Sept. 1895.] FLAX FARMING ON THE CONTINENT. 



139 



will be restored to the important position it formerly held in 

 the two Flemish provinces. 



Flax-farming in France is practised chiefly in the provinces 

 of Normandy and Picardy and in the Departement du Nord. 

 The rotations commonly adopted are those whereby the flax follows 

 oats after roots abundantly manured. Flax after clover is also 

 considered an excellent rotation, and sometimes it is sown after 

 hemp. An interval of seven years is generally allowed between 

 two crops of flax. The average yield of fibre per acre in France 

 is officially estimated at nearly 5 J cwts. - 



Retting in running water is practised in some districts of 

 I'ra.nce, particularly in the neighbourhood of the River Deule, 

 but pit-retting is the process most in vogue. Dew-retting 

 is, however, still followed in some localities of the Departement 

 du Nord and elsewhere. The methods of breaking and scutch- 

 ing are similar to those adopted in Belgium, and these operations 

 are now, for the most part, carried out in scutching mills. Both 

 in France and in Belgium it is becoming more and more the 

 practice for the flax merchants to purchase the pulled straw 

 from the farmers, buying the crop as it stands, and to undei'take 

 all the subsequent processes of manipulation. France imports 

 large quantities of flax from Russia. 



In Austria, flax farming is carried on mainly in the provinces 

 of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. The system of rotation 

 followed is similar to that in use in Belgium and France, though 

 in some parts of Bohemia flax follows potatoes. The rotation 

 recommended by the Flax School at Trautenau is potatoes 

 (maniii'ed), oats, clover, clover (manured), rye, mixed fodders, flax 

 manured with kainit, phosphates and nitrate of soda, and rye. 

 Dew-retting is customary on Bohemian flax farms, but pit- 

 retting is practised elsewhere. 



The area under flax in Austria has decreased by about 10 per 

 cent, since 1890, when it was 223,700 acres. The average yield 

 of fibre per acre is officially estimated at about 3J cwts. Austria 

 imports annually about 340,000 cwts. of flax-fibre. 



Flax-farming in Italy has remained more or less stationary 

 for the past five years. This is attributed partly to the low 

 prices obtained for fibre and partly to the effects of municipal 

 regulations which impose restrictions on the processes of retting 

 in order to prevent contamination of streams and running- 

 waters. The average produce of fibre per acre on Italian flax- 

 farms is about 2 4 cwts. 



The demand for flax in Italy has been in recent years prac- 

 tically met by the home production leaving in some years an 

 insignificant balance in favour of the exports. 



The acreage of flax in the United Kingdom in 1894 was 

 102,622 acres, this being the largest area under the crop returned 

 since 1889 when 116,192 acres were grown. The bulk of the 

 crop is grown in Ireland, only 1,760 acres having been cul- 

 tivated in Great Britain last year, all of which, with tne 



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