Flax for Faper-maldng. 
459 
inclined to increase the proportion. I may here say that at the 
time of writing (July 15th) my crop of flax promises to be quite 
satisfactory, notwithstanding that, owing to the wet April, nearly 
the whole 70 acres was unplanted until May. Judging from 
appearances one would say decidedly that the crop will be far 
more likely to pay than either wheat or barley ; and, notwith- 
standing the incessant rains, it appears certain to realise the 
average I shall hereafter allude to. 
I propose now to describe the mode of cultivation, harvesting, 
■&C., that I have adopted, or that I think should be adopted, to 
grow flax successfully ; we shall then be in a position to see 
how' these operations compare as to expense, 6cc., with the cultiva- 
tion of a corn crop. I am fully persuaded, and this opinion is 
borne out by others who have had greater experience than myself, 
that the one essential condition of successful flax-growing is a fine 
seed-bed ; anything like roughness in the land is fatal to the pro- 
duction of a really good crop of flax. The land intended for 
flax should be ploughed not later than February, and gradually 
worked down until about the middle of April, so that at each 
harrowing a crop of annual weeds may be destroyed ; a scari- 
fying to cut off colt's-foot, thistles, iScc, that may be on the 
way to impede the crop, would be advisable just before drilling ; 
then drill the same width as barley (say, 8 inches), 1^ to 2 bushels 
of seed per acre. Care should be taken that the seed is not 
■deposited too deep, or it will not germinate. The land being 
finely pulverised once over with the harrows after the drill will 
be sufficient, though if the land is addicted to annual weeds, 
a run over with very light harrows, or the chain-harrow, a 
week after drilling would have the effect of destroying another 
crop of these pests. These precautions against annual weeds may 
seem strange and unnecessary to manv, but in this country they 
are the bane of the farmer's life ; and it must be understood that 
paper-makers have the greatest abhorrence of these weeds — in 
fact, they would have all to be carefully picked out by hand before 
the flax is made use of. The quantity of seed to be sown per acre 
w ould depend upon circumstances ; it appears to be quite clear 
from my own observation and from the reports of others that a 
light seeding produces a much larger crop of seed and a much 
smaller crop of straw, and of greatly inferior quality of fibre, 
than a heavy seeding. My object hitherto has been to get as 
much weight as possible of straw and linseed combined, without 
consideration as to the quality of the fibre, and I believe for this 
purpose 1 J bushel of seed to be the best quantity to drill per acre. 
But the time may come, as in Ireland and elsewhere, where flax is 
grown for linen in the first place, and only the second quality of 
fibre is used for paper-making. It will then be advisable to plant 
