PROJECTED REVIVAL OF THE FLAX INDUSTRY 607 



of climate or soil conditions that in some of these cases it is 

 difficult to regard the differences observed in the habit of the 

 plant as being due to conditions other than those of growth or 

 environment. The more important varieties which are grown 

 for fibre are : 



1. Linum usitatissimum vulgare blue flower. 



„ „ ,, album . . . white ,, 



„ „ regale blue „ 



2. „ americanum album . . . ... white „ 



3. ,, hyemale romanum ..... blue ,, 



Some of these forms are undoubtedly better suited to 

 certain soils than are others ; for instance, on the heavier land 

 of Friesland the coarser-growing white flowering flax (L. usit. 

 var. album) is exclusively grown, whereas on the adjacent new 

 " Polder " land the blue flax (L. usit. vulgare) is found to be 

 more successful ; but in other regions, where white flowering 

 flax was formerly grown it has been found more profitable 

 now to grow the blue flowering variety. It is noteworthy 

 that Riga white flowering flax is less liable to disease and gives 

 a heavier return of fibre than Riga blue flowering flax, although 

 its quality, more especially in fineness, is not equal to that of 

 the latter. 



Although in all other European countries emphasis is laid 



upon the necessity of frequently changing flax seed, the country 



from which the best flax seed is obtained — Russia — knows no 



such necessity. In Russia, it is generally accepted that the best 



seed for fibre production comes from the Baltic provinces and 



the province of Pskoff and Vologda ; when occasion arises 



Russian growers obtain seed from these districts for their own 



use. The best fibre and the best flax seed are exported from 



the provinces mentioned and the crops are almost invariably 



grown from seed of the previous harvest, seed change not 



being an agricultural consideration. In many cases the farmers 



have had their seed in the family more than twenty years and 



although at the present day the yields of fibre are smaller than 



formerly, there is no such deterioration as is said to take place 



in Holland and Belgium after growing from the same seed 



successively during only four or five years. Generally speaking, 



Russian seed undoubtedly gives a more uniform and more 



healthy crop than any other, notwithstanding the fact that, 



owing to increased railway facilities, the time has now passed 



39 



