AND USE IN UNITED STATES. 23 



large linen industry ; what has been the 

 history of the general industry ? An enor- 

 mous impulse was given to the flax indus- 

 try during the war of the Rebellion. The 

 supplies of raw cotton were cut off, and 

 the Northern mills lay idle. This increased 

 the demand for linen goods, and every 

 effort was made to encourage the domestic 

 production of flax. The Agricultural Re- 

 ports of the United States during the years 

 of the war are" full of careful reports on 

 flax, and contain much valuable informa- 

 tion on flax culture to aid the farmer. In 

 1863 Congress appropriated twenty thou- 

 sand dollars for an investigation " to test 

 the practicability of cultivating and prepar- 

 ing flax or hemp as a substitute for cotton." 

 A commission was appointed which exam- 

 ined the whole subject thoroughly, and 



is of interest : " Flax is long fibred and kept straight. Tow is 

 short fibred and not kept straight. Flax is usually tied in 

 bundles of about one hundred pounds each, and tow is pressed 

 into bales of about five hundred pounds each. Hundreds of 

 tons of flax have been entered at ten dollars per ton duty, 

 during the past three or four years, by being laid straight into 

 tow presses, and pressed into five-hundred-pound bales, like 

 tow." Rep. of Sec. of Tr. on Tar. Revis., p. 105. 



