518 
Fourth  Report  on  the  Analysis 
quiry,  and  Instituting  a minute  examination  of  every  part  of  the 
plant,  we  should  supply  an  unanswerable  proof  of  the  truth  or 
error  of  Sir  Robert  Kane’s  conclusions,  and  at  the  same  time 
enable  the  farmer  to  make  the  most  profitable  use  of  the  various 
products  which  are  obtained  in  the  course  of  preparation  which 
flax  undergoes  before  being  sent  to  market. 
With  the  view  of  obtaining  specimens  of  known  growth  and 
judicious  preparation,  we  applied  to  Mr.  Warnes,  of  Triming- 
ham,  whose  disinterested  exertions  in  the  flax  cause  are  well 
known.  To  his  active  courtesy  we  owe  much  of  the  information 
upon  which  our  calculations  are  based,  as  well  as  the  specimens 
whose  analysis  is  here  given.  The  analyses  will  first  be  intro- 
duced, and  we  shall  afterwards  proceed  to  show  to  what  conclu- 
sions they  tend. 
Per  centage  of  Water,  Ash,  and  Sulphur  in  Flax  Straw  : — 
No.  1. 
Fine  Flax  Straw, 
Mr.  Warnes. 
Water  ....  11*60 
Ash  ....  3-27 
Ash  calculated  on\  3-70 
the  dry  substance J 
Sulphur  on  1000) 
grains  of  the  un-  > 1 • 38 
dried  specimen  J 
No.  2. 
Coarse  Flax  Straw, 
Mr.  Warnes. 
20-71 
4- 01 
5- 01 
2-00 
The  composition  of  the  ash  is  given  in  the  following  table : — 
Composition  in  100  parts  of  the  Ash  of  Fine  and  Coarse  Flax  Straw  : — 
No.  1. 
Fine  Flax 
Straw, 
Mr.  Warnes. 
No.  2. 
Coarse  Flax 
Straw, 
Mr.  Warnes. 
Silica 
7-S2 
5-60 
Phosphoric  Acid 
7*53 
8-48 
Sulphuric  Aciil 
3-39 
4-99 
Carbonic  Acid  . 
15-75 
13-39 
Lime 
21-20 
15  -87 
Magnesia  .... 
4-20 
3-68 
Peroxide  of  Iron 
5-58 
4-84 
Potash 
21-53 
34-95 
Soda 
3-68 
• • 
Chloride  of  Potassium  . 
• • 
7-G5 
Chloride  of  Sodium 
9-21 
•53 
Total  .... 
99-99 
99-99 
No.  1 is  the  entire  straw  of  fine  flax  grown  by  Mr.  Warnes, 
of  about  2 feet  8 inches  in  length,  and  yielding  a fibre  of  excellent 
fineness  and  strength.  The  crop  was  grown  in  1847,  upon  good 
friable  loam  after  clover,  which  had  been  down  one  year  (flax 
