. The Big Sandy Valley. A history of the people and country from the earliest settlement to the present time. spent many an hour rippling, clean-ing, and even braking and swingling, what we called flax. Of course we had no real flax then in for here and there a small patch which had beenplanted by the men before we women folks came, noneof the land was under cultivation. Did you ever see the wild nettle growing, and noticethe silky fiber that runs through the leaves? If so,you will know where mother got material for weavinginto cloth. Whether it was her own notion, or somefriendl
. The Big Sandy Valley. A history of the people and country from the earliest settlement to the present time. spent many an hour rippling, clean-ing, and even braking and swingling, what we called flax. Of course we had no real flax then in for here and there a small patch which had beenplanted by the men before we women folks came, noneof the land was under cultivation. Did you ever see the wild nettle growing, and noticethe silky fiber that runs through the leaves? If so,you will know where mother got material for weavinginto cloth. Whether it was her own notion, or somefriendly person had told her that this could be done, Iknow not; but it is certain that during five or six daysall of us, including father, gathered wild nettles, pre- 88 HANNAH OF KENTUCKY paring the rind or bark exactly as you would flax, savethat we did little rippling, by which I mean combingout the fibers over nails that are set in a board to makea comb. Instead, we set the leaves in the creek, afterhaving driven stakes around to hold them in place andhaving piled up layer after layer of the green the whole being weighted with saplings and heavyrocks so that it would not float away. When the masshad rotted, we could take it out and easily get rid ofthe decayed portion. After this the fibers were tied in bundles. Then camethe braking, when it was put between two tree trunkswhich had been hewed into little edges to fit one between SPINNING AND SOAP MAKING 89 the other like the cogs of a wheel; the upper trunk wasbrought down heavily upon the lower in such a mannerthat the weedy part of the fiber would be broken andbruised so that it could be swingled with a block andknife, until everything save the silky veins was scrapedor shaved off. Then we made the clean fibers up into bundles, whichwould have been called ^strikes in the case of realflax, and these were swingled again until every tinythread was thoroughly cleaned, after which came thehackling, when the fiber was dampe
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