FLAX. 15 



Botanical and Commercial Features. The flax is typical of the 

 natural order Linacex, the plants of which are either herbs, shrubs 

 or trees. 



The common flax, the purging flax, the perennial and the narrow 

 leaved species (L. angustifolium) are all herbs. 



In the common flax the leaves are alternate, linear, lanceolate, acute, 

 entire. The flowers are arranged in racemose panicles, and the floral 

 organs are arranged in whorls of five (pentamerous). The calyx and 

 corolla are inserted alternately, the petals being of a blue colour and 

 twisted in the bud ; the stem grows erect up to the flowering 

 stage, when it becomes forked or panicled, so that each branch of 

 the flower stalk may be fully exposed to the light. Sometimes the 

 flax is grown in quantity chiefly for the oil that is obtained from 

 the seeds, and for the fibres that are obtained from the plant stem 

 for commercial purposes. 



Fig. 6 is a young seedling flax plant showing the primary, and the 

 secondary or branching roots, that mechanically support the plant in the 

 soil where it grows. Below the branching-off point, the root tapers, and 

 above it the stem has a uniform thickness as far as the insertion of the 

 cotyledons. This part of the stem has a thin median line formed by 

 the fibro-vascular cylindrical bundles, which later become the xylem ; 

 while in the outer part of the cylinder a ring of phloem bast cells are 

 developed which constitute the bulk of the flax fibre used commercially. 

 The flax cultivator has two main objects in view-^-(l) the production of 

 a seed with as much oil as possible, or (2) the maximum development of 

 bast tissue. The seed of the flax plant is the " Linseed " of commerce ; 

 it is imported in large quantities from Kussia and other countries. When 

 the seeds have been detached they are crushed for the oil which they 

 contain, viz., "Linseed" oil, an oil much used in the mixing of paints 

 on account of its "drying" so quickly. The successful making of 

 linoleum is also dependent upon the oil obtained from the seeds. 

 The flax plant is much cultivated in India as an oil producer. In this 

 case the fibres are either poorly developed or serve as reserve stores for 

 the nourishment of the seeds during the latest or fructifying stage of 

 the plant's life history. 



In the selection of seeds for sowing preference should be given to 

 those which are plump, heavy and glossy. 



Culture. The flax plant thrives best in a firm, moist, and sandy soil ; 

 when grown for its fibre only, the plant ought to be pulled or drawn 

 out of the soil before it has attained its maturity, or when the nourish- 

 ment stored up in the bast tissues has not been exhausted. The stems 

 pulled out of the soil ought to be as uniform in length as possible. The 



