PERENNIAL SPECIES RECOMMENDED. 



265 



been much remarked in this country. In the selection ol 

 foreign seed for sowing, the fine bold samples of pale 

 coloured seed should be avoided, lest they should per- 

 chance be the produce of this variety, which would pro- 

 bably occasion some loss in harvesting, were the crop 

 grown for seed purposes. 



Some experiments 1 recently made with the L. perenne 

 tend to show that its perennial 

 nature and its capability of 

 sustaining itself on soils of the 

 poorest description, entitle it 

 to more consideration than it 

 has hitherto received at our 

 hands. Its hardy nature, and 

 its branching and vigorous 

 habit of growth, when a little 

 care and attention is bestowed 

 upon it, would lead us to be- 

 lieve that on the poor thin, 

 soils of the chalk formations, 

 for instance, it might be cul- 

 tivated with advantage, and 

 would probably on such soils 

 give a far larger return than 

 could be obtained from any of 

 the plants we at present cul- 

 tivate. The branching habit 

 of the plant would be favour- 

 able to the production of seed, 

 but unfavourable, it is true, 

 to the production of fibre. The cost of production, how- 

 ever, would be so small, that this could be sold at a com- 

 paratively low rate for inferior purposes of consumption, 

 for which a large and constant demand exists. 



PERENNIAL FLAX L. perenne. 



VOL. II. 



1 Agri. Gaz., 1860, p. 270. 



50 



