112 AGRICULTURE. 



the ground harrowed. This crop, like that of flax 

 should be weeded when about four inches high." 



Of Swallow-wort or Milkweed. 



This is the asclepias Syriaca of the botanists, and 

 not improperly called the cotton of northern lati- 

 tudes. Its cortical fibre yields a fine, soft, and white 

 thread, and the pods a silky material, usefully em- 

 ployed in waddings and in hat-making, &c. " There 

 are few plants," says Sonnini, " the culture of which 

 unites more advantages, or which is more worthy 

 the attention of farmers. In Silesia it has made 

 considerable progress ; and experience shows that 

 in a middling, or even a bad soil, it gives a product 

 eight times more valuable than the finest crop of 

 flax or hay. It requires a strong and moist soil, 

 well laboured and manured, and may be propagated 

 by seeds, by suckers, or by roots. The row hus- 

 bandry is the most proper for it, and in the course 

 of three years the intervals between the furrows 

 will be completely filled up by new and multiplied 

 shoots. 



Of the plant called New- Zealand Flax. 



This is the formion tenax of botanists ; the leaves 

 of which, by maceration in water, yield a fibre re- 

 markable for beauty and strength. We owe to M. 

 Labillardiere a series of experiments, the result of 

 which shows that the strength of flax being 11, that 

 of hemp is 16 1-3, and that of formion 23 5-11. In 

 the hot countries, of which this plant is a native, it 

 is found on the seashore, growing sometimes in 

 wet or marshy soils, and sometimes in arid sands. 

 M. Thouin has succeeded in naturalizing it in the 

 north of France, which gives reason to believe that 

 it may be made to succeed in this climate. 



