Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/306

 294 FLAX coat, and flat oily cotyledons. There are several other species which have been and are cultivated to an inconsider able extent as sources of fibre, as the Greek or spring flax (L. crqntans), Siberian flax (L. perenne), and the white blossomed or purging flax (L. catharticum), all grown in certain parts of Austria, and the narrow-leaved flax (L. an- ffusti folium), which was utilized at a very reinute period. The cultivation and preparation of flax are the most ancient of all textile industries, very distinct traces of their existence during the stone age being preserved to the present day. &quot; The use of flax,&quot; says Keller (Lake Dwell ings of Sivitzerland, translated by J. E. Lee), &quot; reaches back to the very earliest periods of civilization, and it was most extensively and variously applied in the lake dwell ings even in those of the stone period. But of the mode in which it was planted, steeped, heckled, cleansed, and generally prepared for use, we can form no idea any more than we can of the mode or tools employed by the settlers in its cultivation Rough or unworked flax is found in the lake dwellings made into bundles, or what are technically called heads, and, as much attention was given to this last operation, it was perfectly clean and ready for use.&quot; As to its applications at this early period, Keller remarks &quot; Flax was the material for making lines and nets for fishing and catching wild animals, cords for carry ing the earthenware vessels and other heavy objects; in fact one can hardly imagine how navigation could be carried on, or the lake dwellings themselves be erected, without the use of ropes and cords ; and the erection of memorial stones (menhirs, dolmens) at whichever era, and to what ever people these monuments may belong, would be altogether impracticable without the use of strong ropes.&quot; As to the variety of flax cultivated by the prehistoric races, Dr Heer is of opinion that it was the small-leaved flax (Li 1 1 um august if olium), a plant native of the Mediterranean coasts from Greece and Dalmatia to the Pyrenees. That flax was extensively cultivated and was regarded as of much importance at a very early period in the world s history there is abundant testimony. Especially in ancient Egypt the fibre occupied a most important place, linen having been there not only generally worn by all classes, but it was the only material the priestly order was permitted to wear, while it was most extensively used as wrappings for embalmed bodies and for general purposes. In the Old Testament we are told that Pharaoh arrayed Joseph &quot;in vestures of fine linen&quot; (Gen. xlii. 42), and among the plagues of Egypt that of hail destroyed the flax and barley crops, &quot; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled&quot; (Exod. ix. 31). Further, numerous pictorial re presentations of flax culture and preparation exist to the present day on the walls of tombs and in Egypt. Sir J. G. Wilkinson in his description of ancient Egypt shows clearly the great antiquity of the ordinary processes of preparing flax. &quot; At P&amp;gt;eni Hassan,&quot; he says, &quot; the mode of cultivating the plant, in the same square beds now met with throughout Egypt (much resembling our salt pans), the process of beating the stalks and making them into ropes, and the manufacture of a piece of cloth are distinctly pointed out.&quot; The preparation of the fibre as conducted in Egypt is illustrated by Pliny, who says &quot; The stalks themselves are immersed in water, warmed by the heat of the sun, and are kept down by weights placed upon them, for nothing is lighter than flax. The membrane, or rind, becoming loose is a sign of their being sufficiently macerated. They are then taken out and repeatedly turned over in the sun until perfectly dried, and afterwards beaten by mallets on stone slabs. That which is nearest the rind is called stupa [ tow ], inferior to the inner fibres, and fit only for the wicks of lamps. It is combed out with iron hooks until the rind is all removed. The inner part is of a whiter and finer quality. Men are not ashamed to prepare it &quot; (Pliny, A&quot;. //., xix. 1). For many ages, even down to the early part of the 1 4th century, Egyptian flax occu pied the foremost pla:e in the commercial world, being sent into all regions with which open intercourse was maintained. Among Western nations it was, without any competitor, the most important of all vegetable fibres till towards the close of the 18th century, when, after a brief struggle, cotton took its place as the supreme vegetable fibre of commerce. Flax, as a field crop, having been described under the heading AGPJ:CULTURE (see vol. i. p. 380), it is unnecessary to dwell here on that feature of the subject. When flax is cultivated primarily on account of the fibre, the crop ought to be pulled before the capsules are quite ripe, when they are just beginning to change from a green to a pale brown colour, and when the stalks of the plant have become yellow throughout about two-thirds of their height. The various operations through which the crop passes from this point till flax ready for the market is produced are (1) pulling, (2) rippling, (3) retting, and (4) scutching. Pulling and rippl-iny may be dismissed very briefly. Flax is always pulled up by the root, and under no circumstances is it cut or shorn like cereal crops. The pulling ought to be done in dry clear weather; and care is to be taken in this, as in all the subsequent operations, to keep the root- ends even, and the stalks parallel. At the same time it is desirable to have, as far as possible, stalks of equal length together, all these conditions having considerable influence on the quality and appearance of the finished sample. As a general rule the removal of the &quot;bolls&quot; or capsules by the process of rippling immediately follows the pulling, the operation being performed in the field ; but under some systems of cultivation, as, for example, the Coiirtrai method, alluded to below, the crop is made up into sheaves, dried, and stacked, and is only boiled and retted in the early part of the next ensuing season. The best rippler, or apparatus for rippling, consists of a kind of comb having, set in a wooden frame, iron teeth made of round-rod iron three-sixteenths of an inch asunder at the bottom, and half an inch at the top, and 18 inches long, to allow a sufficient spring, and save much breaking of flax. The points should begin to taper 3 inches from the top. A sheet or other cover being spread on the field, the apparatus is placed in the middle of it, and two ripple rs sitting opposite each other, with the machine between them, work at the same time. It is xinadvisable to ripple the flax so severely as to break or tear the delicate fibres at the upper part of the stem. The two valuable commercial products of the flax plant, the seeds and the stalk, are separated at this point. We have here to do with the latter only. Retting or rotting is an operation of the greatest im portance, and one in connexion with which in recent years numerous experiments have been made, and many projects and processes put forth, with the view of remedying the defects of the primitive system or altogether supplanting it. From the earliest times two leading processes of retting have been practised, termed respectively water-retting and dew-retting; and as no method has yet been introduced which satisfactorily supersedes these operations, they will first be described. Water-retting. For this the process by which flax is generally prepared pure soft water, free from iron and other materials which might colour the fibre, is essential. Any water much impregnated with lime is also specially objectionable. The dams or ponds in which the operation is conducted are of variable size, but should be not more than 4 feet in depth. It is calculated that a dam 50 feet long, 9 feet broad, and 4 feet deep is sufficient to ret the produce of an acre of flax. The rippled stalks are tied in small bundles and packed, roots downwards, in the dams