There is no cultivation given the crop while growing, and when the seed is ripe the straw is cut with the reaper, the knives set high, and the "self-raker" employed. The straw is run through an ordinary thrashing-machine, which breaks it up worse than hay. When not sold for fiber it is fed to sheep and cattle, used to thatch sheds and for bedding for stock or for packing ice; it is rotted for manure, wasted, or even burned to get rid of it. Regarding its use in feeding stock, when in Belfast, my attention was called by Secretary Morton, of the Flax Supply Association, to a statement in one of the Department reports to the effect that flax straw could be fed to cattle. Mr. Morton took exception to the statement, and criticised its having been made in an official publication, urging that the fiber in the straw was more than likely to cause the death of any animal eating it in quantity. I would like to inform our foreign friends that the practice of feeding flax straw to sheep and cattle is common in the West; that were the question asked of a thousand flax-growing farmers, fully four hundred would answer "yes." While this is a fact, the practice can not be condemned too strongly. As to growing for fiber, there are small areas which produce a fair quality for coarse uses, though the product is extremely small. And what may appear as a novel statement is the fact that in the year 1889, in Virginia, good home-spun linen was made for family use, the straw being carefully grown on thoroughly prepared soil, well cultivated, and the product well handled and retted, and the seed was beaten out by hand and sold at $1 a bushel. In a very few localities flax straw brings somewhat higher prices than those I have quoted. The little sold in New York ranges from $7 to $25 per ton, the latter price being quoted in Schenectady County. In Ohio the range is $2 to $15 per ton, the latter figure having been paid recently in Shelby County, and in other counties from that price down. Ohio formerly manufactured large quantities of flax bagging, and on the authority of the Department State agent for Ohio, the statement is made that a little flax bagging is still manufactured there. The following figures of acreage for three years are from the Flax-Seed Inspection Report of 1889, published by the Chicago Board of Trade: Ohio, which is omitted, had an area of 16,134 acres under cultivation last season. A great deal is said by the farmers in this country about flax being an exhaustive crop. That it is not an exhaustive crop is abundantly proved by repeated chemical tests in this country and Europe, showing that flax takes less inorganic matter from the soil, per acre, than wheat, oats, barley, or tobacco. It must naturally prove a very exhausting crop as the majority of our farmers grow it-for seed production, without rotation, and with little or no manuring, selling the seed to the oil manufacturers, burning or wasting the straw, and returning nothing to the ground. It is not found an exhaustive crop in Europe, because its cultivation is conducted on common-sense principles. As the fiber is composed of elements taken almost wholly from the atmosphere, while the mineral elements of the soil are found in the waste material of the plant, the only rational course to pursue suggests itself. . CULTIVATION. For the guidance of those who may wish to try the experiment of growing flax for fiber the present season a few brief hints are given. Much depends upon the selection of the soil, a moist, deep, strong loam upon upland giving the best results. Barley lands in the Middle States, and new prairie lands or old turf in the Western States are frequently chosen. On the contrary, a soil full of the seeds of weeds is not to be thought of under any consideration. Some New York flax-growers incline to a heavy clay loam for the production of fiber and seed, though the choice of a wet soil will be fatal to success. Flax culture in Russia is carried on upon the vast plains in the interior subject to annual overflow from the rivers. As we have seen, rotation of crops is an element of success in all foreign countries where flax is produced. By studying the practices abroad the American flaxgrower can determine what will be best in his own practice. Fall plowing is desirable in our own country, with a second plowing in the spring as early as possible. Then harrow, reduce to fine tilth, and roll the ground well before putting in the seed. Mr. S. Edwards Todd, in a prize essay on flax culture published six years ago, lays great stress on the matter of reducing the soil to fine tilth and rolling well, the object being to have the surface of the ground as smooth and uniform as it can be made, so that the flax may get an even start, grow more uniformly, and the surface of the ground be better to work over when the flax is pulled. Of course all stones should be removed or pressed into the earth, and lumps are to be equally avoided. Phosphates, plaster, ashes, and salt are considered the best manures. Dr. Ure recommends a mixture of 30 pounds of potash, 28 of common salt, 34 of burnt gypsum, 54 of bone dust, and 56 of magnesia, which he claims will replace the constituents of an average acre of flax. Belgian farmers use liquid night soil or other liquid manure collected from the cow-house and stables. It is fermented in cisterns and is sometimes mixed with oil cake. One trouble with stable manure is its liability to contain ungerminated seeds of weeds, which is as fatal as a weedy soil. And weeds may also be sown with flaxseed that has not been carefully selected. As a final preparation for sowing the seed it has been advocated to run over the ground with a harrow the day the seed is to be sown to destroy all the little weeds that may be just appearing, then put in the seed while the soil is fresh. Only the best quality of seed should be used. Mr. J. R. Proctor, of Kentucky, advocates the white blossom Dutch as the best seed for American flax-growers. In all cases the heaviest, brightest, and plump. est seed should be preferred. Finer fiber is obtained from early sown flax than from later sown, and two bushels per acre is the smallest quantity that should be sown when the best results are desired. When sowing for the production of seed alone, two pecks to a bushel will suf fice, this allowing the plant to branch. The larger the quantity of seed therefore, the finer the straw, and likewise the fiber. (Note the quantity of seed sown in Belgium). After sowing use the brush harrow; some growers also advocate rolling. As to time for sowing, a New York grower says: Sow when the soil has settled and is warmed by the influence of the sun, and weeds and grass have begun to spring up, and the leaves of trees begin to unfold. Too early sowing may result in injury to the young plants. The weeding, when this is necessary, is performed when they are less than five inches high. Mr. Todd's practice for the removal of the coarser noxious weeds like thistles, dock, etc., is to send a man into the field shod with three or four pairs of woolen stockings, to avoid injury to the plants by treading them into the soil. This is done when the plants are about 8 inches high. When the leaves begin to fall and the stalks to assume a yellowish tinge, it is then time to harvest, and this is practiced abroad almost universally by pulling. In this country, where so much farming is done on the high-pressure principle, the reaper is depended upon, though the results are not as satisfactory as when the more tedious foreign methods are practiced, particularly as there is loss of fiber. Where the land has been well prepared and made smooth in the manner that has been indicated, it is possible to cut low. By this course there will be considerable fiber saved, though still a loss of several inches of the best of the stem. Recalling the many wonderful inventions in agricultural machinery in late years, a thoroughly successful machine flax puller would seem a possibility, were such an implement demanded. Such machines have already been tried in the West. It is a positive injury to the fiber to allow the seed to mature upon the plant where it is desired to produce the best results. Some assert that it will ripen equally well after harvesting, but in any event the quality of the fiber is the first consideration. Securing the seed is the next operation after the crop is harvested, called "rippling." There are machines to accomplish this, although the work can be well done in an ordinary thrashing machine by opening the "concave" so that the teeth will just come together; then, with one man to open and pass the bundles, another takes them by the butt ends and spreading them in fan shape, presents the seed end to the machine. The straw is not released, the operator withdrawing it again as soon as the seed has been torn off. With a whip the loose seed is shaken out and the flax rebundled. Some, however, perform the operation without breaking the bundles. The best method of separating the seeds is to pass the heads through plain rollers, free at one end, which avoids injury to the fiber; and there are powerful machines for this purpose to be obtained in Great Britain. Whipping out the seed against a sharp stone set up at an angle of 45 degrees is a New York method. Two or three smart blows, the bundle being held in both hands, will accomplish the result. Now comes the important operation of retting. In this country the fiber is separated from the stalk by dew-retting almost wholly. The best results are accomplished by the foreign method of water-retting, which necessitates the building of "steep-pools" especially for the purpose. A moist meadow is the proper place for dew-retting, the fiber being spread over the ground in straight rows, at the rate of a ton to an If laid about the 1st of October, and weather is good, a couple of weeks will suffice for the proper separation of the fiber and woody matter. When the retting is progressing unevenly, the rows are opened with a fork or turned with a long pole. For water-retting the softest water gives the best results, and where access can not be had to lakes or sluggish or slow running streams, "steep pools" will have to be built. A pool 30 feet long, 10 feet wide, There is always objection to retting flax in quantity, in the running streams, for sanitary reasons. and 4 feet deep will suffice for an acre of flax. Spring water should be avoided, or if used, the pool should be filled some weeks before the flax is ready for it in order to soften the water. It should be kept free from all mineral or vegetable impurities. The sheaves are packed loosely in the pool, sloping so as to rest lightly on their butt ends, if at all, for it is considered best to keep the sheaves entirely under water without allowing them to come in contact with the bottom. Irish growers cover with long wheat straw or sods, grass-side down, the whole kept under water by means of stones or other weights. Fermentation is shown by the turbidity of the water, and by bubbles of gas, and as this goes on, more weights are required-for the flax swells and rises. If possible, the thick scum which now forms on the surface should be removed, by allowing a slight stream of water to flow over the pool. The fiber sinks when decomposition has been carried to the proper point, though this is not always a sure indication that it is just right to take out. In Holland the plan is to take a number of stalks of average fineness, which are broken in two places a few inches apart. If the woody portion or core pulls out easily, leaving the fiber intact, it is ready to come out. When the retting has been accomplished the bundles should be taken out by hand, for the use of pitchforks may injure the fiber, and set up on end that the water may drain off gradually; twenty-four hours is a sufficient time. Then the bundles are opened and spread evenly over a newly-mown grass field to cleanse the fiber and improve its color; being turned occasionally by poles, that it may color evenly. Three or four days will suffice for the grassing, and then, if thoroughly dry, the flax is ready to lift, tie in sheaves, and be put under cover, ready for scutching. There are many different modes of retting practiced in foreign countries, not touched upon in Part I of this report; all are interesting, but as far as the American flax-grower is concerned, enough has been stated to show him what is required to produce the best quality of fiber. The one great drawback to successful cultivation of flax in this country is carelessness. Many a farmer feels that he can not afford to waste time over such nice manipulation and careful treatment. To all such I would say: Don't try fine flax culture for profit, for you will necessarily have to compete with foreign skill and low-priced labor, and will need all the more to make hard work of it until you have acquired experience and knowledge. But the American farmer is progressive; he has brains and ambition, and inventive genius will aid him in surmounting many difficulties if he will work intelligently and stick to it. Not one year or three, but year after year, growing each season a little flax, growing it well, and striving with the acquirement of skill and experience each year to produce the best results, and in the end he will be enabled to successfully compete with the foreigner and drive his product out of the market. But the farmer must keep both eyes open, making a study |