179 



Potash, - 9.78 



Soda, -. 9.82 



Lime, .12.33 



Magnesia, 7.79 



Oxide of Iron and Alumina, 6.08 



Silica, 21.35 



Sulphuric Acid, 2.G5 



Chlorine, -.. 2.41 



Carbonic Acid, 16.95 



Phosphoric Acid, 10.84 



100.00 



The Flax Improvement Society of Ireland commissioned Sir Robert 

 Kane to make analysis of some of these soils, which had produced the 

 finest crops of flax, and he found that the description of soil best suited 

 to its growth, was a light, clay loam, of which the following is an anal- 

 ysis. (Three samples of soils.) 



No. 1. 2. 3. 



Silica and Silicious sand, .- 73.72 69.41 64.93 



Oxide of Iron, 5.51 5.29 5.64 



Alumina, 6.65 5.70 8.87 



Phosphate of Iron, 0.06 .25 .31 



Corbanate of Lime, 1.09 .53 1.67 



Magnesia and Alkalies, 32 .25 .45 



Organic Matters, 4.86 6.67 9.41 



Water, 7.57 11.48 8.73 



100. 100. 100. '^ 



Flax is cultivated for the purpose of obtaining its fibre, for the man- 

 ufacture of linen thread, ropes, d'c, and also for the excellent oil 

 which is expressed from its seed, and for the nutritious food for cattle 

 which is made from the remains of the seed, after the oil is expressed, 

 which substance is called linseed cake, and is very extensively used in 

 the fattening of cattle by European farmers. In an industrial point of 

 view the flax plant is of the greatest importance to the community. 



Professor Johnston recommends the following special manures, as a 

 means of returning to the soil a compensation for those substances 

 which have been carried away by the seed and stem of flax : 



