12 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Jan., 1902. 
appreciable harm to the fibre. Cultivation of the land, and how much seed to be 
sown to the acre? ‘The land should be worked until thoroughly fine and level. 
Sow the seed broadcast over the last stroke of the harrow, and roll down flat ? 
or should it happen to be very dry, harrow the seed with very fine harrows, 
and roll down. We have always found the best results obtain from the former 
method. The seed will perish if covered too deep. At the rate of 60 lb. of 
seed to the acre is the best quantity to sow for our present purpose, that is, 
both seed and fibre. In time, when finer fibre will be required, up to 100 lb. 
of seed will be necessary, but fine fibre must always be grown at the expense of 
the seed yield, while not necessarily increasing the weight of the fibre obtained, 
only the quality would be better, other things being equal. 
The real work begins at the harvesting. No doubt the European method 
of pulling the flax will give the best results where it is possible to do so. A 
good crop of flax can be pulled and stooked at the rate of 25s. per acre. 
Assuming that we could get sufficient hands to pull our crop, we should not 
hesitate about giving that price, because we estimate the loss of fibre when cut 
with a reaper and binder at 15s. per acre, and as the work of manufacturing is 
absolutely the same whether a crop is pulled or cut, the loss through cutting 
would actually pay for pulling the crop, especially as we have found flax a very 
hard crop to cut so close to the ground, and consider it well worth 10s. per acre. 
What compels us to try and cut the flax is the difficulty of getting men enough 
to pull the crop, and we look on the binder as a kind of safety-valve should the 
men go on strike. We have proved to the manufacturer that flax fibre is in no 
way injured by cutting, excepting the loss of 3 inches of its natural length, 
which is not much, provided the flax is over 3 feet high. Below that limit we 
would not cut flax at any price if we wished to use it for fibre. Messrs. Miller 
and Co. are prepared to pay within a fraction of the same price for cut flax as 
against pulled, and with this knowledge no one need be afraid of the harvesting 
of a large area, as we find that flax is the easiest crop to save in wet seasons, 
because the fibre cannot spoil, and the seed will stand more rain than any other 
kind of grain before shelling out. In any case the sheaves of flax should be as 
small as a binder will tie to facilitate threshing, and should be stooked in long 
rows to dry. The drying takes about three weeks, on account of the oily nature 
of the plant. | When dry, stack like any other crop. 
As to threshing the crop, in this operation, the grower must bear in mind 
that the straw must not be torn about unnecessarily, and only the heads 
subjected to the operation, After trying to do the work by hand we have now 
adopted a simple made machine, with which we can thresh the crop at the cost 
of 1s. per bushel, without in any way injuring the fibre. 
With regard to yield of seed per acre. Up to 1900 we grew during six 
seasons an average of 13 bushels per acre, allowing a loss of 2 bushels to the 
ravages of the caterpillars. The average price during that time was a little 
over £13 per ton, gomg as high as £18 per ton this last season. A. bushel of 
flax weighs 56 lb. 
__ The next operation is the retting. After being threshed the straw must 
either be stacked for future operation or, if convenient, at once carted out to 
the paddock where the retting is to be done. The method we adopt is that 
known as dew retting, as distinct from water retting. The latter method we 
found utterly impossible here, on account of the water in most localities being 
too hard and brackish, and even where this is not the case it would cost a 
great deal more, while the risk of spoiling the fibre is very much greater. The 
work of dew retting consists of spreading the flax straw in nice straight rows, 
about an inch thick, on a clean paddock, grass for preference, but stubble will 
do. The difference between water and dew retting is simply that by immers- 
ing the straw in waterholes (or bogs), always keeping the stuff covered with 
water, it will ret in from seven to ten days, according to the softness of the 
water and the temperature of the weather. When sufficiently retted it must 
then be taken out of the pit and spread in the usual way to dry and bleach. 
This is a most objectionable and arduous work on account of the wet and 
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