Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 7, ETM-GOA

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FLA [ 288 ] FLA
What is commonly called under growl}} may be he-
gktled as ufelefs.
Few perfons that have feen pulled flax, are ignorant
of the method of laying it in handfuls acrofs each ‘
ther; which gives the flax fufficient air, and keeps the
handfuls feparate and ready for the rippler.
Of Stacking up Flax during the Winter, and Winning
the Seed. If the flax be more valuable than the fe-ed,
it ought by no means to be {lacked up ; for its own
naturaljuice afiifts it greatly in the watering; whereas,
if kept long unwatered, it lofes that juice, and the
harle adheres fo much to the boon, that it requires
longer time to water, and even the quality of the flax
becomes thereby harfher and coarfer. Befides, the flax
flacked up over year, is in great danger from vermin
and other accidents ; the water in fpring is not fo
foft and warm as in harveft ; and near a year is there¬
by loft; of the ufe of the lint: but if the flax be fo ftiort
and branchy as to appear moft valuable for feed, it
ought, after pulling, to be {looked and dried upon the
field, as is done with corn ; then {lacked up for win¬
ter, rippled in fpring; and after {heeling, the feed
fhonld be well cleaned from bad feeds, &c.
Of Rippling Flax. After pulling, if the flax is to
be regarded more than the feed, it ftiould be allowed
to lie fome hours upon the ground to dry a little, and
fo gain fome firmnefs, to prevent the {kin or harle,
which is the flax, from rubbing off in the rippling; an
operation which, ought by no means to be negledted,
as the bolls, if put into the water along with the flax,
breed vermin there, and otherwife fpoil the water. The
bolls alfo prove very inconvenient in the grafting and
breaking.
In Lincolnftiire and Ireland, they think that rip¬
pling hurts the flax ; and therefore, in place of rip¬
pling, they ftrike the bolls againft a ftone.
The handfuls for rippling ftiould not be great, as
that endangers the lint in the rippling comb.
After rippling, the flax-raifer will perceive, that he
is able to aflbrt each fize and quality of the flax by it-
felf more exadlly than he could before.
Of Watering Flax. A running ftream waftes the
lint, makes it white, and frequently carries it away.
Lochs, by the great quantity and motion of the wa¬
ter, alfo wafte and whiten the flax, though not fo much
as running ftreams. Both rivers and lochs water the
flax quicker than canals.
But all flax ought to be watered in canals, which
ftiould be digged in clay ground if pofiible, as that
foil retains the water bell : but if a firm retentive foil
cannot be got, the bottom or fides of the canal, or
both the bottom and fides, may be lined with clay; or
inttead of lining the fides with clay, which might
fkll down, a ditch may be dug without the canal, and
filled with clay, which will prevent both extraneous
water from entering, and the water within from run¬
ning off.
A canal of 40 feet long, fix broad, and four deep,
will generally water the growth of an acre of flax.
It ought to be filled with frefti foft water from a
river or brook, if pofiible two or three weeks before
the flax is put in, and expofed all that time to the heat
of the fun. The greater way the river or brook has
run, the fofter, and therefore the better,'will the water
be. Springs, or fhort-runs from hills, are too cold,
N° 128. 3
unlefs the water is allowed to {land long in the canal.
Water from coal or iron is very bad for flax.- A little
of the powder of galls thrown into a glafs of water,
will immediately difcover if it comes from minerals of
that kind, by turning it into a dark colour, more or
lefs tinged in proportion to the quantity of vitriol it
contains.
The canal ought not to be under {hade; which, be¬
fides keeping the fun from foftening the water, might
make part of the canal cooler than other parts, and fo
water the flax unequally.
The flax-raifer will obferve, when the water is
brought to a proper heat, that fmall plants will be
rifing quickly in it, numbers of fmall infe&s and rep*
tiles will be generating there, and bubbles of air ri¬
fing on the furface. If no fuch figns appear, the
water muft not be warm enough, or is otherwife unfit
for flax.
Mofs-holes, when neither too deep nor too {hallow',
frequently anfwer well for watering flax, when the wa¬
ter is proper, as before defcribed.
The proper feafon for watering flax is from the end
of July to the end of Auguft.
The advantage of watering flax as foon as poffible
after pulling, has been already mentioned.
The flax being forted after rippling,, as before-men¬
tioned, fliould next be put in beets, never larger than
a man can grafp with both his hands, and tied very
flack with a band of a few {talks. Dried ruflies an¬
fwer exceedingly well for binding flax, as they do not
rot in the water, and may be dried and kept for ufe
again.
The beets fliould be put into the canals flope-ways,
or half Handing upon end, the root-end uppermoft.
Upon the crop-ends, when uppermoft, there frequent¬
ly breeds a deal of vermin, deftrudlive of the flax,
which is effectually prevented by putting the crop-end
down moft .
The whole flax in the canal ought to be carefully
covered from the fun with divots ; the graffy fide of
which ftiould be next the flax, to keep it clean. If it
is not thus covered, the fun will difcolour the flax,
though quite covered with water. If the divots are
not weighty enough to keep the flax entirely under wa¬
ter, a few Hones may be laid above them. But the flax
fliould not be preffed to the bottom.
When the flax is fufiiciently watered, it feels foft to
the gripe, and the harle parts eafily with the boon or
Jhow, which laft is then become brittle, and looks whi-
tifli. When thefe figns are found, the flax fliould be
taken out of the water, beet after beet; each gently
rinfed in the water, to cleanfe it of the naftinefs which
has gathered about it in the canal; and as the lint is
then very tender, and the beet Hackly tied, it muft be
carefully and gently handled.
Great care ought to be taken that no part be over¬
done ; and as the coarfeft waters fooneft, if different
kinds be mixed together, a part will be rotted, when
the reft is not fufficiently watered.
When lint taken out of the canal is not found fuffi¬
ciently watered, it may be laid in a heap for 12, 18,
or 24 hours, which will have an effeft like more water¬
ing ; but this operation is nice, and may prove dange¬
rous in unfliilful hands.
After the flax is taken out of the canal; freflr lint
fliould