348 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



money value of the Flax crop, is pnxluced dur- 

 ing the life of iho nlaui, by the elements of the 

 atniosiilicrc, and the materials taken from the 

 manure and from the soil are. in reality, cni- 

 ])loyed by the plant in organizing substances 

 ^vhich do not make any return to the farmer, 

 but which are. on the contrary, under certain 

 circumstances, considered to be [lositivcly a <iis- 

 advaulagc. It is, therefore, of importance, thfit 

 it should be understood that by a proper sys- 

 tem, the growth of Flax and similar libre crops 

 should be destitute of all exhausting influence. 

 That the materials drawn from the soil by such 

 a crop should be found in the waste products of 

 its manufacture, and should be available by be- 

 ing returned to the soil, to restore it to its ori- 

 ginal condition of fertility. In order to ren<ler 

 this principle fully intelligible, 1 shall enter into 

 some detail regarding the processes to which 

 the Flax is subjected, and the nature of the pro- 

 ducts obtained irom it. 



The Flax, when it has grown to suitable ma- 

 turity, according as llie design is to allow it to 

 ripen its seed or not, is pulled, and cither inmie- 

 diately. or in the next spare season, according 

 to the circumstances of the locality, it is subject- 

 ed to the process termed rotting or watering. 

 In the stem of the Flax there may be recog- 

 nized three structures, the outer skin or epider- 

 mis, covering a close network of fibres which 

 enclo.ses the plant as in a sheath, and in the 

 centre a stem of den.se pithy material. Tlic 

 fibrous network is connected together by a glu- 

 tinous matter, which must be decomposed be- 

 fore the fibres can be separated from the stem, 

 and it is to soften and rot this substance that the 

 plant is steeped. If the steeping be continued 

 too long, the fibre itself maj' rot. and be weak- 

 ened and injured in quality ; if the steeping be 

 not continued long enough, the fibres are 

 not thoroughly separated from each other, 

 and the quality of the Flax is coarser than 

 it might be."* The general tendency is not 

 to rot the Flax enough, but it is a process re- 

 quiring very careful management and attention, 

 to conduct it with the greatest advantage. 



In order to ascertain what occurs during the 

 steeping of the flax I instituted chemical exami- 

 nations of the substances and process. I have 

 already given the composition of the pure lig- 

 neous fibre, and in the following tables are 

 shown the results of my analy.ses of the compo- 

 sition of the Flax stem as it grows, and of the 

 ashes ^A•hich it yields. These are in fact its or- 

 ganic and its inorganic elements. The compo- 

 sition of the ash varies very sensibly witli tliat 

 of the soil upon which the plant is grown, bat 

 it is not necessary to introduce that considera- 

 tion for the present object. 



Fl.\x Plant. 



Carbon yc-7-2l().'!Vgon 48-;K) 



}Iyt'ro2cn 7-:i:i Ashes 5U0 



Ninosfii •r>6| 



total 10000 



Ashes of Flax Pl.\nt. 



Potash 9-781 Sulphuric acid 2fi5 



Sofia [sea air] 9-80'Chlorinc [sea air]. 2-41 



Lime 12-:!Hi Carbonic^ acid [air, 



Majrneeia 7-79| charcoal] Ifin.'i 



Oxide of iron and Phosphoric acid .. . 10-84 



alumina 6-08 



Silica 21-:).-)! Total 10000 



yuir. — Phosphate of lirnc and potashes must be 

 valuable and important restoratives. 



\Ed. Farm L>h. 



* The tibro is broken and will shoilcu tlic Flax, 

 rnaliin;; waste in the subsequent processes. 1 do not 

 —SCO that it can make it coarser. \Ed. Farm. Lib. 

 !71U'| 



When the Flax is steeped, the water acquires 

 a darker color, a disagreeable odor, and, it is 

 well known, becomes poLsonous to li.sh. This 

 ari.ses from the solution of the glutinous mate- 

 rial which had cemented togetherthc i)ure fibres. 

 To examine this material, I cm])loycd it as it is 

 ])roduced %\ hen the steeping water is dried 

 down, and the following tables show its organic 

 composition, and the composition of the ashes 

 wliich it yields. I term this substance, for 

 brevity sake, Flax-steep extract. 



Flni-stcep 

 Exlrncl. 



Carbon :iO-fi!) 



Hydrogen 4-24 



Niti-OL'cn 2-24 



Oxygen 20-82 



Aslics 4201 



Total 100-00 



Flax-sltrp Exlrad 



uillaint nsliea. 



.32-1)3 



7-31 



.3-8fi 



30-90 



It is thus seen, that the steep water dissolves 

 out a great quantity of nitrogen, and of the inor- 

 ganic materials of the stem ; in fact that it re- 

 moves from the plant almost every tiling that 

 the plant removes from the soil. This is con- 

 firmed by lookhig to the composition of its a.shcs, 

 which arc shown by the follow ing analytical re- 

 sults. There are found 42 parts of ashes, in 

 every 100 parts of flax-steep extract, consisting 

 of j 



Chloride of potassium 3-8 Phosphate of lime 2-1 • 



Sulphate of potash... 4-4 

 Carbonate ol potash.. 3-8 

 Carbonate of Eoda... 1.'! 2 



Silica 5-5 



Phosphate of b-ou and 

 alumina 32 



Phosphate of lime. 



Carbonate of lime 4-0 



Carbonate of ma:rnc- 

 Bia ". . . . 2-0 



Total qtiantity. pr cent. 42 



The steep-water thus dissolves, especially the 

 alkaline ingredients, and the pho.sphates of the 

 plant, and hence leaves the rotted stems iu a 

 condition of almo.st pure ligneous matter. 



The stems of the plant, after liaving been thus 

 steeped, undergo a rough bleaching and drying, 

 by being ^;-«.sscrf for some days. They are then 

 broken by the hackle, and finally, the fibre sep- 

 arated from the residual woody pith or chaff, by 

 the operation of scutching. These operations 

 may bo carried on either by hand or by ma- 

 chinery, and the relative value of the systems 

 may hereafter require attention. The fibre, af- 

 ter these processes, is sent to market ; it passes 

 into the hands of the linen manufacturers, and 

 becomes the clement of mechanical industry, 

 such as has been treated of in the earlier chap- 

 ters of this work. 



Now, the agriculturist should steadily bear in 

 mind that the fibre which he sells to the flax 

 spinner has taken nothing from the soil : all that 

 the crop took out of the soil he has still in the 

 steep-water, and in the chafl' of the scutched 

 Flax, and if after suitable decomposition, these 

 be returned to the land, the fertility of the latter 

 will be restored, and thus material.s, at j>i-esent 

 utterly neglected, and even a source of incon- 

 venience, may be converted into most valuable 

 manure. [Very important, and entirely forgot- 

 j ten by erro■v^■ers.] 



That~the water in which Flax has been 

 steeped possesses powerful influence as a ma- 

 nure, has been observed by various persons; 

 thus round the edgcsof bog holes used lor .'Steep- 

 ing, a luxuriiuit and tender herbage olion arises 

 in vivid contrast to the surrounding barren jicat. 

 Various agricultural authorities have noticeil its 

 beneficial elltcts v^hen experimentally used, 

 but I shall only quote, iu order to show the at- 



