68 AGRICULTURE. 



RAPE has already been referred to as being closely related to 

 the turnip and cabbage. Its leaf resembles that of the turnip, 

 but its root is much smaller and its top much larger. It grows 

 to a height of from one to three feet. Some varieties are 

 annuals and some are biennials. It is grown both for its seed, 

 which contains a large quantity of valuable oil rapeseed oil 

 and also for its tops, which are used in pasturing and in soiling. 

 When used for soiling or pasturing, the biennial is sown in 

 drills and cultivated. 



FLAX is an annual with slender stems about two feet in 

 length and bearing bluish flowers. The seed is known as 

 flaxseed or linseed. The word linseed is from the botanical 

 name linum, which is also found in linen, the cloth made from 

 the flax fibre. It is grown both for its seeds and for its fibre. 

 The seeds contain a very large amount of oil (linseed oil), which 

 is very valuable for paints and other purposes ; also a large 

 amount of nitrogenous compounds, and of ash material. When 

 the oil is removed the bye-product forms one of the richest 

 foods used for stock-feeding. When the plant is grown for 

 fibre it may be pulled at any time after blossoming. The fibre 

 is obtained from the stalks. We have before referred to the 

 cell-structure of plants. When we cut across a piece of wood 

 we cut across its cell tubes ; when we cut lengthwise along 

 the wood we cut these tubes from one another. The grain, as 

 we say, runs along the stem or limb. In some plants these 

 cells are strung together in threads and are very tough so that 

 they will hold together. The cells in the bark or bast are 

 generally longer and tougher than those in the wood, and are 

 known as bast cells or bast fibres. The inner bark of bass 

 wood (or bast-wood) is quite tough because of these. These 

 bast cells in the flax are very fine and very tough, and, there- 

 fore, make fine fibre. The best fibre is got from flax that has 

 not ripened its seed-vessels or bolls. Why ? Generally, how- 

 ever, the plant is allowed to ripen its seeds. The plants are 



