AND USE IN UNITED STATES. 57 



at the proper season at wages which will 

 leave any margin of profit. Third, the 

 process of ' rotting * or eliminating the 

 fibre from the stalk in the old-fashioned 

 way is tedious, and thought to be un- 

 healthy. Fourth, most farmers do not suf- 

 ficiently understand the rotting part of this 

 process, and are therefore very liable to 

 injure the fibre by some failure either in 

 method or degree. Fifth, the processes 

 of breaking, scutching, or hackling by 

 hand are very disagreeable, necessarily 

 involving the operator in an atmosphere 

 thick with dust and dirt, and yet requiring 

 skilled workmen, such as it is often quite 

 impracticable to secure." 1 "In the Ohio 

 Valley there is objection to flax on the 

 score of injury to the soil. * It is hard on 

 the land,' is a common remark of corre- 

 spondents." 2 



Besides all this, American flax is seldom 

 prepared twice alike. No two growers 

 seem to seek the same standard. In 



1 Rep. Dept. Ag. 1877, p. 183. 



2 Rep. Dept. Ag. 1885, p. 417. 



