56 FLAX CULTURE 



he to get it broke or scutched ? Should 

 he contract with a man coming along with 

 his machine, who works for him, he must 

 submit to his exorbitant charge which 

 would take away half the profit of his crop. 

 This is not all. Although his flax has got 

 into small bulk by scutching, even if he 

 has to send a great distance to market, he 

 is still at the mercy of the buyer, who prob- 

 ably would tell him that it got too much 

 rotting, find some other faults, and finally 

 say it would not suit him. The farmer 

 gets bewildered, thinks of the long jour- 

 ney home, calculates his expenses, offers 

 his flax at a reduced price sooner than 

 bring it back, and lastly will sicken of flax 

 growing." J 



The same thing is said more in detail in 

 the Report for 1877: " Among the obsta- 

 cles in the way of profitably growing the 

 fibre are the following: First, the want of 

 a regular and accessible market. Second, 

 the labor involved in pulling flax on a 

 large scale is greater than can be secured 



1 Rep. Dept. Ag. 1864, p. 183. 



