FLAX AND HEMP HUSBANDRY. 



We have elsewhere, and more than once, in- 

 timated our sense of tlie importance of that 

 branch of American Industry which has for its 

 object the production of the Fibre Crops. Of 

 Cotton we have already treated pretty fully, 

 and shall return to it whenever any thing may 

 ofier seeming to be calculated to improve the 

 cultivation, or to advance in any way the in- 

 terests involved in its production. We should 

 rejoice to have the interests I'eferred to in the 

 heading of this paper, fall into hands as \vell 

 able to illlistrate them, as were the natural his- 

 tory, growth, and value of the Cotton crop, by 

 Mr. Seabkoi.ir. 



Opening wide our pages to the elucidation 

 of this and every other industrial pursuit of the 

 country, we proceed now to give some views 

 of the results of Flax and Hemp culture in Ire- 

 land, which appear to be well calcul?fted to en- 

 gage the attention of all Americans interested 

 iu their growth in this country. 



If Mr. BiLL'iNGS has supplied the desidera- 

 tum so much wanted in the icork of prepara- 

 tion for the manufacturer, \vhich he supposes 

 he has, and to which we referred in our last, a 

 most important advance \\\\\ have been made 

 in the progress of improvement and great ac- 

 celeration and breadth will have been added to 

 it as a source of national industry and wealth. 

 We invite consideration to the subject. The 

 reasoning of Doctor Kane to show that it need 

 not be atteniled with exhaustion of the land is 

 new and highly important. 



In relation to the actual agricultural and man- 

 ufacturing industry of Ireland, it is still more 

 important to describe the circumstances of those 

 crops wliioli have for their ultimate and valua- 

 ble product the vegetable fibre. O f these fibre 

 crops, those of most interest are flax and hemp, 

 especially the former, on which so large a pro- 

 portion of the population of the north of Ireland 

 may be consiiiered to depend for subsistence. 



The Flax jilaiit, to which I shall first direct 

 attention, may be cultivated on any soil of mod- 

 erate fertility, bnt, of course, will grow in great 

 lu.xuriance. and yield its largest produce, where 

 the land is most fertile.* It is, however, indi.s- 

 pensable that the soil be rendered thoroughly 

 open and iierfectly clean. The order of rota- 

 tion with other crops varies in different coun- 

 tries, but on the Continent, as in Belgium, where 

 its cultivation is best understood, the ordinary 

 custom is. to bring it in after a corn crop, and 

 not to introduce it into the course more fre- 



* Coarse fibre on fertile soil, sown In equal quan- 

 tities. It is indigenous on the VVolaia and the Uralian 

 Mountains. [Ed. Farm. Lib. 



(711) 



quently than once in seven years. The flax is 

 a very exhausting crop, and hence requires 

 abundance of manure, which is supplied to it in 

 Belgium, in t!ie mo.st effective form, as liquid 

 manure. It will be shown, immediately, that 

 the (lax contains but little lime, the presence of 

 which, in a caustic form, in tlie soil, appears to 

 be injurious to tlic plant, hence it is proper, 

 where lime has been neces.sary to the soil, to 

 intermit the culture of flax for a certain season 

 [until decompo.sed]. 



The composition of the soil on which the cul- 

 tivation of Flax may best be carried on, being 

 a problem of the highest practical interest to 

 this country, the Fla.x Improvement Society of 

 Ireland, in pursuance of their laudable objects 

 in promoting this branch of industr}', commis- 

 sioned me to make analyses of some soils which 

 had produced remarkably good crops of Flax. 

 The soils were all light clay loams, and afforded 

 the following results, which I extract from the 

 Koport of the Society : 



Silica and silicious sand 



Oxide of iron 



Alumina 



Phosphate of iron 



Cai'bonate of lime 



JlauTiesia and alkalies, with 

 traces of sulphuric and mu- 

 riatic acids 



Organic matters 



Water 



Total 99-78 99-58 lOO-U 



No. 1. No. a. No. 3. 



69-41 

 5-29 

 5-70 



6-67 

 11-46 



The organic matter in these soils ^was rich in 

 nitrogen ; their feriilitv is, therefore, from the 

 analyses, easily understood. 



A point which may be noticed in relation to 

 the growth of Flax i.<, its quality is e!5.sentially 

 improved [finer fibre] by thick sowing. This 

 ari.ses, not from there being more Flax grown, 

 but from the closeness of the plants forcing them 

 to grow upwards with a single stem to gain ac- 

 cess to the air, and thus to prevent their branch- 

 ing, by which the fibre is shortened and ren- 

 dered irregular. Everything in the cultivation 

 of this plant is subservient to the formation of a 

 long and delicate woody fibre, and it is owing 

 to this fact in the practical history of the Flax, 

 that certain .sources of economy in its Agricul- 

 ture, which I shall point out become practicable. 



The ligneous or woody fibre, which finally is 

 converted into the linen thread, is composed of 

 the same elements as starch and sugar, and in 

 nearly the same proportions. Omittint? certain 

 minute ditterencos between the true fibre and 

 the matter which occupies its cells, its composi- 

 tion may be expressed by the formula Ci8 H 12 

 Oi2 and, when pure, it contains no inorganic 

 matter. Its elements are, in 100 parts: 



Carbon 5000 



Hydroffen 5-55 



Oxygon 44-45 



Hence this fibre, which constitutes the entire 



