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VIII. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES 

 FOR THREAD, OR CHIEFLY FOR THE CLOTHING 

 ARTS. 



I. FLAX. 



THE plants chiefly cultivated for their fibres for thread and 

 the clothing arts, are Flax, Hemp, and in the southern states, 

 Cotton, on a very extensive scale, teasel, madder, woad and 

 weld; the first four are used by the manufacturer of the fabric, 

 and the others by the dyer. Flax is cultivated for its fibre for 

 thread, and also for its seeds for being crushed for oil. It is 

 supposed by many writers to be a native of Egypt, but Mr. 

 ARMSTRONG says it is of Asiatic origin* it has been cultivated 

 from time immemorial. It is a hardy plant, embracing a wide 

 range of temperature, being cultivated, and for the like pur- 

 poses, from Egypt almost to the polar circle. 



Flax is considered an exhauster of the soil and farm, espe- 

 cially when its seeds are permitted to arrive at maturity; but 

 its effects are less injurious when pulled green, in which respect 

 it follows the general law of other cultivated plants. The soils 

 best suited to it are the rich alluvial districts where it should 

 be largely cultivated entering into, and forming a part of the 

 regular course of crops. In such districts its culture, with 

 proper care in keeping the land clean, and in its fertile state, 

 would be found highly profitable both in an individual and 

 national point of view. 



The soils most proper for flax, besides the alluvial kinds re- 

 ferred to in the preceding paragraph, are deep and friable loams, 

 and such as contain a large proportion of vegetable matter in 

 their composition. Strong clays do not answer well, nor soils 

 of a gravelly, or dry sandy nature. But whatever is the kind 

 of soil, it ought neither to be in too poor nor too rich a condi- 

 tion; because, in the latter case, the flax is apt to grow too 

 luxuriantly, and to produce a coarse sort; and, in the former 

 case, the plant, from growing weakly, affords only a small 

 produce, t 



The following very judicious remarks on the culture of flax, 



* See ARMSTRONG'S valuable and interesting Treatise on Agriculture; section 

 x. articled 

 t Treatise on Rural Affairs. 



