108 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



SOW at such a rate as will insure good crops of each ; and 

 experience only can determine the exact point. It is proba- 

 ble that six pecks is the least, and two bushels the extent 

 that should be sown to obtain the most profitable results, till 

 the demand for seed is considerably lessened/ 



Sou'hig. Mr. Pomeroy recommends sowing as early as 

 it is possible to prepare the grc and, says that it is important 

 that the seeds should be equally distributed, and ' fortunately 

 what has long been a desideratum is now attained. A ma- 

 chine for sowing small seeds broad-cast with perfect regu- 

 larity has lately been invented, and performs to great satis- 

 faction.^ 



Weeding. ' Weeding is considered in Europe, and by 

 good husbandmen in this country, as necessary to secure a 

 good crop of flax, which is a very tender plant when young, 

 and more easily checked in its progress by weeds than any 

 other. It is not supposed to be injured by the clover and 

 grass sown with it ; on the contrary, the Flemish farmers 

 think them beneficial, by protecting the tender roots from 

 drought, and keeping the weeds under. It should be care- 

 fully wed when the plants are three or four inches high ; they 

 are not then injured by the laborer going barefooted over 

 them. 



Pulling. ' This should be performed as soon as the 

 leaves begin to fall and the stalks show a bright yellow 

 color, and when the bolls are turned a little brown. The 

 seed will continue to ripen afterwards. When the flax is 

 lodged it should be pulled immediately, in any stage of its 

 growth, or it will be entirely lost. Great care is requisite in 

 sorting the difl^erent lengths, and keeping them separate till 

 after the flax is hackled, or much waste will ensue in that 

 process. 



Savi/ig Seed. ' As soon as the flax is dry enough to be 

 put under cover, it should be rippled, as it is termed. A 

 comb, resembling the head of a rake, but with teeth longer 

 and nearer together, made of hickory or oak, is fastened up- 

 on a block, and the flax, taken in parcels no larger than the 



* Bennett's machine for sowing broad-cast, a description and drawnng 

 of which are given in the Memoirs of the Philadelphia Agricultural So- 

 ciety, vol. ir, with ample testimony of its usefulness. It is pushed for- 

 ward by a man, like a wheel-barrow, and will sow more than one acre in 

 an hour, unimpeded by wind or light rain. They are for sale at J. R. 

 Newell's agricultural warehouse, ifos. 51 and 52, North Market street, 

 Boston. 



