'44 FLAX CULTURE 



equally enriched throughout, which is only 

 accomplished by great care and attention. 

 The land has the appearance of the most 

 perfect garden cultivation." x 



Much attention is paid to the rotation 

 of crops, flax being rarely planted oftener 

 than once in seven or eight years on the 

 same land. 2 



After the land is prepared, the sowing 

 must be carefully done. The seed should 

 be sown in rows eight or nine feet apart, 

 and the sowing had best be done by hand. 

 It should be evenly sown, and much prac- 

 tice is necessary, as the seed is very 

 slippery. The Belgian farmers, who cul- 

 tivate for fibre, sow from two to four 

 bushels of seed to the acre ; the Ameri- 

 can, who cultivates chiefly for the seed, 

 sows half a bushel or three pecks to the 

 acre. Where the seed is evenly and 

 thickly sown, the plants grow tall and 

 slender without much branching except 

 at the top, and the fibre is thus long and 

 fine. Where the seed is thinly sown, the 



1 Kept, p. 22. 2 Rep. Dept. Ag. 1879, P- 5^5- 



