L. 







226 FLAX. [APRIL. 



great care should be taken not to till it when it 

 \vet, for fear of kneading it. 



If the ground on which flax is to be raised has 

 been long in tillage, it should be ploughed deep be- 

 fore winter,, and be laid up in ridges, in order that 

 the winter's frosts may the more effectually moulder 

 and loosen it. 



In the month of February, if the land be not too 

 wet, some very rotten dung should be laid in the 

 furrows, and immediately, covered over. In March, 

 for southern countries, or in the beginning of April 

 where the climate is colder, another ploughing 

 should be given, to lay the land smooth ; the clods 

 should be broken by hand, and the seed should 

 then be sown or harrowed in with a light or bush- 

 harrow, so as not to bury it above an inch deep. 

 If the soil is moist and cold, a little pigeons' dung 

 may be sown with the seed, for it agrees admirably 

 well with the flax : but this must not be done if 

 the ground is very light and too dry. It will also 

 be right to lay wet land out in beds thirty or forty 

 feet wide, separated by deep trenches, to drain off 

 the water, and convey it into the surrounding 

 ditches. 



Most of our linseed is brought from the North. 

 Linseed is reckoned good when it is lar^e, oily, 

 heavy, and of a bright brown colour. To know 

 whether it be oily, a few grains of it arc thrown 

 into a red-hot fire-shovel, and they in that case 

 crackle almost instantly, and blaze briskly. If it is 



suffi- 



