No. 149.] 413 



seeds are unfit for sowing, and will onlj disappoint the agricul- 

 turist. 



When the plants are four inches high, it will be necessary to 

 weed them once thoroughly, and it must be well performed, as 

 they cannot be weeded after this period without much difficulty 

 and injury to the fibre. If the object of the farmer is to produce 

 seeds from a crop for sowing, or food for animals, it is essential 

 that the plants should be allowed to ripen perfectly. If, on the 

 other hand, fibre is the desired object, the flax must be pulled in 

 a green state. It should never be pulled while damp, as the 

 bark will in that case be injured by the hand in the operation. 

 If any portion of the crop lodge before it is ripe, it must be taken 

 out immediately, and kept by itself. Each portion of the field 

 should be pulled as it ripens sufficiently, and the balance left 

 until fit. When pulled it must be assorted with great care ; the 

 coarse, the fine, the short, the long, must be kept in separate 

 bunches by themselves. This matter is neglected by our people, 

 but the most devoted attention is paid to it in Holland ; therefore 

 their superiority is thus accounted for. 



When the crop is pulled the plants are bound in sheaves and 

 set up in stooks similar to corn. We now desire to obtain the 

 fibre, and must, to accomplish the object, destroy the interior 

 portion of the stem and leave the fibre free from injury. This 

 may be accomplished in several ways ; one is to place the bun- 

 dles in soft stagnant water and there allow them to steep ; in a 

 few days the inner matter rots by fermentation ; before decompo- 

 sition reaches the fibre the bundles must be withdrawn. They 

 are now exceedingly offensive, and injurious to the health of 

 those engaged in the operation, not unfrequently causing fevers, 

 &c.. Some flax growers place their bundles in running water 

 instead of stagnant, in which case it will require many weeks to 

 rot the gummy mucilaginous matter which holds the fibres to- 

 gether ; tlie fibres, however, will be stronger than by the first 

 process ; others spread the flax upon grass for about six weeks, 

 when the action of the rain and dew will effect the same object 

 and yield a much stronger fibre than either of the other process- 

 es. Good flax should be fine, soft as silk, glistening, long and of 

 a silver grey color. 



