=How is flax grown?= Flax requires much hand labor in its care while growing. The women and children in Europe weed it and care for it, on their hands and knees. When it is full grown and the flowers have come and gone, the tiny seed pods grow where the flowers have fallen, just like the seed pods your peonies or poppies grow. Before the seeds are quite ripe, and while the stalks are brownish yellow, the flax is ready to be pulled. It is not cut like wheat with the reaper and gathered into bundles, but must be pulled up by the roots. This is done in clear weather, by hand. The pulled flax is laid on the ground with the roots together and the stalks parallel. The stalks are then bound something like the wheat, and stacked in stooks. You have often seen oats or wheat so stacked. [Illustration: _Courtesy of United States Department of Agriculture._ FIG. 104.--The stooks of flax.] [Illustration: _Courtesy of Speyer School, New York._ FIG. 105.--This little girl is rippling flax by hand at school. Can you see the seeds?] [Illustration: _Courtesy of Woolman & McGowan, Textiles._ FIG. 106.--Flax retting at Courtrai, Belgium.] =What is rippling and retting flax?= The next process is to remove all the seeds without injuring the long fibers. The machine for this looks like a comb made of iron teeth set in a wooden frame. This frame is placed on a cloth so as to collect all the seed as it falls. This is called rippling, and is done in the fields. The seed pods are drawn across the teeth which remove the seeds. Then the flax is bound in bundles for the next process, which is retting. This is really the most important part of all, for it means rotting the outside woody portion of the stem so as to get the flax fiber. This woody portion is of no value. The flax is sometimes retted by dew; just left on the ground at night. You know how wet the grass can be early in the morning. So the dew, rain, air, and sunshine decompose the outside woody bark. This is a very slow process. More often flax is retted in water. The bundles are placed in crates or boxes, and left for about two weeks under water. If you grow some flax, you can ret it also and remove the fiber. Do you know what takes place when the woody part decomposes? It is called fermentation. What have you learned about fermentation? (_See Food and Health._) After retting, the flax is spread to dry in the fields and is then ready for the next process, called breaking. Just think of how many things have been done to the fibers of our linen towels and napkins and dresses, which we use every day. Jane Smith said she never realized before how many hands prepare our clothing and other materials. [Illustration: _Courtesy of Speyer School, New York._ FIG. 107.--Flax breaking done by hand.]