AND OF FLAX SOILS. 149 
A B Cc D K F G 
Courtrai District.) Antwerp District. 
ee ewe 
8 & eae 
| El ali lstlal 4 
P| eve | olga hed g 
| a | 2 |AR | E| 
Potash . F F . | 9°69} 30°62] 26-67 | 28-62] 21-35] 11:78) 6°60 
Soda . ‘ ‘ c 24°16} none.| 16°88} 0°48] 12°65) 11:82) 6-61 
Lime . ‘ . ‘ 19°37 | 22°04) 22°15 | 21:19] 21°30} 14°85 | 23-67 
Magnesia. . : 4:34) 4:45] 4:70) 405] 3:50] 9:38) 4:22 
Sesquioxide of Iron P 5°66} 2°03] 1:31] 253] 2:74] ,, ,, | 14°10 
Alumina ‘ , ‘ 056; 0:58} O86] ,, ,, 1:67 | 7:32] ys 55 
Manganese . F , trace. | trace.| trace.| ,, ,, aera ee 1:12 
Sulphuric Acid =. f 7-93| 833] 8:18] 13-43] 11:22] 3:19] 9:30 
Phosphoric Acid . e 14:10] 15-78 | 10°66 | 12°19) 12°82] 13°05| 7:29 
Silicic Acid . ‘ 3°85 | 4:54] 3:20] 3°36] 6:18] 25:71} 0:94 
Chloride of Sodium z 10°34] 11°63) 5:49) 14:15) 657] 2:90] 26°15 
100-00 100-00 |100-00 {100-00 |100-00 |100-00 |100-00 
“On comparing the results of our analyses with those of Sir Robert Kane, 
we find at once that the general features of both are identical, although, as 
might be expected, discrepancies present themselves respecting the individual 
constituents. In the ashes, both of the Belgian and of the Russian specimens, 
we meet with a very large amount of alkali (nearly 40 per cent.) : the quan- 
tity, too, of phosphoric acid is very considerable (from 10 to 15 per cent.) 
Our analyses then furnish a further proof that Flax must be classed among 
the most exhausting crops, for, the amount of valuable mineral substances 
which we remove from the soil in this plant considerably exceeds the quan- 
tity which is generally extracted from it in the form of wheat or corn. 
“From astatement of Mr. M‘Adam,! it appears that one rood of land 
yields about 12-7 cwt. of recently pulled Flax plant. Ifwe take this number 
as the basis of calculation, and the average per centage of ash at 3°53 ]b., of 
alkalies at 39°58 1b., and of phosphoric acid at 12°51 lb., we find that a Flax 
crop removes from a rood of land not less than 12:21 1b. of alkalies, and 
5-941b. of phosphoric acid. On the other hand, we have learnt from the 
researches of Mr. Way,? that a rood of land, which has served for the cul- 
tivation of wheat, loses (an average taken from a great number of analyses) 
about 7°5 lb, of alkali and 6:9lb. of phosphoric acid. These figures show 
that the amount of phosphoric acid in the Flax crop closely approaches that 
of the wheat, whilst the latter extracts only about half the quantity of 
alkali which we find in the former. Hence, it would appear, that a Flax crop 
is at least as exhausting as a crop of wheat. 
“ There is, however, one striking point of dissimilarity between the culti- 
vation of wheat and that of Flax, and we are indebted to Sir Robert Kane 
for having for the first time brought this point under the notice of the 
farmer in a forcible manner, viz.: that while the mineral ingredients which 
we remove from our fields in wheat, or cerealia in general, become con- 
stituents of food, and enter in this manner into a circulation, from which, 
even under very favorable circumstances, they return to the soil only after 
the lapse of some time; the woody fibre of Flax, as a necessary preliminary 
1 ‘Royal Agricultural Journal,’ vol. viii, p. 361. 
2 «Royal Agricultural Journal,’ vol. vii, p. 593. 
