28 FLAX CULTURE 



It has been assumed in the foregoing 

 discussion, that the flax fibre produced in 

 this country, though yearly diminishing in 

 amount, was of a fine quality suitable for 

 manufacture into threads and cloths. But 

 this is very far from the truth, and it may 

 be confidently asserted that outside of a 

 very small amount of " North River flax" 

 grown in New York, and possibly an in- 

 significant amount grown in New Jersey, 

 the bulk of American flax is fit only for 

 paper-stock or upholsterer's tow, and only 

 a small amount is good enough for even 

 the very coarsest kind of bagging. 



In 1879 Mr. Gary, a flax manufacturer 

 of Dayton, O., estimated that there were 

 then a hundred flax-mills in the West turn- 

 ing out a yearly product of three hundred 

 tons of tow. Three-tenths of this amount, 

 he estimated, was used by upholsterers, 

 four-tenths as paper-stock, and the remain- 

 ing three-tenths for bagging. 1 The follow- 

 ing significant note is repeated in the 

 Agricultural Reports for the State of Ohio 



1 Rep. Dept. Ag. for 1879, p. 577. 



