3° 



Linseed Grown in Scotland. 



[APRIL, 



In this connection the figures for the Scottish set are of 

 interest, the average of the 16 samples of seed being 36*15 per 

 cent., and the highest for one sample 38-55 per cent., as com- 

 pared with the figures of 39-20 per cent, for this sample of 

 Dutch seed already given (p. 27). 



The average yield of dressed seed per acre in the Fife centre 

 was 15 bush, (of 52 lb. per bush.). Such a yield, of seed 

 containing on an average 36 per cent, of oil from a crop grown 

 for fibre production, suggests that it might be advantageous for 

 the farmer to cultivate the crop for the sake of the seed required 

 for his own use.* At present prices it is stated that there 

 seems to be little doubt that, where possible, it would pay the 

 farmer to grow the crop for seed consumption on the farm, for 

 when grown for this purpose the seed might be greatly increased. 



In addition to the seed, a valuable by-product is obtained in 

 the process of de-seeding, known as linseed chaff, which consists 

 of the capsules or receptacles in which the seeds are contained. 



The following table gives the analysis of four samples of 

 linseed chaff obtained from different centres in Fife, the yield 

 of chaff being on the average 7 cwt. per acre. 



Table III. 



Percentage Composition of" Linseed Chaff" Capsules. 



Moisture 



1 2 '40 



12*24 



14-40 



13*45 



Oil 



4-40 



7*59 



6-85 



6*72 



Albuminoids 



5-00 



6-25 



7-19 



6-85 



Fibre 



31*75 



32T5 



33-65 



31*55 



Ash 



7-96 



973 



8-2Q 



8-8i 



Soluble carboh\ T drates 



38*49 



32-04 



29*62 



32-62 



Total . . . . 



100 -oo 



ioo-oo 



ioo-oo 



IOO -oo 



The samples are seen to vary slightly in their percentage of 

 oil, due to the fact that all the samples contained a few small 

 linseeds, some samples containing more than others. 



One factor which has tended to discourage the cultivation of 

 flax on a large area of land well suited for the purpose in 

 Scotland is stated to have been the belief that the crop was a 

 particularly exhausting one. This belief, however, has been 

 shown to be erroneous, and figures are given in the article 

 showing that the weight of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash 

 removed from the soil by the flax crop grown in Fife is just 

 about the same as that removed by an average cereal crop. 



* It is pointed out, however, that when growing flax for the seed it 

 bears, a different variety of seed — namely La Plata — should be grown, and 

 the crop should be cut at a somewhat later stage of ripening. See this 

 Journal, February, 191 6, p. 1069. 



