CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 



ture of linen in families has continued to an extent nearly equal to the clothing 

 and general consumption of a very dense population. The soil is mostly in 

 tillage, and from its elevation admits of a variety of aspect and temperature, 

 and great care is bestowed on the culture of flax. I have been informed by Mr. 

 DABNEY, the late United States consul for the Azores, who has resided fifteen 

 years at Fayal, that in several instances American seed, obtained from ships 

 bound to Ireland, arriving in distress, has been sown; and the product in /arc 

 and seed has been fifty per cent, more than that of native growth by the side of 



it! We have no information to this point from Russia or Italy but it is be- 

 . .. .... .. > .. 



lieved 

 to this 

 country, 



cessful prosecution of flax husbandry; and a further inference may be drawn, 

 that experiments on various soils, with seed the growth of different climates, are 

 requisite to direct the farmer to the quarter from whence his best seed may be 

 obtained. Here opens a legitimate field for our numerous agricultural socie- 

 ties to labour in; on their exertions the farmer must depend in the outset; but 

 let it once be ascertained that Riga seed is best in one section, Dutch or Ger- 

 man in others, and mercantile interest, if not patriotism, will soon distribute 

 them. 



Soils. The soils which rank first in this country, are the fat bottoms, that 

 are covered by the fall and spring floods, which subside early enough in the 

 season to get in a crop; those river flats on the second banks that have a depth 

 of strong alluvial soil; the reclaimed marshes and swamps, with a black unc- 

 tious soil, not too peaty, with as much clay in the composition as will permit its 

 being rendered soon dry and mellow, and not retain water on or near the sur- 

 face; if it stands two feet below, so much the better, but it must be well guarded 

 by ditches and dykes against sudden freshets. Such is the soil of the province of 

 Zealand, where more flax is raised, and of better quality than in any other part 

 of Holland. The next in estimation are the strong black loams on clay, or hard 

 pan that will retain moisture. Yellow loams, with a holding sub-soil, may be 

 rendered suitable for flax, by proper cultivation; and since the discovery that 

 plaster of paris is an excellent manure for it, a crop may be obtained with much 

 more certainty on lighter lands than formerly. Perhaps the characteristic of 

 best garden mould may be applied to a flax soil, viz: retaining sufficient moisture, 

 and all that fails, without ever being saturated; but on any soils the surface should 

 be completely pulverized, and never worked when wet. 



Manures. No dung should be applied to the land when the flax is sown, but 

 it may be put on bountifully with the previous crop. The objection is, that 

 dung forces the growth so rapidly, that the plants draw up weak, have a thin 

 harle. and are more liable to lodge. Lime, marl, shells, leached ashes, &c., 

 do not produce such effects. Top dressings, soon after the plants appear, of 

 plaster, ashes, soot, &c., are highly beneficial, as they not only encourage the 

 growth, but are a protection against worms, which sometimes attack the young 

 plants, and may be considered the only enemy they have, except weeds. Salt 

 has been mentioned by the late Dr. ELIOT, of Connecticut, as an excellent ma- 

 nure to plough in with flax, at the rate of five bushels to the acre;* probably 

 more would be better. Plaster is now much used in Dutchess county, the best 

 cultivated district in New York, as a manure for flax, on which its good effects 

 are as apparent as on corn. The late Chancellor LIVINGSTON viewed a piece 

 of flax on the 20th of May, 1791, belonging to a poor tenant, very injudiciously 

 sown on a dry sandy declivity, it looked so extremely sickly, that the tenant 

 thought of ploughing it up; the Chancellor gave him three bushels of plaister, 

 which was sown the next morning before the dew was off, and had the satis- 

 faction of seeing his tenant gather more flax from this half acre, in an uncom- 

 mon dry season, than was produced from any acre in the neighbourhood.! 



Preparation of the land. It is not unfrequent in Ireland to obtain crops of 

 flax from greensward, on which they put lime, shells, limestone, gravel, &c., 



* See ELIOT'S Essays on Field Husbandry. 



t Transactions of the Agricultural Society of New York. 



