REMARKS. 

 Dr. A. W. Thornton, 



Whatcom County, Washington. 



Dear Sir: — I "beg to enclose you report upon American 

 flax straw which you sent over to us to be treated. 



We congratulate you, on the success of this experiment, 

 which is far beyond our expectations, and we believe there is a 

 great future before the flax growers in the west of America. 



Yours faithfully, 



Frank Barbour. 



The too thin seeding was in accordance with specific instruc- 

 tions from the Department of Agriculture. The delay in pulling 

 was caused by difficulty in obtaining pullers, and owing to the 

 too late sowing (by six weeks) and subsequent unusual dry and 

 hot summer. The crop matured more rapidly than normal. 



Comparing the single with the double retting system, the re- 

 sults favor largely the double ret, in not only increasing the yield 

 of fiber, but increasing the percentages of the high priced quali- 

 ties of line, and general money return for the crop. 



I would here insert a paragraph from Mr. Barbour's letter of 

 transmittal, "The flax is eminently adapted for thread making, 

 or warp yarn spinning purposes. It is exceedingly strong and 

 works well on the machines. If flax is grown and manipulated 

 under proper conditions on Puget Sound, we are convinced that 

 the cultivation of it would be of the greatest importance, and in a 

 short time rival the great Belgian district of Courtrai." 



How has the crop yielded and how did it pay? For some of 

 figures in the following tables intended to solve the question I 

 have taken from pamphlets now out of print. The first table 

 gives the yield of retted flax fiber from, say 100 pounds of dried 

 straw and the yield per cent of fiber from same after retting. 



Flax Straw Flax Straw Scutched Yield Per Cent 



Before Retting After Retting Flax Fiber of Fiber 



No 1—100 lbs 77.38 lbs. 19.04 lbs. 24.61 lbs. 



No 2—100 lbs 76.82 lbs. 18.84 lbs. 24.53 lbs. 



No's- 100 lbs 74.69 lbs. 16.66 lbs. 23.31 lbs. 



No'4— 100 lbs 84.38 lbs. 17.97 lbs. 21.29 lbs. 



No' 5—100 lbs 82.50 lbs. 16.72 lbs. 20.26 lbs. 



No! 6— 100 lbs 88.31 lbs. 15.56 lbs. 18.75 lbs. 



Average— 100 lbs 80.97 lbs. 16.49 lbs. 20.63 lbs. 



GENERAL IDEA OR ORDINARY RESULTS. 



An acre of fairly good flax is estimated to weigh on foot, or 

 when fresh pulled, about five tons. In drying, it will probably 

 lose about one-half, or a little more, say 55 per cent will be taken 

 off the weight. Steeping will reduce it more in round numbers 



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