244: 



As flax, wlien young, is a very tender plant, and is more easily checked 

 in its progress by weeds than any other that is usually cultivated in the 

 field, it is therefore indispensably necessary that this danger should be well 

 guarded against, in order to save future trouble and expense. It is con- 

 tended by some that the drill mode of sowing is the better, where the seed 

 is the principal object of the grower, as less is required to be sown, and 

 better opportunities are afforded for weeding ; the distances of the rows 

 or drills should, however, vary according to the circumstances of the soil 

 and the manner by which the crops are to be kept clean. For hand hoe- 

 ing, ten or twelve inches would be sufficient, but for the horse hoe a 

 wider space, of eighteen or twenty inches, would be required. When 

 thickly sown, flax runs up in height, and produces fine soft fibres ; Avhen 

 thinly sown, it spreads, and by the increase of branches produces more 

 seed, and is not so liable to be beaten down by the weather, as the stems 

 are stronger. When sown broadcast, the crops are rarely afterwards 

 attended to, though it is very useful, and, indeed, necessary, when the 

 plants have attained a height of two and a half to four inches, (which will 

 be in about a month,) that they should be at least once carefully weeded. 

 The custom of growing grass seeds along with the flax is little advan- 

 tageous for either crop, but, on the contrary, is very likely to injure 

 both. 



Opinions are divided as to the best time for pulling the flax, where the 

 fibre is the principal object. Some think it should be pulled while green, 

 in order that the fibres may be softer and finer; others with the same 

 view, pull it up before the seeds are quite formed ; others again, not till 

 the seed pods begin to open; — certain it is that if pulled too soon the 

 fibres are soft and tender, and go too much into tow, and, if left till quite 

 ripe, they are always stiff and harsh, do not so easily separate from the 

 boon, neither do they bleach well ; consequently it seems the most rea- 

 sonable to pull it in a medium state, which is indicated by the stalks begin- 

 ning to change from a green to a yellow, when the leaves begin to fall, 

 and when the seeds begin to be of a brownish color. 



It may be as well to observe, that when the stems are short and with 

 many branches, it will be better to make the seed the principal object of 

 the crop, and in that ease to let it ripen before pulling. This period of 

 maturity may be known by the points of the seed pods turning hard and 

 sharp, and the capsulus beginning to crack ; it usually takes place towards 

 the end of July or the beginning of August. 



