AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 273 



Flax is cultivated in the United States for two purposes, for 

 the fibre for weaving, and for the oil. The States which chiefly 

 grow it are Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 

 Indiana, Missouri, &c. Nearly every State returns, in the cen 

 sus, more or less. Were an easy and cheap mode of prepar 

 ing the fibre introduced, as there is every probability of there 

 being, this crop would become both profitable and popular ; as 

 the supply, both here and in Europe, is inferior to the demand. 

 The oil, the cake, and the seed are exported to Great Britain to 

 some extent The fibre is believed to be principally consumed 

 at home. This is one of the farm products which demand the 

 assistance of the manufacturer along side of the farmer to render 

 it truly valuable ; or the farmer has to relinquish his legitimate 

 business, as a producer of raw material, and prepare the article 

 for market, in its first stages of utility. Machines have lately 

 been invented in Europe which entirely relieve the grower of 

 the plant of the unpleasant labor of steeping, scutching, &amp;lt;fcc. ; 

 and by one of these new processes, the liquor, in which the flax 

 is prepared, is employed, with success, for fattening hogs, and 

 cittle.* (Journal of Highl. and Agricul. Soc y of Scotland, 

 No. 42, 1853. 



In this place, we shall omit any mention of the European mode of 

 cultivating this crop, as being much too laborious and expensive for the 

 United States, and merely give an outline of the usual way of growing 

 it here ; nor shall we describe the steeping, &c., as these after- processes 

 demand a practical skill and experince which cannot be taught by -writ 

 ing. 



607. (a,) The character of fche soil depends upon the pur 

 pose for which the flax is required : if for seed it can scarcely be 

 too rich ; if for fibre, it must not be such as will cause rank 

 growth. The general principles are, to employ clean land, free 



In the Weekly N. Y. Tribune of January 14, 1854, appears an advertisement of 

 &quot; Flax and Hemp Machinery&quot; for pulling flax, and breaking and dressing flax and 

 hemp. It is said to require but few hands and little power to operate it, leaving the 

 Flax and Hemp line in better condition than has been attained by machinery hereto 

 fore in any counti y. 



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