Martin wrote:

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 10:50:02 +0000, bigboard

I think you'd better tell me more before I plant any! Was this from
harvesting injuries?

No, more from processing the harvest. I went to a Breton village
summer festival, where the village OAPs were demonstrating, amongst
other bye gone traditional crafts, a fiendish machine that was driven
by a two stroke engine. The operators fed flax into the machine and
flails converted flax to fibres and any finger that went into the
machine to mince meat. There were no guards on the machine, which had
been in use until about 25-30 years ago. There weren't any male OAPs,
who had farmed flax, with a complete set of fingers. The processed
fibres really look like flaxen hair.

I shall be processing by hand, so I hope to retain my fingers. You probably
already know, but on the subject of flaxen hair, the phrase 'tow headed'
also derives from the flax industry. The tow is the shorter, less fine
fibres from the processed flax.

--
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
War is peace.
-- George Orwell