324 FOREST CULTURE AND 
Ligustrum Japonicum, Thunberg. — The Japati 
Privet. A shrub, evergreen, or nearly so, promising 
to become a valuable hedge-plant. It grows, like the 
ordinary European Privet, readily from cuttings. 
Linum usitatissimum, L.*—The Flax plant. Ori- 
ent. A well-known annual, which yields the fiber 
for linen and the linseed oil. Flax - culture is doubt- 
less destined to become an important industry among 
us. Few plants find a wider congeniality of soil and 
climate, and few give a quicker return. Good and 
deep soil, well drained, is requisite for successful flax- 
culture. Change of seed- grain is desirable. Thick 
sowing extends the length of the fiber. To obtain 
the best fiber, the plant must be pulled when the 
seeds commence to ripen. If the seeds are allowed 
in part to mature, then both fiber and seed may be* 
turned to account. If the seed is left to ripen com- 
pletely, then the fiber is generally discarded. The 
seed yields by pressure about 22 per cent. of oil. The 
residue can either be prepared as linseed - meal, or be 
utilized as admixture to stable-fodder. The demand 
for both fiber and oil is enormous. The value of our 
imports of raw fiber, in 1871, was already £15,634, 
while the import of oil was £22,469. The principal 
varieties are under culture; a tall sort, with smaller 
flowers, closed capsules and dark seeds ; a dwarf sort, 
more branched (even if closely sown), with larger 
flowers and capsules, the seed - vessels opening spon- 
taneously and with elasticity, while the seeds are of 
a pale color. None of the perennial species of Linum 
are so manageable in culture as the ordinary annual 
flax. 
Lippia citriodora, Kunth. — Peru, Chile, La Plata 
