Apparently it wasn't just Irish immigrants who grew their own flax in order to produce their own cloth; while on a nostalgic surf through the website of Historic Bethlehem (PA, where I used to live) I found the following snippet: "Linen comes from flax and almost every Pennsylvania German farmer planted a flax patch each spring to produce enough fiber to clothe his family. A labor-intensive crop, flax slowly declined in importance as wool and cotton production increased in the early 1800s." Devon, the reference here is: http://www.historicbethlehem.org/collections/shirt.jsp Must say I didn't realize self-sufficiency went that far that recently in the US!
Another point or two Tamara's discussion raised in my mind--I have heard that the useful fiber in flax runs from the tip of the root to the top of the stalk, so the plants were pulled up rather than cut to be harvested for the finest (and smoothest) results--a much more tedious and dirtier process! Also, since harvesting for fiber meant losing most of the flax seed (which has since become the primary reason for growing flax, being the source of linseed oil) it wouldn't be difficult to lose the entire seed supply of a desireable fiber strain--all it would take would be one over-zealous harvest that failed to leave a few plants to ripen the seed completely. In unsettled or greedy times this seems horribly likely to have happened.... Sue in Raleigh At 01:48 AM 11/19/2004 -0500, Tamara wrote: >But, to come back to the "thread" and the thread... :) The Irish >homestead grows flax for home use (which is then hand spun and woven, >as it would have been whenever the family immigrated). When I last >visited it...the "man of the house" was gearing up for flax harvest. Many >of the flax stalks were about my height (5ft2in; 62 inches, ca 157cm), >some were above my head, some no higher than my waist (all were in a >"cramped environment", as the whole "field" is miniature). Naturally, I >was *extremely interested* in how he was going to deal with that, and, >like all the other curators/interpreters, he responded with relish to >genuine interest... > >He wasn't going to hunt up the longest stalks one by one, the way they >might have been hunted even in his lifetme (late 18th century I think), >but he still wasn't going to wade in with an undiscriminate scythe, >cutting everthing at the same level (as low as possible). He was gonna >take a sickle, and harvest the clumps of longest stalks first - they'd >make the finest fabric - for handkerchiefs, childrens' wear, women's >underwear, etc. Only then he'd take a scythe to the rest. But, even >so, the slightly shaded spot, where the flax was stunted and the stalks >short, would be harvested separately - "only good for sacks", he said. > Susan Lambiris Raleigh, NC [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
