168 



CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 



second for bruising for oil, and the third or refuse is employed 

 at once for the feeding of cattle. 



The use of flax in the linen manufacture is well known. 

 The seed is crushed for oil, which is that in common use 

 among painters the cake or husk which remains after the ex- 

 pression of the oil, is most excellent for fattening cattle. Dried 

 and pulverized it is a good manure for drilled crops. The 

 seeds, in every form, are highly nutritive; they are frequently 

 given boiled to young animals, as calves, and to sick horses 

 and cows. By the process of boiling, a jelly is formed, which 

 all herbiverous animals will eat. For this purpose, the refuse 

 seeds of the flax, not sufficiently good for crushing, is often 

 reserved. 



The diseases of flax are few, and are chiefly the fly, which 

 sometimes, though rarely, attacks the plants when young, the 

 mildew, and the rust. 



II. HEMP. 



HEMP is a plant of equal antiquity with the flax. It is sup- 

 posed to be of Asiatic origin. It is very generally diffused over 

 the world, and has been used for supplying cordage and cloth 

 for a period Unknown. It is a very fine and graceful plant, 

 growing to a great height on good soils. Mixed with corn 

 and other cultivated plants, it gives an air of surpassing rich- 

 ness to the landscape. It is dioecious, that is, the male and 

 female flowers are produced on different plants. The leaves 

 of the hemp are powerfully narcotic; its seeds are nourishing, 

 and are eagerly consumed by birds; and they produce an oil 

 which is used for many purposes of the arts. 



The uses of hemp are well known, as well as its great im- 

 portance to the navy for canvass and cordage. For this its 

 tough, durable, and elastic fibres are suited beyond any other 

 substance yet known. The supply of canvass and cordage for 

 our navy and the commercial marine of the United States, is 

 immense; and notwithstanding our country is peculiarly adapt- 

 ed to the culture of hemp, its importance in a national point of 

 view, and the rich return it makes to the careful and judicious 

 cultivator, its cultivation has been sadly neglected. 



Soil. Hempj like flax, prefers a rich vegetable soil; but it 

 is not over nice in its choice, growing in clay, sand, or peat, 

 provided the land is kept rich with manures. But the soils 

 most suitable, and always to be preferred when possible, are 

 those of the deep black putrid vegetable kind, which, from 



