100 DICKSON ON FLAX AS A 



soil takes place, that substance being exclusively composed of 

 organic matters derived from water and the atmosphere. He 

 says, "in this respect the fibre differs from the woody stem 

 which it surrounds; as the latter, by combustion, yields a 

 considerable quantity of ash, consisting of inorganic compounds 

 derived from the soil ; but then the woody part of the plant is 

 not removed off the farm, it being of exceedingly little value ; 

 and however the cultivation of the crop may exhaust the 

 particular part of the farm on which it was grown by the 

 matters contained in this woody fibre, it is apparent that the 

 farm itself will not thereby be exhausted, as these matters are 

 returned to some other portion of it in conjunction perhaps 

 with the manure of the farm-yard. The proportion of 

 inorganic matter contained in the seeds is very small compared 

 with its entire bulk, so that the consumption of the seed on 

 the farm not only makes the Flax a non-exhausting crop, but 

 absolutely a restorative one.' " 



' ' Dr. Kane is supported in his theories by the report of the 

 Belfast Society, which says, 'the principal objection urged 

 against the extended growth of Flax is, that it exhausts the 

 soil without returning anything to it. But by saving the seed 

 and seed bolls, and feeding upon them, the manure thus 

 produced can be leturned to the ground, and will supply most 

 of the valuable constituents abstracted from it during the 

 growth of the plant. The Flax shaws from the mill and the 

 putrescent water from the Flax pools should be fermented 

 together and returned to the soil. The land would thus have 



o 



replaced on it almost every particle of matter formerly 

 abstracted by the crop ; as it has been ascertained beyond a 

 doubt by chemical analysis, that the fibre for which the Flax 

 plant is cultivated, is produced entirely from the atmosphere.' 

 cs If we consider the quantity of seed for consumption on 

 the land given by the Flax- crop, we may well call it a 

 manure-producing crop, rather than an exhauster of the soil. 



