Brookville American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1858-1861, 1858-08-27

Flax (usitatissimum-)

lfos the kookvills American.
Flax (usitatissimum-)
The raising Of cotton and mxnufactu.
ring Il, have ia some degree diminished
the demand for linen, nevertheless linen
goods will always DO In demand and
the necessity Of raising Flax command
our attention. The raising and manu-
featuring cotton fabrics in this country
have done much to alienate from
Europe a great element Of trade, thr'o
which we retain so much capital that
otherwise would have drained so much
specie from this country. Now, Mr..
Editor if our farmers would raise Flax
to sumc extent, why in the nameof COM
mon sense could not linen factories be
ost lblished in our midst aud not depend
on foreign .supplies2 2 The manufactu.
ring of linen goods in this country would
save US an enormous sum, yearly In
hard metal, for It is gold and silver that
| |must be cxportcd for those goods, not
paper money Our exports Will not al
ways pay our imports and when the
balance Of trade Is against US, which is
pretty often the case, then follows o
drain and hard times, which will occur
when our pride and speculative procliv-
| ities run faster than ourselves. Econo-
my and industry could prevent all the
distress 80 often entailed on as amidst
our apparent prosperity.
There are societies formed in Ireland
for the promotion and culture OF Flax.
Ion q scale somewhat on the principle OF
II,-,-ticultural \, Societies in this country;
pre n;ums arc offered and awarded nc
cor Iinr 10 the o,,salines exhibited. Al
frat th.re was . Dc, -back TO its culture
for il was asserted that slax destroyed
the soil. Men ofsciencc anu 'eao' e',.
dem IN stratei bcyon u a ,ubt TN s'. tsia.
cy Ut such dogma, when rotation O,
'rrop il maintained. To plant Flax of
,ar.>r .shan once in seven years ON the
sam. soi, may have tendency to
scourpe the Nj. which is the case with
MI crou, when =. r.>t;,tion n not followed
In Pennsylvania the good slu farmers
of that State 80 industrioE~iY saclincd
i.lw lys raise Flax and export th air ses''a
and get higher prices than those tron
X ~, because found plump and III.
while others are shrlyelicd, whether at |
tributable to climate or gathered too
soon is ont of our limits This country |
is certainly better adapted by nature.
to mature seeds than colder one. The |
Pennsylvania farmers experience ena-
bles them to judge when seeds are at
then pull the plants which |
strengthen the fibres contained in the
sheath OF the stalk. producing better
quality for manufacturing purposes;
thus the seeds and Fix are better for
purposes.
The see Is should be sown in April;
when the papts arc Up "a sew ipehesi
Examine them aud extcrminate airwseds /
more especially one that surrounds the
plant, o kind Of fungi wbencvor discov.
cred, it would be as welt TO pull the
plant up as it may form again and in
jurc much OF the crop. There is ope
great mistake in some Flax growers, in
pulling their Flax before the stems be-
gin to turn yellow; in pulling, tho best
way is to gather tho tops in one hand
which form fan shape, then pull the
roots up with the other, and scparat. all |
weeds that may be found with them
When tho plants are being pulled, lay !
them in even rows on the gronnd, if the |
weather is fine n few days will suffice,
then iorIn shcaves and be stacked, but
it rain or heavy dews should prevail |
the Flax should be turned over to dry
before taken into tho barn In win ter
the socds may be thrashed out. The
longer Flax is kept is generally suppos-
cd the better. summer is best for steep.
ing the stems in water, which should
be done for about ten days and then
beat with n machine to separate one
part from the other, then hackle for use
or market. The water i'm which flax is
rotted should bo thrown away, mover
allow the cattle to touch it, as the poi
son from the stem as dcl.terious. A
little practice in raising fax will ena-
BILE any one TO raise crops that will pay
rs well, If not better, than many others
that require moro labour, for fax and
soeds viii command renumerative POI
cos, more so as the article increases, the
Of linen goods must
follow, and as already remarked, soon
er or later il must become one Of our
leading articles of commerce.; ut pres
ent We allow other cohtries t0 derive
profit that couli DO rc:ain, Il in this,
which would ben,it larg, class oil
people that are now idlc.
HoarfcULrURALIsr. /,