848 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



Holland, is so inconsiderable, and the risk of the crop misgiving so much greater 

 in the one case than in the other, that those only who are ignorant of the conse- 

 quences, or who are compelled from necessity, are chargeable with this act of ill-judged 

 parsimony. Flax seed is by some farmers changed every three years, but many have 

 sown the same seed ten years in succession without perceiving any degeneracy. When 

 any degeneracy takes place, the seed of flax grown on a different soil, as moss, moor, 

 sand, &c. without any view to the produce in fibre, will, it is said, answer as well as 

 foreign seed. 



5S01. The manner of sowing is almost always the same, but when seed is the main 

 object, drilling may be adopted, by which seed will be saved in sowing, cleaning con- 

 ducted at less expense, and the plants rendered more vigorous and branchy by the stir- 

 ring of the soil, and the admission of air between the rows. The fibres of flax grown 

 in this way, however, will be shorter and less equal in thickness throughout their length, 

 than flax grown by the broad-cast mode, and tolerably thick. 



5302. The of ter 'Culture of Jlax consists chiefly in weeding, but sometimes it com- 

 mences with rolling the surface, which is a very proper operation when the soil is very 

 dry, the season advanced, or the earth very porous. By this process the earth is pressed 

 firmly to the seeds, and they are thereby stimulated to vegetate sooner, and the drought 

 is kept out. On some soils, and in wet or stormy seasons, flax is apt to be laid, to guard 

 against which some cultivators run across their flax field slender poles fixed to stakes ; 

 but a better method is to run small ropes across the field, both lengthwise and breadth- 

 wise, where necessary, for these being fastened where they intersect one another, and 

 supported by stakes at due distances, form a kind of net- work, which is proof against 

 almost every accident that can happen from tempestuous weather. 



5303. In Scotland a crop of flax is sometimes weeded by turning a flock of sheep at large into the field. 

 They will not taste the young flax plants, but they carefully search for the weeds, which they devour. . 



5304. The flax crop is taken hy j^ulling, on which there is a considerable difference 

 of opinion. None, however, think of pulling it before it comes into flower, when fibre 

 is the sole object; or before the seed in the capsules acquires a brownish color, when fibre 

 and seed jointly, or seed alone, is the object. Some argue for pulling while it is green, 

 in order that its fibres may be softer and finer : others, with the same view, pull it up 

 before its seeds are quite formed ; and others again think that it should not be pulled 

 till some of the capsules which contain the seeds have begun to open, being of opinion 

 that the fibres of green flax are too tender, and that they fall into tow. On the other 

 hand, it is certain the fibres of flax which has stood till it is very ripe, are always stiff 

 and harsh, that they are not easily separated from the reed, and that they do not bleach 

 well. Here, therefore, as in most other cases, both extremes should be avoided, and it con- 

 sequently seems most reasonable to think that the properest time for pulling flax, is when 

 its stalks begin to turn from a green to a yellow, when its leaves begin to fall, and when 

 its seeds begin to be brown. Donaldson observes, that a crop of flax frequently grows 

 short, and runs out a great number of seed-bearing branches. When that is the case, the 

 seeds, not the flax, ought to be the farmer's chief object, and the crop should be allowed to 

 stand till the seeds are in a great measure perfected. But that when the crop thrives, 

 and is likely to become more valuable for the flax than the seeds, it should be pulled 

 soon after the bloom drops off, and before the pods turn hard and sharp in the points. 

 When flax is grown for its fibre. Brown considers it the safest cour-se to take it a little 

 early, any thing wanting in quantity, being, in this way, made up by the superiority of 

 quality. 



5305. The operation of pulling flax differs according to the intention of the crop. 

 When it is grown for the fibre it is pulled and tied immediately into sheaves like corn, 

 being carried off immediately to be watered. But when the seed is to be taken from the 

 plant, it is pulled and laid in handfuls. 



5506. In pulling flax, it is usual, when it is intended to save the seeds, to lay it in handfuls, partly across 

 each other; the reason for which is, that the business of rippling is thereby facil'.tated, as the ripplers, in 

 place of having to separate each handful from the bundle, find it by this simple precaution already done 

 to their hand. Although it is of much importance, yet it very seldom happens, that much attention is 

 bestowed to separate the different sorts of flax from each other, in pulling the crop. In most fields, there 

 are varieties of soils ; of course some parts of a field will produce fine flax ; others coarse ; some long ; 

 and some short : in a word, crops of different lengths and quahties. It cannot be supposed that all these 

 sorts of flax will undergo an equal degree of watering, grassing, breaking, and heckling, without sustain- 

 ing great injury. 



3307. As the flax is pulled, it is laid together by handfuls, with the seed end turned to the south. 

 These handfuls should neither lie quite in a fine with each other, nor directly across, but a little 

 slanting upwards, so that the air may easily pass through them. Some, instead of this method, tie 

 the handfuls of flax loosely at the top, then spread out their roots, and thus set several of them to- 

 gether upright upon their roots. In either of these ways, the flax is generally left twelve or fourteen 

 days in the field to dry it. This drying is certainly not necessary for the rippling, because the ripple will 

 separate the capsules from the flax as effectually before it has been dried as it will afterwards ; and if it be 

 done with a view to ripen the seed, it should be considered, that the flax will be more hurt bv the longer 

 time of steeping, which will become necessary in consequence of this drying, than the seed'can be be- 

 nefited ; because, the more the membrane which connects the fibres to the reed is dried, the greater must be 

 the degree of putrefaction necessary to loosen and destroy the cohesion of this connecting membrane j the 



