1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



13 



FIBRE-CKOPS— FLAX. 



Some inquiries have recently been made of us 

 in regard to the flax crop, and attention is again 

 called to the subject by the discovery of a mode 

 of "rotting it," and separating the external cov- 

 ering, the fibre, from the inner stem, or stalk 

 part. 



Formerly the cultivation of flax was considered 

 one of the most important branches of New Eng- 

 land industry. A good crop of flax, to be manu- 

 factured by the female members of the family in- 

 to articles of domestic use, was an object of laud- 

 able ambition with many farmers. As a field pro- 

 duct, its cultivation was regarded as somewhat 

 difficult — on any soil of moderate fertility, — 

 though, like other products, it always succeeds 

 best when supplied liberally with its appropriate 

 food. In preparing lands for flax, experience 

 had early demonstrated the fact, that a fine, deep 

 soil is much better adapted to the growth of flax, 

 than one of an opposite texture. It was early as- 

 certained to be a very exhausting crop, and in the 

 rotary system adopted on the continent, and in 

 Belgium, at this day, where the culture of flax is 

 extensively pursued, it is not allowed to enter 

 oftener than once in seven years. Calcareous 

 lands, or lime in its caustic state, it has been as- 

 certained, are detrimental to the growth of this 

 plant. Several soils which had produced excel- 

 lent crops of flax were submitted to analytical 

 examination, and were found to contain : 



No. 1. Ao. 2. No. 3. 



Silica and silicious sand 73.72 69.41 64.93 



Oxideoflron 5.51 6.29 5.64 



Alumina 6.65 5.70 8.79 



Phosphate of iron 06 .25 .31 



Carbonate of iime 1.09 .53 1.67 



Magnesia and alkalies, with traces of 



sulphuric and muriatic acids 32 .25 .54 



Organic matters 4.86 6.67 9.41 



Water 7.57 11 4S 8.73 



Total 99.78 99.58 98.22 



In all these specimens the organic matter was 

 highly nitrogenized, a fact which renders their 

 fertility in the production of the flax crop, easily 

 understood. The ligneous substance of the flax 

 plant, which, by subsequent manipulation is con- 

 verted into linen, is found to be composed of pre- 

 cisely the same elementary matter as starch and 

 sugar, and in very nearly the same relative pro- 

 portions. In one hundred parts — omitting the 

 matter contained in the cellular cavities, it gives 



Carbon 50.00 



Hydrogen 5.55 



Oxygen 44.45 



One remarkable fact in relation to this plant 

 is, that the fibre, which alone constitutes the real 

 money value of flax, is elaborated solely from 

 atmospheric pabulum, or the food derived during 

 its life from the air. All the elements it derives 

 from the soil are employed by the system, in or- 

 ganizing substances which are of no practical 



value to the farmer, but, on the contrary, rather a 

 disadvantage. 



Probably the best soil for the cultivation of 

 flax is a light, fine loam, with a slight admixture 

 of clay, but not sufficient to render it wet in moist 

 seasons, or subject it to the liability of parching 

 or becoming "baked" when dry. A chemical 

 analysis of the plant may partially indicate what 

 manure would be adapted to its full development. 

 We have already given the results of several anal- 

 yses of ihojibre ; we will now give analyses of the 

 flax plant as it grows, and of the ash after burn- 

 ing: 



Yhkx Plant. 



Carbon 38.72 



Hydrogen 7.33 



Nitrogen 56 



Oxygen 48.39 



Ash 5.00 



ICO.OO 

 Ashes op Flax Plant. 



Potash .... 9.78 



Soda, (sea air) 9.82 



Lime 12.33 



Magnesia 7.79 



Oxide of iron and alumina 6.08 



Silica, (sand) 21.35 



Sulphuric acid 2.65 



Chlorine, (sea air) 2.41 



Carbonic acid, (air charcoal) 16.95 



Phosphoric acid 10.84 



ICO.OO 



i^or the Neio England Farmer. 

 APPLES FOR MILCH COWS. 



Mr. Editor: — Being a constant reader of the 

 Farmer, and somewhat interested in agriculture, 

 although it is not my business, and knowing how 

 much people are opposed to feeding out apples, 

 pai'ticularly to milcn cows, and of the misappre- 

 hension of the amount of nutritious matter con- 

 tained in them, I thought I would give ray expe- 

 rience in the trial of them. I have a cow four years 

 old last spring, that calved in February, and will 

 calve again in March, which I have fed every day 

 since apples were large enough, with from half a 

 peck to a peck. She gives six and a half quarts 

 of milk per day. Now, if the apples would have 

 dried her up, as some people saj-, she would not 

 certainly be giving that amount now, as my neigh- 

 bors have cows equally as good as mine, that do 

 not give more than one-half the quantity. 



I am aware that many object to feeding out ap- 

 ples, on the ground that the cows will get choked 

 by swallowing the apples whole. I have never 

 known of an instance happening where the cow 

 was tied up and the apples put before her in a 

 box. If fed in the yard or field, they are liable to 

 be started quickly by another creature, and the 

 apple thrown into the gullet, where, being too 

 large to pass into the stomach, it sticks. I heard 

 quite a good farmer remark that cattle are hurt 

 by eating too many apples at a time — they break 

 into an orchard and eat beyond the capacity of the 

 stomach to digest. Would it not be so if they 

 ate green corn, or any other kind of food, to ex- 

 cess ? In fact, every excess in partaking of food 

 produces injury, and is followed by symptoms of 

 indigestion. I am satisfied that one-half a peck 

 of apples given to a cow morning and evening, 

 will increase the quantity and quality of the milk, 



