Cultivation of Arable Land. Flax Preparation of Land for Seed. 223 



as arefituatcd rather low, as upon the banks of rivers, are found by cultivators to 

 be well adapted to the growth of flax. It has indeed been contended by fome, that 

 where the foil contains water at no great depth below the furface, it is the moft 

 beneficial for the growth of this crop j as in thofe parts of Holland and the Low- 

 countries where it is grown in the greateft perfection, the ground is always found to 

 be deep, and rather inclined to ftiffnefs and the retention of moifture at fome depth 

 below the furface. The lands for this crop fhould neither be in too rich nor too 

 poor a condition : as when the former is the cafe the flax is apt to grow too 

 luxuriantly, and of courfeto produce a coarfe fort; and on the contrary, where they 

 are in the latter fituation, the plant by growing weakly affords only a fmali 

 produce. 



In the preparation of the land, as it is neceffary that it Ihould be made perfectly 

 fine in the mould, it muft be repeatedly ploughed over, and broken down by 

 harrowing. When the land is to be broken up from the (late of fward, the firft. 

 ploughing mould be given late in the autumn, and be left in that condition till the 

 beginning of the fucceeding year ; when it Ihould be well reduced by harrowing 

 with a pretty heavy harrow, and afterwards, in the courfe of a week or two, 

 ploughed over a fecond time, in which fituation it may be left till the period of 

 putting in the feed, when it ought to be again harrowed over by a lighter harrow, 

 and ploughed with a very light furrow : but where flax is fown after grain or 

 other forts of crops that keep the land in a clean ftate, the firfl: ploughing need not 

 be given until the beginning of the year, in which ftate it may remain till it becomes 

 tolerably dry in the early fpring, when it muft be well broken down by harrowing 

 and rolling, and after it has continued in that fituation for eight or ten days or 

 more, according to circumftances, the land will be ready for the feed, or, if not 

 perfectly fine, another light ploughing and harrowing may be given previous to the 

 putting in of the feed. 



Flax crops are cultivated after moft forts of grain, as wheat, rye, and oats, as well 

 as after different kinds of green crops, as turnips, potatoes, and feveral others, but 

 when put in after the latter the flax in general fucceeds the beft. 



Seed That which is frefti and fufficiently ripened mould conftantly be prefer 

 red ; which is known by its being more bright and mining in its colour, more 

 oily in the feel, and more weighty in the hand. Seed of home produce is fome- 

 times made ufe of for fowing ; but more generally that which is imported from 

 other countries, as Holland, the Baltic, and America ; that brought from the 

 firft is, however, moftly held in the higheft eftimation, from its quality of ripen 

 ing more early than the others, and affording a more abundant produce of that 



