586 REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



stock; pasture; and fifth, flax, or one-half in oats, so, on the return of 

 the rotation, the part that was in oats may be put into flax. 



Jlr. Proctor states that it is the custom in Belgium on good soils to 

 put in flax after clover, tobacco, hemp, or wheat, while on hght soils the 

 crop will be barley or rye, with turnips following them the same year. In 

 Ireland one plowing after wheat is considered sufficient, though two and 

 even three are better. Large crops are also obtained upon peat bogs and 

 clay substratum. Of the soil of Belgium which grows the finest flax, it is 

 said that its fertility has less to do with the successful production of flax- 

 fiber than the careful culture bestowed upon it. In addition to this, it 

 is to " the unstinted supply of manure, of which the quality and mode of 

 action on the soil and plants is a matter of careful and anxious study, to 

 an equally careful attention to the quality of the seed and the properties 

 of the plant, and last, but not least, by carrying out a well considered 

 system of rotation, that the Flemish farmer owes his success in flax- 

 culture." 



In our own country it is desirable to plow in the fall, and again in the 

 s;gring as early as practicable. The soil should then be harrowed and 

 reduced to fine tilth. If the land is at all cloddy it should be rolled. 

 The best manures are phosphates, plaster, ashes, and salt. Three or 

 four bushels of a mixture of equal quantities of the three latter have 

 been used as a specipJ flax-manure. According to Dr. Ure, 30 pounds 

 potash, 28 of common salt, 34 of burnt gypsum, 54 of bone-dust, and 56 

 of sulphate of magnesia will replace the constituents of an average 

 acre of flax. The Belgian farmer prefers liquid manure, "collected 

 mainly from the cow-house, stable, &c., and allowed to ferment in cis- 

 terns built for the purpose ; with this the oil-cake is mixed. The quan- 

 tity of this manure varies from 100 to 300 hectoliters per hectare. As 

 many as a thousand oil-cakes are sometimes applied to an acre." 



In Courtrai, where flax is rarely sown upon the same land oftener than 

 every eighth year, generally following wheat or oats, the land set off for 

 this crop the ensuing year is covered Avith farm-yard manure immediately 

 after harvest ; twenty-five to thirty cart-loads are often applied to the 

 acre. It is spread, plowed in four or five inches deep, and allowed to 

 remain four or five months, when it is h«,rrowed and plowed in again 

 a little deeper, and at the same time trenched with spades. It remains 

 in this condition during winter; it is harrowed in spring and liquid 

 manure applied to the extent of 2,500 gallons per acre. In this country 

 chemical fertilizers are preferable to other forms of manure, as they are 

 free from seeds of noxious j)lauts. 



In the selection of seed the greatest care should be exercised to get 

 that which is i)erfectly clean and free from the germs of weeds. As to 

 the kinds of seed to plant, there are great ditierences of opinion. From 

 experiments made by the Flax Society of Ireland, it was demonstrated 

 that home-gTown flax-seed yielded the best results. The Dutch Associa- 

 tion for promoting the interests of flax industry recommend the White 

 Blossom Dutch seed for American planting. It produces abundance of 

 seed, but a coarse fiber. Where fine fiber is desired, the Blue Blossom 

 Dutch is preferable.* In purchasing seed the heaviest, brightest, and 

 plumpest should always be selected, and that which has not been taken 

 from different crops preferred. 



* In the Keutueky flax and hemp report it is stated that persons desiring to import 

 foreign seed for phiniin'g can order through their commission merchants, or they can 

 get pure Russian seed from the following: Odessa Exchange Committee, Odessa; 

 Bessarabian Horticultural School, Kishiiief; Committee of Riga Exchange, Riga. 

 The Dutch seed can he obtained from the Dutch Aesociatiou above quoted, Rotterdam. 



