ADDHES3. 29 



which will enable them to throw away the fibre, which is it- 

 self worth nearly the price of hay. Another would discover 

 that much of your soil is admirably adapted to it, that it re- 

 quires only a moderate degree of fertility, that there is more 

 danger of having the soil too rich, than of having it too poor 

 and light. Another would find out that it did riot exhaust the 

 soil, as has been supposed, but that all the fibrous part of the 

 plant draws its substance and support from the air and from 

 water, and that it is only the seed that draws upon the soil, 

 and that only to a very limited extent, which could be sup- 

 plied with the utmost ease, by feeding out the oil-cake to cat- 

 tle, and returning it in the shape of stable manure. Another 

 would find a home market which must now be supplied by im- 

 portation from countries which can raise it no better than we, 

 at a cost of six or eight millions of dollars annually. Estab- 

 lishments for the manufacture of thread and coarse cloth from 

 flax would be found at Andover, Clinton, Willimantic and 

 Webster. It would be evident that other similar establish- 

 ments would soon start up in different parts of the country. 

 Another would look into the uses and demands for the seed, 

 its fattening properties for cattle, the average amount per acre, 

 and the price, and find equal encouragement there for its cul- 

 tivation. 



Another would examine the improved machinery lately in- 

 troduced, with facilities for the preparation and manufacture 

 of flax never before knowi^ and would obtain information in 

 regard to flax cotton, and all the varieties of fabrics for which 

 flax is now required more extensively than ever. With the 

 lights which all these investigations would open, the club 

 would come to the important decision of the propriety of of- 

 fering a premium for this very crop by the Hampshire County 

 Agricultural Society. When the investigations connected 

 with flax were concluded, the properties and value of root 

 crops might be taken up and their peculiar adaptedness to the 

 soil of your county would be impressed on the attention of 

 farmers. Their fattening properties would be investigated. 

 That would lead to experiments by one and another connected 



