Milford chronicle., 1929-07-26
DELAWARE ONCE FLAX
GROWING, COTTON AND
SHEEP RAISING STATE
Newspaper Story On Commercial
Flax Crop On Eastern Shore Re-
calls Interesting Old Sussex COun-
ty Days TO Judge David L.
Marvel

Calls interesting Old Sussex COun
ty Days To Judge David L
Marvel
Delaware a fiax-raising, cottoI
raising, sheep shearing state? Be
your life, until about sixty-five o.
seventy years ago. Why, the latt
Thomas F. Bayard, first Ambassador
to the Court of st. James, used tt
exhibit at his home in Wilmington
and elsewhere, table and bed liner
from Delaware grown fax and fin
ished in Delaware. Judge David T
Marvel remembers all about that be-
cause it was the judge who pro
Cured the same at Mr.. Bayard's re.
quest from farm in lower Sussex
county where the fax was grown
and the linen made up. 1t all came
back to him when he read in the
newspapers during the past week
that the first recent successful croI
of fax for commercial purpose had
been harvested on the Eastern
Shore and on the farms of Mrs,
John ]. Raskob at Centreville, Md.
81 believe" said Judge Marvel to
a reporter for The Star, that flax
can be grown on the Eastern Shore
in quality and size equal to any in
the United States. One of the rea-
sons for this is that much of the
character of land to be found on the
Eastern Shore is neither too high
nor too low but just right to grow
fax.
"Up to about sixty-five years ago
every substantial farmer in lower
Sussex county, especially those who
owned slaves, had a field of flax.
AS there were no machines to cut
or pull the flax it was pulled by hand
and tied into bundles and placed in
shocks like wheat or oats. When
the fax was cured it was hauled to
the barn.
"As there were no threshers to
get the seed, the fax was beaten out
in cradles about feet in diameter
so that the seed would fall through.
The grading of the flax was mostly
done on rainy days when no work
could be done outdoors. The flax
was then either dewretted or water
retted. The first method was at
tanned by laying thin layers of the
flax in a grass field, leaving it ex-
posed to sun and dews over GER
tain length of time; then turning
the layers so that the other side
would be similarly exposed.
"If the method chosen should be
Water-retted, the flax was taken to
a pond and soaked under water for
a certain length of time, then taken
out, spread over the grass and dried.
After this was done it was ready
for the break. There were men who
went around through the country to
break the fax and scutch it and 1t
was then hacked. Breaking was
done to break the woody fibre, then
it was scutched to get the fibre and
then hacked to take out what was
left of the fibre and to straighten
the fax out so it was ready for the |
spinner.
There were women who would |
90 around to do spinning and either
did it for the family at home or
took it to their home to finish.
Many of the families did their own
spinning. Some of the farmers had
what they called a loom building
usually building at the edge OF the
yard, close to the house. In it they
kept their loom and their warplng
frame. Here the warping and weav-
ing were done. From the spun lax,
linen was made for clothing, table
cloths, both plain and hgured'
sheets, pillow cases, towels, etc.
The water-retted fax made much
whiter linen than the retted by the
lew method.
Ambassador Bayard at one time
lad table cloths, napkins, sheets,
.tc.. made up on a farm in Sussex
county so that he could tell his
friends they were made from flax
,rown, spun and finished in Della
ware.
''Most of the same class of farm
rs as referred to above also had
,atches of cotton, which was picked
md ginned. Then, when the patch-
IS were small, it was carded at :
lome by the family and, when 1t was
arge. the cotton was taken to the
arding machine mill and carded,
yhen it was ready for spinning.
When the cotton was spun it was
nostlv used fer a warp, the filling {
,efne either fax thread or wool. '
1hese same farmers generally had
mite a flock of sheep and when the
,ool was spun into yarn, 1t was d
sed TO make what was called fus-
ian. the wool being dyed either
rown or blue to make brown or q
Inc fustian. In cold weather at p
,ast two-thirds of the people were d
ressed in fustian and women USED
a great deal for their dresses. In
10 summer the same proportion OF .
oonle wore homemade linen.
There was only one bank in Sus- s.
~ county. in those days, and that D.
&c of Georgetown, and its rule -
os not +o discount notes except on Y
nesdavs when the members OF the d.
ord IF directors were there. Thls q
do tuesday the big day OF the
ee1I &c many of the men OF the Pl
chest financial standing were "
e. large proportion of these
en- kept up the old Nyle Oh areSs- n n
q One could look around t1e -
,blic square and count possibly y"
Nv men. dressed in black suiCs' -
tor w chesterfield coats, wearing te
IL bo+s and stock collars. some Il
"A u ,.o+';,,, the means for the dress
= L" noat would come in with their b'
up, up No h1ne fustian, silk hat ana
wv wv oI1ors He said he could well m
-.l'I.. Don ono old man coming IN, III
nnei nraa1 =, fustian cut in old contln-
tai dress @ suit style, with SILK SIX nat at 6 dT
en- StWih with load Of Wood woo. oaTts which "a
1I 'nid "seI sell for about fifty cents G,