Ch. XXVII.] ON FLAX. 521 



until they are quite ripe, when the pods have hecome yellow, and the 

 leaves have withered and begun to drop. The buds are in this country 

 usually removed when the flax is taken out of the ground — consequently, 

 while it is still in a damp state ; by which means the seed is very materially 

 injured, as it is almost impossible to dry it regularly. In Flanders the plants 

 are, on the contrary, always dried like standing- corn, before they are sepa- 

 rated from the seed, and the flax is afterwards retted. 



In Ireland a flax-barn is very commonly used; which was invented some 

 years ago by Mr. Tennant, who was employed by the Linen Board in 

 teaching a new process of bleaching linen, and was suggested for the 

 preservation of the seed. It is constructed on wooden posts roofed on the 

 top, but left perfectly open at each side, and is supplied with various stages 

 or floors, of basket work, placed regularly at tvvo feet distance from each 

 other. Thus tlie air, having free access to the seed on all sides, preserves 

 it fresh and well-coloured for anv length of time*. 



The seed is separated from the stems by a process termed " rippling," 

 which is performed with an instrument formed of a flat board of a moderate 

 size, with iron teeth fixed at the end like a comb. The implement is 

 fastened to any standing block, and the stems are repeatedly drawn by hand 

 through the teeth until they are completely cleared of the grain. The 

 average produce of the whole crop may be about 40 to 50 stone of flax — 

 tiiat pulled young bearing a superior price, as being better adapted to the 

 manufacture of the finer kinds of cloth; and the seed may perhaps vield 

 about 10 bushels per acre. It is generally sorted into parcels of different 

 qualities — the best being reserved for seed, the next for crushing, and 

 the most inferior for the feeding of cattle ; but it is all sold under the 

 name of linseed. 



A very elaborate, and, in many respects, valuable account was some 

 years ago furnished to the growers of flax, by Mr. Durno, the British Con- 

 sul in Prussia, respecting the culture and manufacture of the plant, as 

 practised in the states of Prussia, Poland, and Russia, which may be found 

 in Vol. I. of the "Farmer's Magazine;" and an abstract of the rules of 

 management adopted in Ireland, for the cultivation and dressing of 

 flax, having been transmitted to the Lords of Trade, the paper was sub- 

 mitted by the Linen Board to the surveyors of flax employed by them, 

 whose report upon the subject we insert at footf. 



* Fannei's Maj^., vol. vii. p. 38. 



f 1. A good crop of flax niaj' be expected from any stron<^ clays wliich are fit for the 

 growth of corn. Potatoes generally precede it; but an)^ manured crop, if kept in fine 

 tilth, may be considered as good preparatives. On light lands that have been long in 

 tillage, the crop seldom conies to maturity, or is subject to a blight which renders it 

 scarcely worth manufacturing. 



2. About two bushels of seed to the English acre is a proper quantity, except for 

 the purpose of a very fine manufacture. For this the flax is to be ])ulled in a very 

 green state ; and four bushels to the English acre are in that case necessary. A sure 

 raethod of trying the quality of the seed is by sowing some in a hot-bed. The most ap- 

 proved season for sowing is the first fine weather after the middle of March. 



3. The liest mode of tdlage is in beds of about six feet broad, covering the seed about 

 one inch and a half deep, with what earth may be shovelled from the furrows. These 

 furrows are useful in carrying off under-water, and in giving air to the crop during its 

 growth : but the tops of the ridges should not be laid round, as that would carry off' the 

 summer rains too quickly. 



The crop should stand till the lower part of the stalk gets a yellowish cast, and the 

 nuder leaves begin to wither ; except when the flax is designed for an extraordinary 

 fine manufacture; or when a blight, or " firing," has made its appearance on any part of 

 the crop, in which case, it will be better to pull it in a green state. It 



VOL. II. Y 



