The mature plant is cut with mowing equipment， similar to hayharvesting， and raked into windrows. When dried sufficiently， acombine then harvests the seeds similar to wheat or oatharvesting. The amount of weeds in the straw affects itsmarketability， and this coupled with market prices determinedwhether the farmer chose to harvest the flax straw. If the flaxwas not harvested， it was typically burnt， since the straw stalk isquite tough and decomposes slowly （i. e. ， not in a single season），and still being somewhat in a windrow from the harvestingprocess， the straw would often clog up tillage and plantingequipment. It was common， in the flax growing regions ofwestern Minnesota， to see the harvested flax straw （square） balestacks start appearing every July， the size of some stacks beingestimated at 10-15 yards wides by50 or more yards long， and astall as a two-story house.
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