CULTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FLAX. 6^9^ 



steeping and dressing. They are thrown away ; and yet they are materials of wliich tbo 

 plant hiul robbed the soil, and which sliouhl be given back to llie soil, iti oi'der to keep up 

 its fertility. To tlic ])ractical farmer it is, therefore, of the gi-ealcst importance to recollect" 

 this principle — that the fibre or valuable jiart of the Ha.\. is not fonned by the exhaustion of 

 the soil ; but that tlie materials which the plant takes ont of the soil are all found in tho: 

 steep-water and the chaff; ami that, if these be returned to the soil, they will restore its j6sr- 

 tility, and that thus the tlax crop may be rendered one of the lesist hijurious to the ground^ 

 and most remunerative to the fanner. I am aware that there are many persons here ready^ 

 to speak as to the practical use of tlax steep-water as a manure. I sh;dl, therefore, rest sat- 

 i.sfied with haviiij; stated the princii)le on which it rests. The tlax crop can be rendered lit- 

 tle or not at all exhausting, Ijy a proper use of its residues as manui'e ; but it must be recol- 

 lected that, unless these residues l)e thus economized, the flax crop is one of the most severe^ 

 the Umd can have, and that the loss of substiuices to the soil is actually greater than with sit 

 corn or potato crop.' 



" Since the meeting, Mr. Blacker has received the following letter from Dr. Kane, in re- 

 ply to some queries of his, relating to the exhaustion of tlig soil by the ripening of the seecli 

 of the Hax : 



" ' I am glad that you have noticed the subject of the ripening and collecting of the seed.' 

 of flax, as it is important that tanners should not fall into the eri'or of extending my views- 

 beyond theii- proper limit. As long as the Ha.x is grown for its fibre, the ligneous tissue be~ 

 ing fonned from air and water, the exhaustion of the soil may be counteracted l)y restoring: 

 to the soil, by means of the tla.x -water, what had been talcen away. But when flax is grown. 

 for food, or for seed — when this seed is separated ])y rippling, then it becomes like wheal^ 

 or any other food crop. The formation of the seed takes from the soU nitrogen and phos- 

 phates which are consumed in use, and cannot be returned to the soil. Hence tlie economyr 

 of the residual fla.x product.s as manure refers to the crop as gi-owu for fibre, and does not 

 extend to the growth for food or seed ; these, like wheat or potatoes, should pay independ^ 

 ently for the good they tike out of the land. The flax-chaff is certainly in itself veiy iutraefc- 

 able, but not so much so as it looks. When .steeped, all that is of any use is dijjsolved oat r. 

 aud the dry chafi'', when worked u)) iiloug with fermenting stid)le-dung, v\-ill pass into a good 

 mould. The chaff is, however, of little importance compared with the flax-water, vvfJiictt 

 certtiinly holds dissolved nine-tenths of all that the plant derived from the ground. 



" ' To W. Blacker, Esq. ROBERT KANE.' "■ 



[We have applied to a gentleman of Louisville, Ky., of great experience, from whom we hope' 

 to get the best practical information to be had on the whole 6ubje<-t of raising and preparing heitrpi 

 for market.] 



We have not room now for the full development of this subject, but will recBZ" 

 to it, and to hemp culture, until both shall have been fully discussed m reference- 

 to our capabilities for their production. 



In a discussion in the American Institute, Mr. Wakeman, the viijilant afuardiacr 

 and friend of American manufactures — not misled, it may be hoped, by his strin- 

 gent principles as a protectionist — argued that before long we should probably 

 prepare flax for I5 instead of 3 cents a pound, and improve in machinery. We 

 ought not, he contended, at all events, to depend on foreign nations for that or 

 for any other necessity of life. "There is no land,'''' said he, "iii Europe equal to 

 ovrs for the production of flax and hemp, viz. the rich alluvial soil of the West." 

 Although this may be un pent fort — going it rather strong — the whole subject is 

 worthy of careful inquiry, and shall have it as far as depends on this journal. 



In the discussion referred to, in the Farmers' Club, Mr. Billings, under exam- 

 ination, testified : " I pull or cut the flax green. We cut it now, having a proper 

 cradle to do it with. A man cuts an acre in a day. I dry it in the shade. I rot 

 it in water at 90 degrees of heat. The acetous fermentation takes place, and ?t. 

 three days it is rotted. I put it then in close rooms, heated until it is dry. It 

 was said formerly that our flax was inferior to British, Belgian, or French ; but, 

 when our flax is heated as I have stated, it is a superior article to any of them.'^ 

 Ought we not to be satisfied to have things as good as other nations ? Is there 

 no danger that all our crows will become the whitest ? Mr. Billings confinns^ 

 the statement that when flax is not allowed to go to seed, it does not exhaust, 

 the land one-half so much. It exhausts, he says, about as much as wheat. 



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