extract oil. Linen is made from the bass fibers of the inner bark of the stem. The plants are pulled up when ripe, and after drying in the sun are rippled to remove the seed-pods. They are then steeped in water to make the soft parts of the stem rot. The scutching process, which follows, is to remove the hard, woody parts, and leave the bast fibers free.