m BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXVII. 



HEUIP, 



although applied to nearly the same purposes as flax, and requiring much 

 the same sort of soil, is yet a plant of different appearance and greater 



It will be worth attending to in the pulling, to take all the ripest and strnne;est grown 

 flax first ; and leaving it in small hanilfuls across each other, (but with the ends con- 

 taining the seed to the south,) to proceed to pull that of inferior growth. By this means 

 the crop receives a sorting, in the first instance, which will be conducive to the perfec- 

 tion of the manufacture in every future part of the process. The weeds must also be 

 carefully taken out, and the dirt shaken from the roots. 



4. Immediately afier pulling, the flax may be steeped. Unless the seed is to be 

 preserved ; in which case it is to be rippled, to take off the seed-pods. Turf bog-water, 

 which is not muddy, is found to answer very well for the purpose; but foul, stagnate, 

 ■water gives a stain to the flax, which can never be bleached out. Ton pure a spring, or 

 sharp running water, limestone waters, or those impregnated with minerals, are equally 

 injurious. The best water is that of a reservoir dug in clay, or the sides of which are 

 lined with clay. Such a pit, if four feet deep — which it should not exceed — six feet 

 broad, and forty feet long, will contain the produce of an English acre. The water 

 should stand in this reservoir about a fortnight before the flax is ptit iu ; which must be 

 evenly stored, in sheaves loosely tied, that the band may not prevent the effects of the 

 water on that part. 



The root-ends should stand highest, and the whole must be perfectly immersed, and 

 kept down by bundles of straw, or hurdles ; as all that is above ground will be stained. 

 The time which it is to lie in the steep depends on the softness of the water, and the state 

 of the weather. In good water, and warm weather, four days produce the effect, which, 

 in other circumstances, does not happen under twenty ; but it is safest to examine the 

 flax on the fourth day. After steepmg, it should be spread even and thin, on fine gi-ass 

 ground; for this purpose, close cut after-grass is much recommended, and if it grows, 

 the flax must be constantly turned over. 



It is not easy to ascertain the time the crop should lie in this bleaching state ; which 

 is intended to produce an even separation of the rind from the case of the stalk. It may 

 be observed, however, that a good exposure to the sun renders less fire necessary to 

 prepare the flax for a future process ; if it be not sufficiently dried on the ground, (which 

 is seldom the case in Ireland,) it is then put over hurdles, and dried with a gentle fire, 

 till it is fit for beethng, skutching, and the other operations of the flax-dresser. 



On these observations, the following are the remarks of the surveyors. 



1st. As to the soil proper fur Jiax, and the preparation proper for the crop. — We have 

 found from experience that an open, black, loamy soil, enriched by having lain long iu 

 pasture, is preferable to a clay soil, or to any other with which we are acijuainted ; and 

 that, either on the first or second crop after pasture, which we have always found better 

 than after potatoes, turnips, or beans. 



2ndly. With regard to the best mode of proving the goodness of the seed, — We agree with 

 the writer of the paper, that the best method of trying the. quality of the seed is by 

 sowing some in a hot-bed ; but it should be observed that it is by no means to be depended 

 on, and therefore should be regarded with caution, for even bad seed if not altogether 

 spoiled will vegetate, and make a promising appearance in the bed. 



Srdly. As to the utility of laying the land in six feet beds. — We are of opinion that the 

 mode here recommended may be of great utility in wet cloggy ground, for drainingit 

 and bringing it into tillage ; but we cannot approve of it for land on which flax is to 

 be raised in general; because the mode of laying out laud in ridges of twelve to eighteen 

 feet wide is more economical, and better calcidated for crops of every kind, as the fre- 

 quency of the drains occasioned by narrow ridges must deprive the ground of too much 

 of its proper moisture. 



As to the covering of the seed. — We would recommend brush harrowing, followed by a 

 complete rolling, in preference to the mode suggesttd in the paper. 



4thly. Respecting the sleeping of the fl'ix. — We have some difficulty in assenting to 

 the rule here laid down, "that the root-ends should stand the highest;" for this rea- 

 son: that the crop ends of the flax, being composed of the smallest fibres, require more 

 watering than the other ends; and it is well known, that as the water is warmest and 

 softest near the surface, it there operates the more forcibl}'. 



Lastly. Begarding the operation of the sun on the flax before beetling. — In preference 

 to the mode suggested, of drying the flax on hurdles, or any other way of applying 

 fire to it, we would recommend drying it in an oven heated with the refuse of the flax, 

 and so very moderately, that a person may easily stand in it. There it should be allowed 



