110 AGRICULTURE. 



No plant undergoes a greater change in the hands 

 of labour, and few, if any, better repays the labour 

 bestowed upon it.* It is cultivated for two differ- 

 ent objects : for the fibre which surrounds the stem, 

 and which is convertible into cloth, and for the 

 seeds, which yield an oil very important to the arts. 

 These different purposes have been supposed to be 

 best promoted by different kinds of seed and differ- 

 ent kinds of culture. In England it is believed that 

 the seed of this country gives a flax of greater 

 length and of finer fibre ; and that the seed of Me- 

 mel or Rigaf produces a coarser plant and a greater 

 quantity of seed. We doubt, however, the correct- 

 ness of this distinction, and think ourselves support- 

 ed by experience, as well as theory, in placing the 

 difference less to the account of any peculiar qual- 

 ity of the seed, than to the greater or smaller quan- 

 tity of it sown ; for we have invariably observed 

 that, if flaxseed, wherever grown, be sown thinly, 

 the stem is shorter, the fibre coarser, and the seed 

 more abundant, and vice versa. This difference 

 will necessarily be increased by different modes of 

 culture. The row husbandly, admitting of more 

 ventilation, will hasten more the maturity of the 

 plant, and increase the quantity and quality of the 

 seed ; whereas the broadcast method will, on the 

 other hand, retard the maturity of the plant, length- 

 en the stem and the fibre that covers it, and, in the 

 same proportion, diminish the quantity of seed. 



Flax may be made to follow potatoes very advan- 

 tageously ; and we have seen the practice of sowing 

 it with a crop of that kind earnestly recommend- 

 ed.J 



The time for harvesting flax depends on the cou- 



* How wonderful the difference between the raw material 

 and Brussels lace ! 



t The flaxseed of Riga is broad and flat, and of a darker 

 Colour than that of this country. 



t See2d vol. Varla's Husbandry. 



