The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1863-04-08

Flax Culture.

FLAX Culture.
Editors Times The sttsntion Of wes'.
ern farmers should shove all things be di.
Yected to the culture Of fax at tho present
time. In this section heretofore very little
dax has been cultivated, PARTLY because
there has boon no market Tor the product
and partly from the fact that the growing
Of wheat has too much absorbed the atten-
ton Of our farmers, also from the fact
that all classes of cotton goods could be
obtained at very low prices compared with
those at present asked. Which are in many
eases from 200 to so, per cent. over prices
for like goods two years ago, ard the pro
liability is prices will 60 still higher for it
is well known that the war has SO interior
ed with the supply Of cotton, that if peace
should be declared in q week the devasta-
tion in the cotton producing region is so
great that supply Of the raw material to
meet the demand for the manufacturing
purposes cannot be supplied for years to
come. With these facts and circumstan-
ccs we'll known to tho farmers Of the west,
it is well to direct attention to the subject
in order that they may reap the manifest
advantage which can be desired from gen.
eral culture Of the FAX plant, for among
the numerous commodities which contribute
IN one form or the other TO the clothing me-
ccssitles Of the human race, there is no
single product Of greater importance or
what is better known than the fax plant
There certainly is no material susceptible Of
textile adaptation more identified with the
progress Of civilized man, none which has
been so uniformly subservient to his wants,
and which, through all the vicissitudes of
climate, change Of locality, and the various.
phases of his industrial, mercantile, and
social career, has been so readily and so
usefully convertible into fabrics, either By
machinery or hand.
And the marked success with which its
manufacture has been crowned in modern
times has mainly been achieved by indus
trial energy, which has ever formed the
best capital of nations, and the true basis
Of individual wealth. No greater proof of
this need b: a.lduccd then the relative DO.
sition Of those counties in which the linen
industry has been marked with extended
and triumphant results. The history of
hax and its industry belongs to nearly every
nation on the globe, and taking history as
Our guide We can readily follow its mi.
grations from the early advent of its cul.
tnre down to modern times. In Egypt,
the cradle and nurse Of civilization and
shc arts, fax was extensively cultivated
ior the manufacture Of linen where it FORM
ed shc raimept of the wealthy and refined
portions Of society while living, and was
employed as the only appropriate fabric
for protecting their bodies from decay when
dead. ~.rs~
From Egypt the cultivation of fax is
easily followed to Palestine, where it FORM
ed an equally prominent feature in the in.
dustrial pursuits Of that country, as is at.
tested by Solomon, when alluling to the
spindle" and the "dstaff'' in the working
Of fax by the 'virtous woman" as we'll as
by prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel who have
left graphic impressions of the manufacture
and commerce Of the two great marts of
maritime activity, Tyre and S:don. In
progressing down the stream Of time, we
lind in Greece the Athenian maidens pre-
pairing flaxen yarns by the same simple
process (the spindle and the distaff) as
hose of Egypt had done before them
From Greece, we trace this branch of in
iustry to Carthage, and to Marseilles, as
well as to Rome. and, under the sway and
vide dominions of the latter. The use of
tax, doubtless, become general, and as an
srticle of prime necessity has been cultivat.
ed in most of the countries of Europe ever
since. AT the downfall of the Roman En-
pire, when the tide of barbarian retrogra-
tlation poured in threatening to annihilate
every trace Of manipulative art, the spindle
and the distaf escaped, and fax, as Of old,
supplied the material for clothing, and pro-
Oably will thus continue to do until the
end Of the earth. The flax plant in short,
has administered to the material wants of
civilized man, through every stage of his
mingled career, and is capable Of being
converted by his skill into the finest as well
As the humblest raiment he possibly can
require. Moreover, from its fexibility or
power to thrive under almost every degree
Of temperature incident to vegetation. 1t
grows in all countries, from the neighbor.
hood of the topics, to the northern polar
circle.
The fax plant is also remarkable in hav.
ing . tendency to seek littoral regions as
best affording the requisite supply Of mois-
ture, in which its fibre attains its most
perfect quality as is strikingly excmplified,
by referring to the countries where it is
most produced. Beginning with the CONT.
nent of Europe, we find that the north Of
Portugal and the provinces o. Spain, which
lie on the Bay Of Biscay produce consider
able quantities of fax, while the proportion
grown in the interior is comparatively small.
Tracing the entire Atlantic margin of
France, quite round to its northeastern
angle, we find that it holds conspicuous
rank AMONG the etanle crons and ENTERING