Cultivation and Proper Management of Flax. 183 



A sub-soil of sand, red "till,"* or sharp g^ravel, is about the 

 worst suited to this plant of all that could be named. Upon a 

 sharp " croft,"* 1 have occasionally seen a, r/ood crop, and frequentl?/ 

 a fair crop, especially if it has had a long^ previous 7^est ; but lor 

 the most part it is not a favourable, soil for a full return. 



Run-out bog', having- a kindly gray top, with a good clay 

 well-drained bottom, will produce a good crop, but it should not 

 be too poor. It would be well for it to have passed through two 

 manurings at the least. The older the ground the better, if it has 

 been laid out in good condition ; especially if it has never borne 

 flax before — or at least for a considerable number of years. 



During the spring and summer months the weather in Ireland 

 is for the most part showery, so that the strongest and heaviest 

 clays are seldom left to bake and harden to such a degree that 

 vegetation is thereby destroyed. This, however, is not the case 

 in some of the counties in the South and East of England. There 

 drought frequently injures not only the flax-crop, but all the staple 

 products of the husbandman. In such circumstances it is wisest 

 to avoid all labour in wet weather. The flax-grower should not 

 allow the foot of either man or horse to be set upon his clay- 

 g-round Avhilst it is saturated with rain. He should plough in 

 the autumn, and only once, but with a deep and heavy furrow. 

 The furrow-slices of the stifFest clay will be " mannered " and. 

 mellowed by the influences of winter ; and when the genial spring 

 weather has brought up the soil to the happy medium between 

 the " wet " and the " dry," then without delay let the ground be 

 thoroughly pulverised. A second ploughing is not to be recom- 

 mended ; the gruhher will much more safely and advantageously 

 do the work, driven at right angles and diagonally through the 

 furrow-slices of the previous autumn. On no account must the 

 cool damp bottom be opened up to the parching winds of March, 

 and yet the furrow-slices must not remain unbroken, lest " inter- 

 stices " remain beneath the seed. Upon all such spots drought 

 would at once seize and check the growth of the plant. The two 

 things most desirable in a clay soil, or indeed in any soil, are 

 pulverisation and consolidation. The clay lands of those counties 

 that are most exposed to drought should be extra-rich with 

 manure that is assimilated with the soil. Such ground soon 

 clothes itself with the braird, so as to resist the effects of drought, 

 and even in the dryest seasons is apt to force the crop when well 



* " Croft" land is a light pebbly loam, generally found in an elevated position ; 

 it is sharp, warm ground, that requires much manure, and often has a subsoil of 

 sand to the depth of 3 or 4 feet ; of late years it has answered best for the potato- 

 crop. "Till " is reddish brown earth, having the appearance of sand, but having 

 no sharp or gritty substances in it ; it is soft, dull, und unproductive when raised^ 

 and often forms the impervious " pan " beneath the vegetable mould. 



