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
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