20 F L A X C U LT U R E . 



clover, 259 Ibs. ; turnips, 640 Ibs., and according to Johnson, Barley, 213 Ibs., and oats, 

 326 Ibs. ; all of which is considerably more than Flax appropriates. 



All that the Flax crop takes from the land remains in the steep-water and in the chaff of 

 the scutched Flax ; and if, after suitable decomposition of the latter, all this was returned 

 to the soil, its fertility would be restored, and thus, materials at present utterly neglected 

 and even a mere incumbrance, might be converted into valuable manures, for as Prof. 

 Liebig states, the seed and chaff of the Flax plant is rich in phosphates. 



It must, however, be remarked here, that the immense quantity of weeds with which the 

 western farmer allows his Flax field to be overgrown, are immeasurably more exhausting to 

 the land than the crop grown on it, which, on account of its meagerness, both as regards 

 seed and straw, has only a small part to play in the process of exhaustion. 



Much other testimony from reliable and competent sources might be brought forward to 

 prove that Flax has been traduced, and in no degree deserves the stigma that has been 

 attached to it, as an exhaustive crop. It is well known that Egypt was the great Flax- 

 growing land of antiquity ; but at the same time it was also the granary of the world ! In 

 Belgium, where the relative area under Flax is greater than in any other country, the fertility 

 of the soil has been constantly improving for centuries. "The reason of this," says 

 Robert Scott Burn," is that Flax culture involves good husbandry," and " Flax cultivation 

 " and bad cultivation are quite incompatible." 



A Dorsetshire gentleman writes, (Bath Society papers, 1871} : " One peculiar advantage 

 ' ' attending the cultivation of hemp and flax is that a crop of the former prepares the land 

 ' ' for the latter, and therefore a crop of hemp is clear gain to the farmer. That these 

 " plants impoverish the soil is a mere vulgar notion devoid of all truth. The best historical 

 "relations and the verbal accounts of honest ingenuous planters concur in declaring it to be 

 " a vain prejudice unsupported by any authority ; and that these crops really ameliorate and 

 " improve the soil." 



It is a well-known and significant fact that the finest crops of wheat may be grown 

 immediately after Flax in rotation. Thus, not only do scientific analyses, and the experi- 

 ments and observations of eminent agricultural writers go to show that prejudice against 

 Flax is to a great degree unfounded, but experience with Flax in the rotation of crops also 

 proves that it is not a crop to be avoided for its alleged impoverishment of the soil. 



Another objection that is sometimes made to Flax culture is that it " requires so much 

 farm help." There is no doubt that Flax to be a successful crop, requires much more care- 

 ful cultivation, weeding, etc., than most other products, but it may be remarked on the 

 other hand, that if properly treated it will be much more remunerative than any other crop, 

 and thus amply compensate the farmer for his extra trouble and outlay. Careful cultivation 

 cannot be too emphatically insisted upon. The pains-taking culturist will obtain the max- 

 imum, and he that is careless and slovenly, the minimum result in Flax raising. 



ANALYSIS OF FLAX SOILS. 



One of the most important points in practical, intelligent agriculture, is to become 

 acquainted with the composition of the plant to be cultivated, and to know what soils are 

 best adapted to its growth. As I have given in the foregoing pages the chemical analysis 

 of the Flax plant, it may be interesting and useful to many of my readers to know also the 

 composition of the soils which have been found most suitable for its cultivation. 



