46 FLAX CULTURE 



of harvesting," says one. 1 " It is a crop 

 that absolutely compels clean culture," 

 says another, for " weeds stunt the stem 

 and impair the fibre." 2 It is easy to see 

 what a task this imposes on the Ameri- 

 can farmer, with the wonderful reproduc- 

 tive power of weeds in our fertile soils. 

 Who has not seen a field neglected for a 

 few weeks after harvest, so covered with 

 a dense mass of bushy and clinging weeds 

 that locomotion is seriously impeded, and 

 the traveller struggles through to find his 

 clothing covered with rough burs and 

 clinging seeds ? All this is utterly incom- 

 patible with flax culture. In fact, Mr. J. 

 R. Dodge, an expert in flax culture, in a 

 report printed in the Congressional docu- 

 ments of the Thirty-eighth Congress, says 

 that the trouble with weeds is the promi- 

 nent reason why flax is not cultivated in 

 the United States. " The task is too her- 

 culean for the industry and perseverance 

 of our farmers, when natural disinclination 



1 Rep. Dept. Ag. 1864, p. 92. 



2 Rep. Dept. Ag. 1863, p. 116. 



