The culture of flax had a long manual tradition before being mechanical. The scutching phase completes the separation of the tow and the wood. Until the end of the Middle Ages, flax growers carried out this process with a stone covered with leather - so as not to damage the fiber -, a piece of wood, a hammer, or a stick. They also created treadmills where oxen and horsed crushed the flax fibers. In the 19th century, water mills equipped with blades beat the flax stalks at high speed, and some models were mounted on trailers to go from farm to farm. Today, the Terre de Lin cooperative uses new techniques and innovative machines based on this age-old tradition.