0)1 the Cultivation of Flax. 



451 



Upon uneven or imperfectly cultivated land, tlie plants will 

 grow unevenly, and of various lengths ; and under the best culti- 

 vation some will grow to a greater height than others. This must 

 be attended to in pulling, it being important to keep the different 

 lengths separate. The Dutch and Flemings accomplish this by 

 first pulling a handful of the longest^ seizing it just below the 

 bolls, and then pulling the shorter. Each kind is laid separate 

 on the ground in rows, and kept perfectly even at the ends, the 

 bolls of one handful being placed by the root ends of the other ; 

 and each kind is separately stooked. This mode of pulling and 

 separating the stalks according to their lengths causes a little ad- 

 ditional labour at the time, but it will be fully recompensed by 

 the greater ease with which the after processes are performed, and 

 by the increased value of the fibre. Should there be any Vv ceds 

 mingled with the stalks, they must be removed at the time of 

 pulling, as they would be apt to stain and injure the colour of the 

 flax. 



It is not unusual with the Belgian farmers to sell their standing- 

 crop of flax to a factor, who takes upon himself all the subsequent 

 expense and risk. The factor pulls and removes the flax to some 

 favourite locality for steeping, where the several operations are 

 performed on a large scale by expert workmen, which enables 

 him to obtain a more valuable description of fibre than the far- 

 mers would, probably, be always able to produce. This factor- 

 ing system has been recently introduced into Ireland, and is 

 recommended by the Irish Flax Society as a means for effecting 

 improvement in the general management of the flax crops in that 

 country. The factors employ persons who understand the busi- 

 ness to conduct the several processes with due care and punc- 

 tuality, thus setting an example to the small Irish farmers, v. ho 

 are unfortunately often prone to be negligent and remiss, where 

 precision and exactitude are required. 



It is likewise a frequent practice in Belgium, for the farmer to 

 pull, dry, and stack his flax, and afterwards sell it to the factor, 

 who removes it to a steeping station, and there conducts all the 

 subsequent operations in the same way as if it had been purchased 

 green. When thus dried and stacked, the flax m.ay be kept for 

 any length of time, and be steeped and prepared for market 

 whenever it best suits the farmer's or the factor's interest or con- 

 venience. 



The practice of factoring, as above described, might no doubt 

 be introduced with advantage in this country, especially in the vici- 

 nity of good steeping-places, which would most probably be found 

 in lakes or large ponds, or pieces of ornamental water supplied 

 by a brook or stream. The flax might there be sunk in crates or 

 frames, similar to those used in the neighbourhood of Courtrai ; 



