VABIOUS KINDS OF SEED. 19 



tages, such as the introduction of valuable varieties, and 

 a greater assimilation of the innate quality of the seed 

 to the local character of the soil. But the most power- 

 ful motive which ought to determine the grower to change 

 his seed as often as he can, arises from, the peculiar mode 

 of culture, which is adopted to make the plant furnish 

 fibre principally ) and above all, to obtain that fibre of as 

 delicate and fine a description as possible. 



A slight glance at the three different modes in which 

 flax is cultivated, each with a special object in view, 

 will suffice to explain the whole mystery of the gradual 

 degeneration of the seed. One mode only is capable of 

 producing first-rate seed; and that mode is the very 

 opposite to the system which farmers are obliged to adopt, 

 in order to obtain a first-rate fibre. Elax, then, is culti- 

 vated : first, for the fibre only. JSTow, where no seed 

 is produced, of course degeneracy cannot take place. 

 Secondly, it is grown for the fibre and the seed, which 

 is the system under which complaints of deterioration 

 are made. Thirdly, the crop is devoted to the seed 

 alone, by pursuing which object on a sufficiently large 

 scale, and by interchanging the produce, Elanders, 

 Prance, England, and Ireland, can all remain independent 

 of a Eussian supply. 



The growth of flax for the fibre only is not a usual 

 practice, and is only adopted for a few special purposes. 

 It is mostly suitable for small farmers and peasant pro- 

 prietors, on poor land, or in situations where it is diffi- 

 cult to obtain an abundance of manure. It does not 

 require so much labour, and also exhausts the soil less. 



But flax grown both for the fibre and the seed, de- 

 mands more attention, and impoverishes the ground it 

 grows on to a greater degree. The fibre is coarser than 

 the former kind, but it is also stronger, and therefore 

 better adapted for spinning by machinery. The return 

 is more considerable in weight, and the value of the seed 

 is an important source of profit. 



It is but rarely, -either in England or France, that 

 flax is grown for the seed alone. This mode of culture 

 c 2 



