On flax, and the practicability of extending its cultivation in Ireland : together with directions for the proper management of that crop / by Edmund W. Davy.

  • Davy, Edmund William, 1826-
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On flax, and the practicability of extending its cultivation in Ireland : together with directions for the proper management of that crop / by Edmund W. Davy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    and is that which is most recommended to he adopted here, it will he well to describe it a little more in detail. THE KIPFLIXG OF THE FLAX. The Elax, having been prilled in the manner stated, is at once freed from its seed capsules ; this, adopting the first course, is very easily ef- fected by drawing it in small handfuls through a sort of comb termed a ripple, which is a simple instrument, consisting of a row of iron teeth*1 screwed into a block of wood. This, taken to the field where the Elax is being pulled, is fastened to the centre of a plank about nine feet long, supported on two stools. At the opposite ends of this the ripplers may either stand or sit astride, being at such a distance from the comb as to allow of their striking it properly and alternately. The handfuls of Elax being placed diagonally across each other (as already stated, in the pulling), and bound up in bundles or sheaves, these are laid down at the right hand of the rippler, and untied, when he, taking up a handful and grasping it firmly with the one hand about six inches from the roots, and with the other having spread it out at the top so as to present a broad fan-like surface to the ripple, draws it quickly through the comb, and thus detaches the bolls. There is, how- ever, some care and dexterity required in this process, so as not to injure the fibre, and the proper manner of performing it is best learned from those already acquainted with it. After the Elax is thus deprived of its bolls, the rippler lays it down on his left-hand side, placing one handful across the other, after which it is tied up into sheaves, and re- moved. The object of thus crossing the handfuls after rippling in tying up the sheaves is, that they may easily be separated from each other after the process of steeping, and spread out evenly in the subsequent grassing of the Elax. As to the bolls, they should be carefully collected by placing a winnowing sheet or cloth on the ground under the ripple to receive them as they fall off, the seed they contain being, as is well known, very valuable as a food for cattle, as well as for the manufac- ture of oil. If the weather be dry, the bolls should be suffered to remain in the field, spread out on the winnowing cloths or other contrivance for drying, turning them from time to time to assist their drying; they may then be passed through a coarse riddle, and afterwards through fanners, to sepa- rate straws and leaves. If, on the other hand, the weather be moist, the bolls must be dried within doors, by being spread on the floor of a barn or loft where they can be exposed to a current of air, and turned twice a day. * The teeth of the ripple should be made of rod iron, half inch square, placed in the block so as to be three-sixteenths of an inch apart at the bottom and half an inch at the top, the angles of the iron being turned so as to be opposite the ripplers. These teeth should begin to taper to a point three inches from the top, and be about eighteen inches in length, which will give sufficient spring, and save much breaking of the Flax during the rippling process. Such an instrument can be readily made by any lmndy black- smith.