a machine for threshing sheaves of flax in the field. The principal operating parts of the complex ML-2.8P flax thresher used in the USSR are a gripping conveyor which feeds the sheaves to the deseeding chamber; a deseeding device which separates the capsule from the stalks; a grinding device which grinds the capsules and separates the seeds from them; a sifter and winnowing machine with a blower for separating tangled stalks, chaff, and other light foreign matter from the heap; and an exhaust device which draws in this foreign matter and delivers it along a pipe to a bin. The seeds cleaned in the winnowing machine are poured into a sack by a bucket elevator. The productivity of the flax thresher operating as a stationary unit is 2.8 tons per hour (by sheaf weight). The machine is operated by three or four workers.