344 Transactions of the 



FLAX CULTURE A SUCCESS. 



The cultivation of flax for the seed, to be used in the manufacture of 

 linseed oil, has been encouraged for some years past by the Pacific Oil 

 and Lead Works, of San Francisco; and the Salem Oil Mills, of Oregon, 

 have also held out inducements to the farmers of that State to engage in 

 its cultivation there. The mills have been paying from three and a half 

 to four cents a pound for the seed, and at this price the culture has been 

 rendered quite remunerative. We are not aware that any one has yet 

 undertaken to cultivate flax in this State for the lint, but we learn from 

 the Oregon Daily Bulletin that the industry has been undertaken there, 

 and has proved successful. That paper has the following on the subject: 



The Messrs. Williamson Brothers, from Belfast, Ireland, began the 

 culture of flax for the fiber, in Linn County, last year. They sowed one 

 hundred and twenty acres, and found the soil and climate adapted and 

 the harvest remunerative. They realized, of fine lint, on an average, six 

 hundred pounds per acre, worth five hundred dollars per ton. This was 

 sent to Belfast to be manufactured into various linen fabrics. The first 

 grade of tow is sent to the New York market for other purposes, at a 

 paying rate. The second grade of tow has, in part, been sold to the 

 Oregon Furniture Manufacturing Company, for upholstering purposes, 

 at four cents per pound, or eighty dollars per ton. This second grade 

 tow can be utilized for burlaps with proper machinery. Much of it is 

 baled and sent to California to be manufactured. This product increases 

 so rapidly beyond present consumption that it is left on the ground, we 

 are told, like straw, to rot and waste, or to be burned. 



The Messrs. Smith, from North Ireland, raised a large amount of flax 

 in Marion County last year, for shipment to Belfast. Of course the tow 

 must have a nearer market, if sold at all, as the fine lint only bears 

 shipment to Belfast. 



The Messrs. Williamson Brothers have already rented four hundred 

 acres, at fifteen dollars per acre, to bo sown to flax this year. It is easy 

 to see the profits are large. The culture costs about forty dollars per 

 acre; rent, say fifteen dollars per acre. The lint alone, at six hundred 

 pounds per acre, brings one hundred and fifty dollars. Doubtless other 

 expenses consume a part of the profit. 



Would it not be well for California farmers to introduce the culture of 

 flax for the lint, and thus introduce a new and profitable industry, and 

 at the same time raise the material from which their grain bags may be 

 manufactured? There is no doubt but the moist climate of some of our 

 coast counties is remarkably well adapted to flax culture, and we believe 

 that many of our tule or delta islands between or about the mouths of 

 the Sacramento and San Joaquin Kivers, are also good for flax culture. 

 The soil best adapted to flax is a deep loam, that will retain moisture 

 during the season. On such soil, and in the localities indicated, we have 

 no doubt flax culture can be made very profitable. 



