“to improve the soil and the mind.” 
New Series. ALBANY, APRIL, 1850. Vol. VII.— No. 4. 
Culture and Manufacture of Flax. 
It is doubtless known to most of our readers that 
flax is largely cultivated in some parts of the coun¬ 
try, wholly for the seed, the stalks being thrown 
away. In some of the rich districts of Ohio, parti¬ 
cularly in the Miami Valley, this branch of agricul¬ 
ture is carried on to a great extent. A correspond¬ 
ent of the Ohio Dollar Statesman gives an interest¬ 
ing account of the flax culture of that section, with 
some valuable Suggestions ill regard to the manufac¬ 
ture of flax. He states the average yield of seed 
at ten bushels per acre, though in some instances it 
reaches fifteen bushels. The ordinary price per 
bushel in Dayton, where the seed is principally sold 
and the oil extracted from it, is eighty cents to a 
dollar ; but last year, owing to scarcity, the price 
ranged from a dollar and ten cents to a dollar and 
forty cents per bushel, of 52 pounds. The amount 
of seed worked up in the city of Dayton annually, 
is put down at 150,000 bushels. There are five 
mills, which, altogether, use ten hydrostatic pres¬ 
ses, some of them having a power of 1,000 tons 
each. The oil is principally sent to Cincinnati and 
thence to New-York, and the oil-cake is exported 
to England, where it brings $40 to $50 per ton, and 
is used for fatting cattle and sheep. 
The income which the crop affords per acre, after 
paying all expenses, is given as $3. This must be 
considered a small amount, though some additional 
credit may be allowed the crop from the fact, as sta¬ 
ted, that the farmers are able to obtain “ a much 
larger return of wheat, to be sown after flax, than 
used to be harvested when that crop followed in 
succession after corn, or even summer fallow.” The 
writer suggests that a system may be adopted by 
which the profits of the crop may be greatly in¬ 
creased. The quantity of seed, he thinks, may be 
brought up to 20 bushels per acre, and four to five 
hundred pounds of fibre maybe obtained in addition 
—the seed to average ninety cents to a dollar per 
bushel, and the fibre eight to ten cents per pound. 
The following extracts denote the writer’s views in 
regard to the proper course to obtain these results: 
To obtain so large a return of fibre and seed, an 
improved system of cultivation and rotation of crops 
will have to be put in practice. What this system 
is, I shall presently explain. Flax requires a rich 
soil, one that is calculated to produce an abundant 
yield of straw; and the subsoil within from eight to 
twelve inches of the surface, should be clay. This, 
however, is not absolutely necessary, but a strono- 
fibre, and an abundant yield of seed, are not so like^ 
ly to be obtained from a sandy soil, or where it is 
principally composed of vegetable remains to the 
depth of from one to two feet, as where the clay 
comes within from six to ten inches of the surface. 
The soil for flax should be plowed in the autumn to 
'he depth of from eight to ten inches, and in the 
spring it should be again plow r ed, harrowed and 
rolled before the seed is sown. Instead of sowing 
from three to four bushels per acre, not more than 
two should be sown. The period for sowing the 
seed should invariably be governed by the following 
simple rule, that has, in all countries where flax is 
extensively grown, been found to give a large re¬ 
turn, even in adverse years. As soon as the indi¬ 
genous forest trees begin to put out their leaves, the 
sowing of flax should be commenced, and the entire 
operation should be completed by the time that the 
leaves are fully out. The seed should be covered 
very lightly, and as soon as the plants are above 
ground, a top-dressing of one bushel of salt, one 
bushel of plaster of Paris or gypsum, and two of 
common house ashes to be sown broadcast, will se¬ 
cure a vigorous growth, although the season may 
be very adverse for the flax crop. By the first of 
July, the crop will be ready to be pulled, and this 
operation will require a large force of hands, if the 
crop be large, to secure its being done at the pro¬ 
per season. As soon as the straw begins to get 
yellow, and whilst the capsules or seed balls have 
yet a light green color, the business of pulling the 
crop should be commenced, and as Soon as practi¬ 
cable after that period, the entire crop should be 
pulled. By early pulling, the seed will have a bright 
appearance, and the straw will have an uniform co¬ 
lor and texture, and be worth at least twenty-five 
per cent, more for manufacturing purposes, than if 
pulled when ripe. Flax maybe pulled in the neigh¬ 
borhood of large towns, where redundancy of labor 
of the right description, can usually be had for $3 
per acre, including board, lodging, &c.; and in a 
densely populated neighborhood some distance from 
town for $3.50 per acre; which of course would in¬ 
clude binding and shocking. This expense may be 
considerably reduced by using a machine for pulling 
flax, that was invented at the village of Waterloo, 
Seneca county, New-York. This machine, by the 
aid of one horse, a man and a boy, will pull from 
three to four acres per day, performing the work, if 
the crop stands up tolerably well, with as much 
neatness as though it was done by hand. 
As soon as the straw becomes cured, it should be 
drawn to the barn to be threshed, which labor will 
require to be performed with the flail. The next 
process is water or dew-rotting; then follows the 
breaking and scutching, the latter of which finally 
prepares the fibre for market. Much skill is required 
to properly rot, break and scutch flax, but like all 
other branches of industry, it may be mastered, pro¬ 
vided those who engage in it are determined to over¬ 
come all difficulties. Competent hands may be had, 
consisting of experienced flax dressers who have emi¬ 
grated from the flax-growing countries of Europe in 
order to improve their condition, and those who en- 
