I posted about my interest in experimenting with different cultivars of flax to produce a fine linen thread in 2016. I guess it is time for an update! By using a research facility, I was able to obtain seeds for 4 cultivars not commercially available; two from France, one from Belgium, and one from Hungary if I remember correctly. The seed packets were very small, so my first goal was simply to raise each cultivar in isolation from the other and collect the seeds so I would have more to work with. Next season's goals are to replant, record heights and characteristics (with documentation and photos), and to try specific crosses and then save the seeds from those crosses. During the winter, I hope to process the fibers from each group and add observations and measurements of the linen fibers themselves to the documentation. The following season, plant the seeds from the crosses as well as the original 4 cultivars (to act as controls or comparisons) and continue to document and build from there. I don't think it will be particularly difficult to breed longer fibers, because there is quite a bit of natural variation in plant height and those heights are well studied and characteristic of the cultivar. I am actually more interested to see if there is enough variation in the individual fiber diameters of the different cultivars to indicate that breeding a finer fiber is possible. I too would be interested in any evidence that is actually documented regarding the disappearance of the fine thread cultivars. I read the French Revolution theory somewhere, but I think it was just anecdotal. It would be interesting to search the newspapers and records of the time and see if any mention was made of burning the fields and the seed stockpiles.
Elise in Maine - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
