( 12% ) 
Of the Sunflower. 
This plant isa native of Peru, and is cultivated, in 
Europe, principally for the seeds, which give a large 
proportion of oil, of much use for domestic purposes. 
It requires a good soil, well manured, and thorough- 
ly worked and cleansed. The seeds should be sown 
ene foot apart, and in rows two feet asunder. In 
France, the stems are employed for fuel and pea- 
sticks, and the leaves for fodder.(1) 
Of Flax. 
_ Plax is of Asiatic erigin, and from its hardiness and 
usefulness, is generally diffused over the globe. No 
plant undergoes a greater change in the hands of la- 
bor, and few, if any, better repays the labor bestow- 
ed upon it.(2) It is cultivated with two different 
views—one, for the fibre which surrounds the stem, 
and which is convertible into cloth—the other, for 
the seeds, which yield an oil very important to the 
arts. These different objects have been supposed to 
be best promoted by different kinds of seed and dif- 
ferent kinds of culture. In England, it is believed 
that the seed of this country gives.a flax of greater 
length and of finer fibre ; and that the seed of Memel 
or Riga(3) produces a coarser plant and greater 
quantity of seed. We doubt, however, the correct- 
ness of this distinction, and think ourselves support- 
ed by experience as well as theory, in placing the 
difference less to the account of any peculiar quality 
of the seed, than to the greater or smaller quantity 
(1) See Crete de Paleuil on the sunflower. 
(2) How wonderful the difference between the raw material and Brussel’s lace! 
(3) Fhe flaxseed of Riga is broad and flat, and of a darker color than that of this 
vcountry, 4 
