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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



July' 



rLAX- METHOD OF OULTIVATIorJ. 



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nV Wil. NE\VCOMR, PlTT3T0Wr<, N. Y. 



The importance of this crop to tlie farmer lias just 

 ben^uii to be appreciated, and as it l;a3 a few peculi- 

 arities in its culture, I shall attempt to give the re- 

 sults of my experience for the last sixteen yerr.r. I 

 have been extensively engaged in the raisinj; anr' 

 managing ortlax, and have drawn the following c n- 

 clusions : First, the soil best ailapted to its culture 

 is a rich loam ; but it will succeed well on almisi 

 any soil, except sand, provided it be high or hilly ; il 

 will not grow well on low lands, on borders of st f a ns 

 or rivir.s ; it would not prVoably succeed oi'ten;>! 

 than once in ten years, for causes I shall preseuil 

 state. The seed b.^iug small, it must n )t be placed 

 deep in the ground. I would recommend tiie groimd 

 to be well plowed, and thoroughly pulver'zel by 

 dragging before sowing, and very lightly drjg^ed or 

 buf-lied in, after sowing. The earlier sown in the 

 spring after the ground is fit to work, the better, — 

 One bushel of seed to the acre is the best amount of 

 seed to ensure a good yield of seed and lint : if a less 

 quantity of seed be sown, the quantity of seed would 

 be increased, but the quantity of lint would be less- 

 ened, and if a little more seed be sown, the lint would 

 be increased but the seed would be lessened. On 

 low lands the flax is subject to mildew or rust, which 

 id of two kinds, the red rust, which destroys both 

 seed and lint, and black rust, which affects the stem 

 of the flax and destroys the lint ; this is the great 

 enemy of flax growing ; but on elevated or hilly 

 lands it is very seldom attacked with either of these 

 kinds of rust. Flax succeeds best after corn or pota- 

 toes, or such crops as have been cultivated the pre- 

 vious year so as to destroy weeds. The groun 1 can- 

 not be too rich, yet it must not be ma.le so by manur 

 ing the flax ground with manures filled with seeds ot 

 grass and weeds, which would spring up and destr.)y 

 the crop. Therefore I would not recommend manur- 

 ing the flax ground the season it is sown, except 

 with the f Uowing stimulants and manures, to wit : 

 to each acrexjf land apply one bushel plaster of Paris, 

 one bushe! of fine western salf^ one bushel of wood 

 asl.es, one bushel of slaked lime, of course varying 

 these manures according to the nature of your soil. 

 If it be a light loam' mixed with gravel or sand, leave 

 out the lime ; if it be a tenacious soil bordering on 

 clay, or nearly so, be sure and pat on the lime. The 

 salt and ashes in the quantity mentioned are not only 

 manures, but a preventive to the operations of the 

 worm, which is often very destructive to flax. Plas- 

 ter is a strong stimulant, and is invaluable on dry 

 Boils by its attractive principles lor moisture. The 

 expense of getting in a crop of flax is about the same 

 as oats. 'J'he expense of hand pulling usually is ^'i 

 per acre ; thrashing the seed and cleaning, 81 per 

 acre ; dew rotting and taking it up, ^l per acre ; 

 and dres^^iug at the mills from !^2 to $J.50 per hun- 

 dred lbs. of flax. The average quantity of seed 

 raised is eight bushels per acre, and the average 

 quantity of flax, 250 lbs. per acre ; althmgh this has 

 frequently been more than doubled both in seed and 

 lint. Tiie avfTa;.e ].ricc of eeed is i|l.i!-5 and aver- 

 age ir.ie of lint, 9 J cts. per lb. 



Water Rolling. — There are two methods of rotting 

 flax, one by spreading it thinly and evenly on our 

 meadows, and is calleil dew rotting. Il is considered 

 sutficicntly rolled when, by rubbing the stem and 



breaking it with the hand, the hurl or lint easily 

 separates from the woody portion of the stem. This 

 is the common ])rocess, and requires but little judg- 

 ment to do it properly. The other method is, by 

 immersing it in water, and as I have rotted by this 

 process many hundred thousand pounds, I may be 

 excused in being a little more particular, more espe- 

 cially as il requires more exercise of judgment, and 

 is a proce.^s less understood, and one which much 

 enhances the value of the lint when done. 1 have 

 been offered an advance of 25 per cent, on the pres- 

 ent price of dew rotted flax for water rotted ; and, it 

 miy be asked, what better is water rotted flax than 

 dew rotted ? In -answer I state that many articles 

 manufactured from flax are required by government 

 to be made from water rotted flax or hemp, and that 

 the cloth and twines thus manufactured will with- 

 stand in warm climates the mildew or rotting, which 

 dew rotted cloth is subject to. After water rotting 

 flax for an experiment, I have left lying on the 

 ground spread, a few bundles for months, without 

 injury to the flax, when dew rotted flax would have 

 been entirely lost. In water rotting flax, it is impor- 

 tant that the flax be entirely immersed in water and 

 kept under by heavy weights, and secondly, when 

 sutfiri nitly rotted, it must not remain in the water. 

 It is rotted much better in still water or vats, than in 

 running streams ; and I cannot perhaps do better, to 

 giethe ideaof what ought to be done, than to describe 

 my own pit, which is about 60 feet long by 20 wide 

 and jfeet deep, which will contain nearly 20 tons of 

 flax in the stem, with a gate at the lower part of the 

 pit, to draw oft' the water from the flax, and a gate 

 from the pond above to fill the pit with water. The 

 flax is first placed on poles laid on the ground, reg- 

 ularly as it would be in the barn, (I do not think .it 

 of any importance to stand it up,) and when the pit 

 is filled and the weights placed on the flax, let in 

 sufiicient water to cover the flax. In warm weather, 

 from the 6th to the 10th day fermentation will have 

 taken place, and the flax will rise above the water 

 and remain a few liours, after which it sinks and the 

 process of rotting is then finished. But this process 

 is retarded when new water is added, and then the 

 only way to determine is by the €tem. When the 

 lint slips freely from the stem, by drawing it through 

 the fingers, leaving the stem free from the fibre, it is 

 then sufiiciently rotted and the vat let oft^ and the 

 flax immediately drawn out and spread on the land 

 for drying. Of course all flax before being immersed 

 in water must be well bound in bundles with strong 

 bands, the size is not important, but if very large, it 

 makes very heavy hamlling while wet. I have rot- 

 ted in this one pit, during the summer and fall 60,000 

 pounds, and as I observed, the warmer the weather 

 and the water, the sooner the flax rots ; and I have 

 had a pit of 3,000 lbs. rot in five days, and I have 

 had, later in the season, the same quantity to remain 

 in the water for 30 days and not be over rotttd, and 

 even with all the directions that can be given in this 

 process of rotting, constant watching is necessary 

 and some experience before it can be done safely and 

 with certainly. The flax crop i consider less ex- 

 hausting to land than any of the cereal grains. It 

 is true the crops do not succeed well sown in succes- 

 sion, but ail other crops succeed better after flax 

 than any other, and it is my favorite crop to lay down 

 in gras.s seeds ; and I have uniformly had seed lake 

 bellcr after this crop than after any other. — Trans. 

 A'. Y. Ag. Sac. 



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