434 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions. 



Again, he saw no reason why seed should not be grown at the same 

 time as the fibre. lie believed the matured librc was better oj)erated 

 upou than the immatured fibre. Mr. Bro'mi had sjioken of the 

 ripj)ling process. That, lie believed, was pretty well exploded ; but 

 he would suggest whether rollers could not be used profitably to take 

 the boll ofi'the stem. He would, however, use jdaiu, not toothed rollers. 



Linseed no doubt was a capital substance for feeding pur2)oses, but 

 he coilld not helj) thinking that it would be bad policy to use it in that 

 way. Linseed contained 30 per cent, of oil, worth from 25Z. to 30/. a 

 tun. Would it not, therefore, be much preferable to squeeze out the 

 oil, and use the cake, than give their cattle an article which they 

 could sell at 30/. a tun '? An equivalent for oil could be given in 

 the shape of hydi'o-carbons and starchy substances, which would have 

 the same eflcct at a less cost. Therefore, he thought they should 

 press their linseed, sell the oil, and use the cake with some substance 

 tliat was as rich in hydro-carbons as the oil which they had expressed 

 from the seed. 



IMr. Frere asked what Mr. Browne tliought might be the feeding 

 vahie of the bolls V 



Mr. BeaIjE Browne rejdied that, so far as liis experience went, the 

 chaff of the fiax-plant was not of much value. He mixed it with straw 

 and hay, but it was of such little value that, even in Ireland, he was 

 using it as common litter for his cattle. 



Professor Wilson : The bolls contain a considerable i>ortion of 

 nitrogenous compounds. 



Mr. Beale Browne : In pulling the flax they got a good deal of 

 dirt with it, and that is one rc^ason why I do not use tlie bolls. 



The President : With reference to the suggestion that the flax 

 should be mown, the objection to that is that three-fourths of the seed 

 would probably be lost. 



Mr. Beale Browne : In noticing the various processes in vogue, 

 I have omitted to touch upon one topic- — the influence of chemical 

 science. Chemistry will probably by-and-by do more for the jiroper 

 manipulation of flax than any machinery, lie had had leading chemists 

 with him at various times carrying out exjwriment upon experiment ; 

 and it was to Dr. Voclcker, and men of science like him, that he 

 looked for the accomplishing of this object rather than to all the 

 machine-makers put together. 



Sir Walter Stirling felt at a loss to conclude, from the observa- 

 tions of the several speakers, whether the growth of flax in England 

 was to be condemned or recommended. It had been shown how- 

 advantageous in many points of view, and amongst them in the 

 feeding of cattle, was the flax-crop ; but the conclusion at which Sir 

 Edward Kerrison had arrived seemed to indicate what he had always 

 heard really constituted the impediment to the cidtivation of flax in 

 this country — namely, that there were neither convenient markets nor 

 mills. It would seem, therefore, to be utterly useless to enter into 

 the consideration of the best mode of steeping or scutching, or any of 

 the other technical modes of treatment that were best known to the 

 manufactm-crs, if the growers of flax could not reach the manufao- 



