85 



kind of comb before it is watered. These combs are made of 

 iron, and the teeth are so close that the heads cannot pass 

 through, and are consequently pulled off. 



It is observable that the land on which retted flax is spread 

 to prepare it for housing, is greatly improved thereby ; and if 

 it be spread on a coarse sour pasture the herbage will be 

 totally changed, and the best sorts of grasses will make their 

 apj)carance. Having myself cultivated flax on a large scale, 

 and observing the almost instantaneous effect produced by the 

 water in which the flax was immersed, I was induced some years 

 ago to apply it to some pasture land by means of watering carts 

 similar to those used near London in watering the roads. The 

 eff'ect was astonishing, and advanced the land in value 10*. 

 per acre. This liquid is much superior to animal urine. 

 The practice I therefore recommend to the cultivators of flax ; 

 possibly it may not be a new idea, but I believe it is seldom 

 so applied. 



The second method, namely, dew-ripening, may be carried 

 on immediately after the flax is pulled, or it may be dried and 

 stacked ; and in the months of February or March the seed 

 may be stamped from the stalk, and the latter spread on the 

 grass lands to ripen. 



The principal manures made use of by the growers of flax 

 are the sheepfold, woollen rags, horn shavings, and lime ; and 

 it is no unusual thing for the farmer to find ground, manure, 

 ploughing, and all team work ; and the labourer to find seed, 

 and all manual labour, dividing at the conclusion the produce 

 in a way similar to that before stated in the teazel account. 

 The expense and produce of an acre of watered flax may be 

 thus estimated : — 



Br. 



