CROPS. 539 



5. WHITE MUSTARD. The white mustard is sometimes cul 

 tivated both for the medicinal qualities of its seed and the oil 

 expressed from it, which, though useful for many purposes, is 

 not suitable for human food. The great objection to the culti 

 vation of this class of plants is. that it fills the ground with 

 seed which germinates in succeeding years, and is with difficulty 

 eradicated. It is sometimes subject to mildew or rust. It ripens 

 in about fifteen or sixteen weeks. It is liable to be lodged; but 

 this does not ordinarily injure the seed. The plant is eaten as a 

 salad ; and it is given to cattle as a change of food, when their 

 appetites become capricious, and require to be quickened. 



6. FLAX. Flax is a great crop in many of the northern 

 countries of Europe. It has been largely cultivated in Flanders. 

 both for its fibre and oil. It has been for a long period an im 

 portant article of commerce, and probably in no country has its 

 culture been carried to such perfection. The value of the crop, 

 and the extraordinary difference in the value of different quali 

 ties, amounting in some cases to full one hundred per cent., show 

 the attention it demands, arid how liberally it recompenses extra 

 ordinary care. 



Flax will grow on various soils, but is not indifferent to the 

 character of the soil on which it is cultivated. It requires a rich, 

 sandy loam, and one thoroughly manured. It is advisable, how 

 ever, with the exceptions to which I shall refer, that the soil 

 should be enriched by previous manuring, rather than in the 

 year of its being sown. The Flemish farmers make flax a 

 crop in their regular rotation, occurring once in seven or eight 

 years ; and the manuring of their previous crops has reference 

 to the flax crop, which is to succeed. 



There are generally stated to be two kinds of flax. The 

 difference does not appear so great, however, but that they may 

 occasionally run into each other. There is a kind which runs 

 upon a single stalk, which is generally preferred, on account of 

 its producing a finer fibre ; there is another, of a coarser kind, 

 which branches out at the top, like a tree. They make a dis 

 tinction in Flanders, likewise, between the plants which bear a 

 close, and those which produce an open or gaping capsule or 

 seed-vessel, the latter being preferred. Experiments have been 

 made in Germany with seed brought from South Italy. The 



