ject says, "Of the points favorable to the culture of "Asclapias 

 Incarnatas" are worth presenting here. It can be grown on over- 

 flowed land where no other cultivated plants will grow and yield 

 double the fiber that flax will produce of which many thousand 

 acres are available and the use of such lands would avoid drawing 

 on our grain lands. 



The crop is perennial and would not need renewing more 

 than once in five years. The stalks stand well after maturity and 

 can be harvested any time after October without injury to the 

 fiber. The crop grows as far north as the 46th parallel. I in- 

 cline to the opinion that cultivation will carry it up to the British 

 line and perhaps beyond. It blossoms in August and the fiber 

 does not fully develop till nearly quite ripe in September, for this 

 reason a shortening of the season four weeks would injure its 

 value. Undoubtedly "Asclapias Incarnata" promises better re- 

 sults than any of the indigenous species of bast fibers in the 

 United States, that we have considered. If it will thrive upon 

 waste land where no other crops will grow it has to that extent 

 an advantage over hemp, considering the strength of its fiber as 

 fully equal to hemp. 



THE COMMON MILKWEED (OR SILK WEED) 



("Asclapia Cornuti.") 

 Probably the commonest and best known milweed growing 

 in the United States is the "Cornuti," found in Canada. While 

 so widely distributed it does not seem to have been utilized for 

 fiber beyond a limited experiment. The culture of the plant is 

 said to be attended with little difficulty as it generally thrives on 

 poor soil and like the former species, is a perennial one. It 

 grows from either roots or seed and would be easily propigated 

 and the only portion of the plant of which practical use can be 

 made is the bast, which furnishes quite a fine, long, glossy fiber 

 that is strong and durable. 



THE STINGING NETTLE 

 ("Urtica Gracilis") 



The last of the bast fibers, I will here refer to are the sting- 

 ing nettles as being specially adapted to our Puget Sound region, 

 is a perennial and hardy and may be grown from roots or seed, 

 has a fine, soft, strong and glossy fiber and other attractive fea- 

 tures. The Germans are now producing it for the clothing of 

 their army and find it very strong and serviceable. It possesses 

 a fine, soft, white, silky fiber and of a finer ultimate fiber 

 than flax and is especially adapted to combining with wool or 

 animal fiber is of great strength and beauty. It is also admirably 

 suited to converting into absorbent and aseptic dressing for surgi- 

 cal and hospital use. 



ROTATION OF CROPS. 



The subject of rotation of crops, is one of such great im- 

 portance and yet a subject to innumerable variety of changes in 

 detail, that I think it will be less confusing to confine my remarks 

 to a few fundamental principles. Flax is a dainty feeder and 



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