barefoot, as the stalks were
very tender. If the land had a growth of thistles, the weeders could
wear three or four pairs of woollen stockings. The children had to step
facing the wind, so if any plants were trodden down the wind would help
to blow them back into place. When the flax was ripe, in the last of
June or in July, it was pulled up by the roots and laid out carefully to
dry for a day or two, and turned several times in the sun; this work was
called pulling and spreading, and was usually done by men and boys. It
then was "rippled." A coarse wooden or heavy iron wire comb with great
teeth, named a ripple-comb, was fastened on a plank; the stalks of flax
were drawn through it with a quick stroke to break off the seed-bolles
or "bobs," which fell on a sheet spread to catch them; these were saved
for seed for the next crop, or for sale.

Rippling was done in the field. The stalks were then tied in bundles
called beats or bates and stacked. They were tied only at the seed end,
and the base of the stalks was spread out forming a tent-shaped stack,
called a stook. When dry, the stalks were watered to rot the leaves and
softer fibres. Hemp was watered without rippling. This was done
preferably in running water, as the rotting flax poisoned fish. Stakes
were set in the water in the form of a square, called a steep-pool, and
the bates of flax or hemp were piled in solidly, each alternate layer at
right angles with the one beneath it. A cover of boards and heavy stones
was piled on top. In four or five days the bates were taken up and the
rotted leaves removed. A slower process was termed dew-retting; an old
author calls it "a vile and naughty way," but it was the way chiefly
employed in America.

When the flax was cleaned, it was once more dried and tied in bundles.
Then came work for strong men, to break it on the ponderous flax-brake,
to separate the fibres and get out from the centre the hard woody "hexe"
or "bun." Hemp was also broken.

A flax-brake is an implement which is almost impossible to describe. It
was a heavy log of wood about five feet long, either large enough so the
flat top was about three feet from the ground, or set on heavy logs to
bring it to that height. A portion of the top was cut down leaving a
block at each end, and several long slats were set in lengthwise and
held firm at each end with edges up, by being set into the end blocks.
Then a similar set of slats, put in a heavy frame, was made