FLAX. 7 



England, Scotlaiid, and Ireland are of course in- 

 cluded in this account*. 



There is scarcely any plant which is found to be 

 so little affected by difference of soil and climate as 

 the flax plant, and accordingly one species, with all 

 its characteristics unaltered, flourishes in the cold 

 as well as the temperate regions of Europe, in 

 North and South America, in Africa, and in Asia. 

 By the Hindoos it is cultivated for its seed alone, 

 from which oil is expressed and the stalks are thrown 

 aside as useless f, but in every other country where 

 it is raised its fibres are woven into cloth. 



The common flax (linum usitatissimum) is an 



; Common Flax Linum usitatissimum. 



* One pood is equal to 36 pounds English, f Dr. Roxburgh. 



