Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 119, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 October 1904 — The flax Plant. [ARTICLE]

The flax Plant.

Linen la obtained from the flax plant, a small, delicate annual with a tiny bine flower. The plant is polled by hand In the summer, the seeds, known la commerce as linseed, being removed —* the straw subjected to various pncesses to separate the fibrous part which constitutes the linen. First It is steeped in water and then passed through a drying and heating process <oa revolving wheels until all foreign matter is removed. It is then ready for manufacture. Flax has been used from remote ages as a textile fabric, especially in Egypt Mammy cloths are often found to be of exceedingly fine texture. The chief linen producing countries of the present day are Ireland, France, Belgium and Germany. The flax fiber is round and irregular, is very durable and is capable of extensive bleaching. Plain linen has a simple weave, with the weft threads alternately Interspersing the warp ones. When woven with a pattern it is usually called damask. As a clothing material linen should not be worn next the skin because it Is a very good conductor of heat Jute and hemp are from plants which are used in manufacturing only very itragh materials In form they resemble very coarse, inferior flax.—American Queen.