126 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



AQRICULTUIIE THE GREAT INTEREST. 



Nothing is more common, even among vyise leg- 

 islators, than to hear people talking of the supe- 

 rior importance of commerce, mechanics, arts and 

 manufactures, to that of agriculture, as a busi- 

 ness — and speaking of the vast preponderance of 

 capital invested in those branches of industry over 

 that engaged in cultivating the soil. We do not 

 speak of this complainingly, but only as the nat- 

 ural result of that broadcast prejudice which ex- 

 ists against the occupations of rural life, and of 

 that want of information in the public mind, which 

 ])laces in a second or third rate position the great 

 art that sustains us all. No error can find so 

 little foundation as this, and a trifling investiga- 

 tion of the various census tables published, will 

 justify what we assert. 



A few years ago, when the farmers of the State 

 of Maine asked the Legislature to establish a 

 State Board of Agriculture, all the old objections 

 were urged against it, and among others, that the 

 subject was not of sufficient public importance to 

 justify such a measure. In reply to this, it was 

 stated by a member, first, that commerce and 

 manufactures had, in a thousand ways, directly 

 and indirectly, received the protection and patron- 

 age of the general government — and second, that 

 commerce and manufactures were not greater in- 

 tej-ests than agriculture, but that more capilal was 

 invested in agriculture than all the investments in 

 commcjxe and m,aniifadures added together ! 



The last remark was received with derision, and 

 proof was called for. Application was made to 

 the Superintendent of the Census Bureau, and the 

 following answer returned : "The amount invest- 

 ed in agriculture, in the United States, does not 

 fall short of $5,000,000,000, (five billions,) and 

 the capital in manufactures and commerce togeth- 

 er, cannot possibly be more than one-ffth of that 

 amount." 



For one, we have no special favor to ask of 

 Congress or legislatures for the farmer — but only 

 those helps which are accorded to all classes of 

 our people, and which, instead of crippling the 

 government, would vastly strengthen it. What 

 we do earnestly desire is, that the farmer shall be- 

 come a more intelligent, self-reliant and systemat- 

 ic man, and then he will soon take proper rank, 

 and exert the most happy influence upon every 

 department of our industrial and political afi'airs. 

 This must be done in order to place our govern- 

 ment on the most stable and permanent founda- 

 tion, and to secure the greatest national prosperity. 



Public Schools of Pennsylvania. — The 

 whole number of scholars in attendance upon the 

 public schools of Pennsylvania last year was 682,- 

 182. The cost of maintaining the schools was 

 $2,773,595. 



For tlie New England Farmer. 

 FLAX CULTURE— No. 2. 



Two powerful incentives are now operating to 

 induce farmers to embark in the cultivation of 

 flax, viz : Its profitableness over other farm pro- 

 ducts, and a desire to produce a substitute for cot- 

 ton. That it is the most profitable crop the farm- 

 er can raise, at present prices, every one will ad- 

 mit, notwithstanding the remarks I made oia the 

 subject in a former article, and as I promised then 

 to give some instructions in regard to its cultiva- 

 tion, I will begin by noticing the objections that 

 some farmers make to sowing, and trying to prove 

 that they are m.ostly groundless. In the first 

 place, some contend that it exhausts the soil more 

 than other crops. I have faised flax for fifteen 

 years on the same farm, and said farm will pro- 

 duce fully one-third more of any crop than it 

 would at the time I commenced. I do not attri- 

 bute its increased productiveness to raising flax, 

 but to a judicious system of manuring and high 

 seeding. My system of cropping is this : first, 

 corn or potatoes, second, flax, oats, or .spring 

 wheat, and then to rye in the fail, and seed down. 

 Of my method of manuring, I will speak hereaf- 

 ter, but suffice it to say here, that it enables me lo 

 take ofi" three crops as above, and leave my land 

 in better condition than when first ploughed. 

 That flax does not exhaust the soil more than oats, 

 or spring wheat, 1 infer from the fact that my rye 

 or winter wheat is invariably better on the land 

 sowed to flax, than on the oat or other stubble. 

 Others say that land cannot be seeded when sown 

 to flax, which is an error, although it is not as 

 good as some other crops, for the reason that, if 

 the flax is pulled in wet weather, the young grass 

 roots ai"e pulled out, more or less, and if dry v.eath- 

 er comes on, they are dried to death ; but this can 

 be obviated in a measure by rolling the land after 

 the flax is off". I prefer to take off" three crops, 

 and if the land is not suitable for rye, I leave it 

 until spring, and sow to oats or barley, spreading 

 fine manure on top of the ground, which, being 

 harvested in with the grain, secures a good crop, 

 and also a good seed, which is worth as much as a 

 coat of manure on any land. 



The greatest objection, in these times of scar- 

 city of labor, is that the liarvesting comes just 

 when the farmer is the busiest, and when every 

 other crop is pressing. The only way to remedy 

 this, is to sow a little less of other crops, and sow 

 a little flax, not too much, for J do not approve 

 of every farmer going into the flax business over 

 head and ears, to the neglect of everything else. 

 That flax is an uncertain crop, is very true, but it 

 is very seldom that it does not pay for all labor 

 and leave a little besides, in the poorest of sea- 

 sons. 



The quantity and quality of flax depend very 

 much on the season, probably more so than most 

 other crops, for, unlike corn, it has iew enemies, 

 and, unlike corn, it requires a cool, moist season, 

 to bring it to its greatest perfection. Nearly all 

 rich soils will produce flax, except sandy or grav- 

 elly land, and even that will grow good flax in a 

 very wet season. Soils that are best adapted to 

 oats, are the best for flax. It should be sown on 

 land that has produced a hoea crop the previous 

 year, as otherwise it is apt to be filled with weeds, 

 which make bad pulling. Sward land, ])loughed 

 in the fall, may be sown the next spriug, but 



