220 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



whether wool was fit for buman beings to wear, and would be 

 glad to see linen supply its place, as well as that of cotton. 



Mr. E. Henry said that the exhaustion of the soil by the culti- 

 vation of flax arises from two things : the fact that everything is 

 removed from the soil in the flax crop ; and the fact that the land 

 is left exposed to the sun at a season when that is an injury. 



Prof. Nash said that flax ceased to be cultivated when cotton 

 became abundant, because it would not pay, and it could not be 

 again introduced without better processes than Avere formerly 

 used. It is superior to cotton for wearing, excepting that in cold 

 weather it will crack, and fail sooner than cotton. 



Rev. Mr. Weaver considered wool a more important article of 

 clothing than flax. He had been ordered by his physician to 

 wear woolen under-clothing, and the effect had been a marked 

 improvement in his health. 



Mr. Lancaster described flax culture in New Hampshire, jind 

 the mode of using it, as it was before cotton took its place. 



Dr. Jarvis suggested that when the system is in an abnormal 

 condition, it may require woolen garments ; and yet, normally, 

 linen may be better, more invigorating, and more conducive to 

 health. Adjourned. 



Janicary 6, 1862. 

 Mr. W. S. Carpenter in the chair. 



THE AMERICAN ELK. 



Mr. Lorenzo Stratton, of Little Valley, Cattaraugus county, N. 

 Y., stated that he had succeeded in domesticating the American 

 elk, and was requested to make a statement of his experience to 

 the meeting. 



About eight years ago, he said, I had an opportunity to pur- 

 chase two horned elks. I did so, as a matter of curiosity, and 

 because I wished to see a few specimens of this forester preserved, 

 as my place is situated in the region where they used to roam in 

 countless numbers. They did well, and bred. I fenced off a few 

 acres for them, and found after a while that I could certainly 

 raise venison cheaper than my neighbors could raise beef. I 

 devoted a large plat of stony, bushy land, unfit for any other 

 purpose, to them. Since then I have succeeded in breeding 

 thirty-seven elk, I have had no accident of any kind amongst 



