40 FLAX. 



surdity. Still, with sufficient means and hands, large 

 fields of flax may be perfectly cultivated. "While we 

 write, we have numerous instances before our eyes. But 

 in Scotland, Belgium, and the north of [France, the little 

 patches, not so big as many a rich man's drawing-room, 

 are gems of more careful cultivation than an area of 

 greater extent is likely to exhibit, except in well-practised 

 hands. 



A continued drought coming on soon after the flax is 

 above ground, and while it has only its first two seed- 

 leaves, will sometimes kill the entire crop, and oblige the 

 farmer to sow again ; sometimes the loss is onlv partial, 

 when the crop remains patchy on the field. This is one 

 of the serious risks which the early sower always has to 

 incur. Occasionally, and more especially in warm situa- 

 tions, the young flax is eaten off by slugs and grubs, 

 another danger which early-sown crops have to encounter. 

 We have seen fields with large patches laid bare in this 

 way ; and yet the additional value of the rest, in conse- 

 quence of early sowing, was sufficient to overbalance the 

 loss. Olivier de Serres recommends sowing ashes over 

 the sprouting seeds, in order to put a stop to the ravages 

 of those pests. A top-dressing of soot would have an 

 equally beneficial effect. The services of half-a-dozen 

 ducks turned out fasting are not to be despised. 



The working of moles in early spring may also be 

 productive of fatal injury. "We would by no means 

 advise the general and indiscriminate destruction of 

 moles ; for the good they do by devouring wire- worm 8 

 and cockchafer-grubs pleads loudly in their favour. But 

 in a field of germinating flax, it may be safely asserted 

 that they do considerably more harm than good. 



The parasitic plant, the dodder (Cuscuta, of three or 

 four species), is a terrible scourge to a rising crop of flax. 

 It is more likely to occur when clover is sown with flax, 

 than in any other case. If a clover crop has been only 

 slightly infested with dodder, flax should never be ven- 

 tured on the layer the following season, although, as we 

 have seen, there is nothing which is more suitable for 



