flax+d

The following terms as given under the authority of the Ministry of Supply, are reprinted here with their permission. Flax Plants - of the species Linum usitatissimum cultivated for the production of seed or fibre or both. Flax, Fibre (Fibre Flax) - The variety of flax cultivated mainly for fibre production. Flax, fibre strands, or bundles - The aggregates, about 32 in number, of ultimate fibres which run from the level of the seed leaves up to the top of the branches of the flax straw. They are each composed of large numbers of ultimate fibres overlapping each other. Flax Fibres, Ultimate - The component cellulose fibres, about 1¹/₄-in. long by 1/1000-in. wide, making up the fibre system of the flax straw. Flax, Linseed - The variety of flax cultivated mainly for seed production. Flax Seed - The term usually applied to the seed of fibre flax. A bag of flax seed in Ireland is sometimes 3¹/₂ bushels, but it is more usual now to put up seed in 1-cwt. bags as in England. A peck of flax seed weighs approximately 14-lb. Flax Seed, Blue Blossom - Seed of a blue-flowered variety of flax. Flax Seed, Commercial - Flax seed usually named after its country or place of origin, but without a pedigree and without guarantee as to colour of flower. Flax Seed Germination - That percentage by number of a sample of seed which shows visible signs of growth within a stated time when kept under standard conditions of temperature and moisture. Flax Seed Germination, Standard - An arbitrary standard of germination of 90 per cent or more, incorporated in the flax growers' contract of the Ministry of Supply. Flax Seed, Lital - The generic name given to pedigree flax seed of several strains bred by the Linen Industry Research Association, Lambeg, and derived from those initials. Flax Seed, Minty - Seed which has been attacked by species of mites, usually owing to it being cracked and too damp. It is characterised by a dusty appearance and a distinct musty sweet smell. Flax Seed, Mixed Blue Blossom - A term used in Northern Ireland for seed from two or more blue-blossomed pedigree flaxes mixed together. Flax Seed, Pedigree - Seed of a strain of flax which has been improved by some recognised system of flax breeding and originally derived from the bulking of the seed from a single flax plant. Flax Seed, Plimmed - A local term for seed which has swollen through excess of moisture. Flax Seed Purity - That percentage by weight of seed taken from bulk which consists of whole flax seeds. Flax Seed Purity, Standard - An arbitrary standard of purity of 96 per cent or more with a weed seed content of 0.25 per cent or less, incorporated in the flax growers' contract of the Ministry of Supply. Flax Seed, Sowing - Seed of a germination and, purity making it acceptable for sowing. Flax Seed, Stormont - The generic name given to pedigree flax seed produced by the Plant Breeding Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland. Flax Seed, Weight per 1,000 - The weight in grams of 1,000 flax seeds picked at random from a sample. It is used as a measure of the plumpness and general quality of seed. Flax Seed, White Blossom - Seed of a white-flowered variety of flax. Flax Variety, Cross breeding - A method of flax breeding, based on fertilising the seed of a single plant of one strain by the pollen of a single plant of another strain and the study of the progeny. Flax Variety, Single Plant Selection - A method of flax breeding based on the study of a single self-fertilised flax plant and its progeny in subsequent generations. Linseed - The seed of linseed flax: and also of fibre flax when it is used for the same purposes as linseed. Moisture Content - To conform with the International ruling for seed testing the moisture content of flax seed should be expressed as a percentage of the original weight; the moisture content of other flax products being expressed as a percentage of the dry weight. Nomersan - A proprietary powder for dusting on flax seed as a prevention of certain seed-bome fungal diseases. Pickle - The term often applied to a single flax seed, i.e., a sample of seed is said to he of a large pickle or a small pickle. Weed Seed - The seed of any other species of plant present in a sample of flax seed.

كَتّان \ flax: a plant that has blue flowers and oily seeds, whose stem is used for making cloth (linen). linen: cloth made from flax, esp. in Ireland.

Flax, Broken - Scutched flax which is less than 20-in. long and therefore unfit for hackling in the spinning mill. Flax, C.D. and T. - Graders' marks which denote the type of scutched flax: c (chaine) to represent warps, D (demi) to represent medium warps, and T (trame) to represent wefts. Flax, Green, or Natural - Scutched flax produced from de-seeded straw without any intermediate treatment such as retting. Flax, Line - The hackled flax produced by a hackling machine or hand hackling. A term sometimes erroneously applied to scutched flax. Flax, Retted - Scutched flax produced from straw which has been retted. Usually divided into three main classes, namely, water retted flax, dew retted flax, and chemically retted flax. Flax, Scutched - The product from the delivery end of a scutching machine or from scutching flax straw on a wheel. It consists of the long fibre strands in a parallel condition and substantially free from wood and other extraneous material. The yield of scutched flax is commonly expressed as stones (14-lb.) per acre, but in Ireland it is sometimes expressed as stones per peck of seed sown. The average yield per acre of scutched flax has varied according to year from about 20 stones per acre to 40 stones per acre, with occasional exceptional yields of 80 and 90 stones per acre. Grader, Flax - The man who places the scutched flaxes in their appropriate grades of quality by eye judgment and feel. Grades, Flax - Tank retted flaxes are graded from A through the alphabet in ascending order of value. Dam retted flaxes are graded from 1-7 in descending order of value. Dew retted flaxes are graded 0-6 in descending order of value. Grades, Tow - Green tow is graded 1-8 and then 9a, 9b, Z, Z₂, and beater tow in descending order of value. Tank retted tow is graded I, II, III, 1, 2, 3, 3X, 3XXX, in descending order, whilst dam and dew retted tows are I, II, II, 1, 2, 3. Pluckings - The short, clean fibre produced at the end of the scutching machine where the operatives dress and square the pieces of flax ready for selection. In grading pluckings are classed as tow (q.v.). Root Ends, Straw - The broken-off roots which fall from the straw under the breaking rollers. Rug, Scutching - All the detritus which falls below the two compartments of the scutching machine after the shives have been shaken out of it, or the waste made when producing scutched flax on a wheel. It consists of partly scutched short straws, broken straws, weeds, and beater tow. It is classed as root end rug or top end rug, according to which end of the flax it comes from. Selection - The preliminary sorting of the scutched flax into main grades at the delivery end of the scutching machine. Shives - The short pieces of woody waste beaten from the straw during scutching. Tow - Any substantially clean but tossed and tangled flax fibre of less than scutched flax length. Tow Baling - The operation of making-up tow into bales. Tow, Beater - Short, fine, clean fibres which fall from the last third of the compartments during scutching. Tow, Inferior low grade (Green) - Green tow of a grade lower than 9a. Tow, Inferior low grade (Retted) - Retted tow of a grade lower than 3XXX. Tow, Machine, or Cast - Tow produced by the hackling machine. Tow, Rejected - Tow unsuitable for spinning on flax tow machinery. Tow, Rescutched - Two scutched on tow handles or a tow scutching machine. Tow, Rolled - The product from passing scutching rug through tow rollers and highspeed shaker. Tow, Rolled and Beaten - The product from passing scutching rug through tow rollers and beaters, and a high-speed shaker. The principal flax markets of the world are at Courtrai, Bruges, Ghent, Lokeren and Zele in Belgium; Rotterdam in Holland; Riga in Latvia; Leningrad, Pernau and Witebek in Russia; Douai and Flines in France; Newry, Rathfriland, Strabane, Ballymoney, Lisnaskea, Ballybay and Armagh in Ireland. Courtrai flax is the finest produced. It is uniform in fibre, strong, clean and of a good colour. Yarns up to 200's lea are spun from it. Irish flax comes next in spinning qualities from 90's to 120's lea are produced. As a warp yarn it is much preferred as the strength is greater than other types. Flemish flax is dark in colour, dryer than others, strong, and can be spun up to 120's lea. Dutch flax is clean, good colour and spins into yams up to 90's lea. Russian flax is coarser than the above types and is usually spun up to about 70's lea.

Bart - See sheigh, etc. Beet - A bundle or sheaf of tied flax crop or straw. Boll, Flax in - The growing flax when the seed capsules have formed. Braird (n. or v.) - Flax in the seedling stage. To germinate in the field. Butt (v.) - To level the root ends of straw at any stage by vibrating it upright on a flat surface either by hand or mechanically. Crop, Flax - Flax at any stage before it is processed. A fair average flax crop would be 2 tons per acre of air dried crop, yielding 10 per cent of clean seed and 10 per cent of scutched flax. But it should be remembered that the actual long fibre content of the straw averages 20 per cent. D.N.O.C. - A proprietary spraying mixture used as a weedicide on flax. Drill, Flax - A sowing machine made primarily for sowing flax in narrow rows at an appropriate rate. Fiddle - A sowing box with a hand-worked distributor for sowing flax and other seeds broadcast. Frandy - See Sheigh, etc. Gait - A large handful of loose, pulled flax stood up on end in a cone form to dry. See also Retting. Grades - Under the Ministry of Supply home flax scheme, flax crop is graded 1, 1X, 2, 2X, 3, 3X, or for seed and tow only in descending order of quality. Lodge - A lodged crop is one bent or laid flat by the weather. Pulling - The operation of harvesting flax by pulling it from the ground. It may be hand pulled or machine pulled. Pulling Machine - Any type of harvesting machine which pulls flax by mechanical means and delivers it either loose or tied in beets (q.v.). Sheigh, Frandy, Bart, Windrow - Local names for forms of compound stocks where a number of beets are built up and usually roughly thatched as an intermediate stage between stooking and stacking. Shock, or Stook - To set up a number (usually six a side) of beets in inverted ??? form to dry. Stook - See Shock or Stook. Weeds - The chief weeds in flax and their local names are: Charlock, Carlick or Preshaugh (Brassica Sinapis); Wild Radish, White Charlock, or White Carlick (Raphanus Raphanistrum); Poppy or Redweed (Papaver Rhoeas); Knotweed, Knotgrass, or Crabgrass (Poly-gonum aviculare); Good King Henry or Fathen (Chenopodium sp.); Persicaria or Redshank ( Polygonum Persicaria); Bine or Bindweed (Convolvulus sp. or Polygonum Convolvulus.) Windrow - See sheigh, etc.

Bale Blades, Tapered - A turbine scutching machine in which the scutching blades are tapered in width in the first third of each compartment in contradistinction to the usual parallel sided blades. Blades, Tapered and Coned - A turbine scutching machine in which the blades are tapered and at the same time the first third of each scutching rotor is coned. Bunch - The aggregate of pieces which is tied up with two or more ties preparatory to baling. Conditioning - The operation of adding moisture to or abstracting moisture from straw to put it in the optimum condition for scutching. Decortication - The term sometimes applied to the scutching of unretted straw in contradistinction to retted straw. Handles - See Scutching Wheel or Handles. Piece - The small handful which is the unit of scutched flax. Scutching - The mechanical operation of separating the fibre from the woody part of the de-seeded or retted flax straw. Scutching, Automatic - See Scutching, machine or turbine or automatic. Scutching, Hand - The operation of scutching as carried out on a Belgian or Irish scutching wheel. Scutching, Machine, or Turbine, or Automatic - The operation of scutching flax entirely mechanically. Scutching Machine, Monoblade - Similar in principle to a turbine machine, but each compartment has a single steel blade on one shaft in place of multiple blades on two shafts. Scutching Machine, Turbine - A scutching outfit consisting generally of (a) prebreaking rollers to crimp the centre of the straw (b) a set of fluted breaking rollers to crimp the ends of the straw (c) a conveyor to hold the straw during processing; (d) a root end compartment where intersecting steel blades scutch the root end and middle of the flax; (e) a top end compartment where similar blades scutch the middle and top end of the flax; (f) a delivery bar where the scutched flax is piled up for removal. Scutching Wheel, or Handles - The machine on which hand scutching is done. It consists of an upright wooden or metal stock in a notch of which the broken flax straw is held and is there operated on by a number of wooden blades mounted equidistantly on a central shaft. Scutching Wheel, Belgian - A scutch wheel which usually has 12 light blades of walnut. Scutching Wheel Irish - A scutch wheel which usually has 6 blades, much heavier than those in the Belgian wheel. Strick (v.) - To divide straw from the breakers into suitable pieces and to level the ends before hand scutching.

Aspirator Boll Crushers - A pair of rollers used for crushing the bolls and releasing the seed, when the bolls have been removed by combing. Bough - The seed branches of the flax plant. Cavings - The reject arising from the bottom riddle of a roughing-out machine and consisting mostly of bough, bits of broken straw and some root ends. Conabings - The term usually applied to the short straw rejected by a de-seeding machine. De-seeding - The operation of removing the seed bolls or capsules from the flax crop. De-seeding Machine - A machine fitted with a comb or combs and a conveyor system for combing off the bolls mechanically or with rollers for crushing the bolls and thus releasing the seed. The latter machine is known as a Dutch roll. Ripples, or Ripple Comb - A large iron comb used for de-seeding flax crop by hand. Roughing-out Machine - A machine for roughly separating the seed from the chaff, short straw, weeds and other extraneous material produced during de-seeding. Screenings - Broken flax seed or flat flax seed unsuitable for sowing, but suitable for selling for stock feed. Seed Cleaner, or Dresser - A machine for finally cleaning the seed to the required purity for sowing. Straw, De-seeded - Flax crop from which the seed capsules have been removed. Usually about 70 per cent of the crop weight. Straw, Tow - Flax straw in a tossed and broken condition. The term is sometimes applied to the short straws combed out by a de-seeding machine, but usually to the straw resulting from the threshing a flax crop too poor for normal processing.

Wet spinning produces the finest flax yarns. Normally, flax fibres contain glutinous matter that holds the fibres together in groups. To overcome this difficulty the roving is passed through a trough on the spinning frame containing hot water (180 deg. F.). This process softens the gum and allows the fibres to be drawn apart over each other, thus producing finer and more even yams. Dry Flax Spinning - Usually flax is only spun dry when it is desired to produce strong coarse yarns, or bulky tow yarn for weft or uses where unevenness is not considered a detriment.

The operation of passing flax straw either endways or sideways through a series of fluted rollers to crimp or break the woody part of the straw preparatory to scutching. Rollers, Annsborough - A special form of pre-breaker consisting of 4-6 pairs of fluted rollers through which straw is fed diagonally to break the centre portion prior to entry to a turbine scutcher. Rollers, Crimper - A special form of roller designed to put a very fine crimp into the straw and to break up the woody part into very small pieces. Rollers, Dodd-Gillespie - A special form of breaker consisting of 36 or more pairs of graduated fluted rollers designed to give an intense breaking of the woody part of the straw prior to scutching on a Monoblade machine, or in preparation for hackling without scutching. Rolling - See Breaking or rolling.

The New Zealand flax.

Dryer, Brattice or Conveyor - A drying machine in which the wet straw is spread on a travelling brattice and passes through the requisite drying chambers or tunnel. Dryer, Conveyor - See Dryer, Brattice or Conveyor. Dryer, Direct Heat - A drying machine in which the heat is supplied by flue gases from the combination of flax waste or other products. Dryer, Steam Heat - A drying machine in which the heat is supplied by means of steam coils or radiators. Dryer, Tray - A drying machine in which the straw is spread on trays which are inserted into the drying sections of the machine. Drying, Artificial - The wet retted straw is dried under cover, usually in a drying machine or chamber by the application of heat or air or both. Drying, Field - The wet retted straw is dried in the open, usually by standing up large handfuls on their root ends in cone forms, or gaits (q.v.). Laminating, or Pressing - The operation of passing wet retted straw through steel or other pressure rollers to squeeze out a proportion of the water or gummy fluids. Pressing - See Laminating or Pressing.

Same as New Zealand Flax.

Ret, Aerated - A type of ret where compressed air is forced into the bottom of the tank to maintain the retting liquor at or near the neutral point as regards acidity. Ret, Aerobic - A type of bacterial ret where the predominant bacteria are aerobic, i.e., work only in the presence of oxygen. Ret, Anaerobic - Any type of bacterial retting where the predominant bacteria are anaerobic, i.e., work in the absence of oxygen. This is the usual condition. Ret, Belgian - A term applied to a tank ret where warm water is sprayed into the bottom of the tank at intervals. Ret, Channel - A ret in which crates of flax are regularly introduced at one end of a water channel and removed at the other end. Ret, Chemical - The straw is subjected to chemical solutions to induce loosening of the fibre from the wood. Ret, Dam - Water retting by immersing the crop or de-seeded straw in dams cut in the earth and filled with water at natural temperature. Ret, Dew - The straw is spread on the ground in the open, in a thin layer and retting is effected by the action of fungi in the presence of rain, dew and sunlight. Ret, Double - The straw is subjected to two independent rets with intermediate drying. Ret, Duplex - A form of tank retting in which one tankful of straw undergoing the second half of its ret is in circulation with another tankful undergoing the first half of its ret. Ret, Interrupted - Essentially a two-stage warm water tank ret, the retting liquor being replaced by fresh water when the ret is about one-half to two-thirds complete. Ret, Pond - Water retting by immersing the crop or de-seeded straw in natural ponds. Ret, River - The straw is immersed in rivers, but usually after being packed in crates. Ret, Rossi - A type of aerated or aerobic retting in which a pure culture of bacteria is introduced. Ret, Tank- - The straw is packed into concrete or other tanks and the temperature of the water and its renewal during the ret is controlled. Ret, Water - The total immersion of the straw in water to induce retting by bacterial action. Retting - The subjection of crop or deseeded straw to chemical or biological treatment to make the fibre strands more easily separable from the woody part of the stem.

Same as Saxony wheel. ———————— This spinning wheel was the next improvement after the Jersey wheel and was run by foot-power and enabled the spinner to twist, draw, and wind without stopping the wheel. The distaff was fixed in the framework, around the spindle was a horseshoe arrangement called a " flyer " which twisted the thread, on the flyer were hooks for spreading the thread evenly on the spindle. The thread was stronger than that spun on the Jersey wheel, and was used for warp, the softer thread of the Jersey wheel being used as weft. These wheels were used from the 14th to the 18th centuries and all yarns for fabric were made in this way.

The bast fibres that resemble flax are: - Hemp, Gambo-hemp and Yercum fibre.

See Chamaerops fibre.

This is based upon the number of teas of 300 yards each that weigh 1-lb. Thus 50's lea means that 50 leas of 300 yards each weigh 1-lb. The linen reel is usually 90-in. in circumference. 1 thread = 2¹/₂ yards. 120 threads = 300 yards = 1 lea. 10 leas = 1 hank. 20 hanks - 1 bundle.

A machine used in the industry to remove the inferior root and top ends, leaving the superior middle of 14-in. to 18-in. in length.

A figured fabric, made with linen warp and linen weft. Both the figuring and the ground are in the satin weave. If the figure is warp satin, the ground is weft satin, and vice versa. The cloth is finished to give a lustrous appearance to the ornament, while the ground appears dull. This effect is reversed by a different incidence of light on the fabric.