The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1867-03-21

FLAx-YALUE OF On CAKE, &c.-The
advance in the Price of cotton fabrics
within the last few years, has turned atten
ton to the production of fax as a substi-
tute for cotton The great difficulty here
tofore in the manufacture Of fax fibre, has
been in its adaptation to machinery. Recent
ly this has, in great measure, been over
come Flax may now be readily prepared
and made into Cloth, Irvine, and other man
ufactured material, by the use of machiue-
ry.
This machinery is constantly being i'm
proved, aud the time can not be distant
when the production Of flax upon our nor
thern forms must be considerable source
Of profit, and will be much more extensive
ly grown than at present.
The crop is adapted to wide range Of
country and to variety of soils. When
cultivated for the seed alone it has gene
rally been regarded as profitable crop
but now that the fibre can be turned to
good account, where the stems are cut with
scythe instead Of being pulled, the far
mer has an additional source of profit in its
culture.
The impression prevails among many
that tax IS an exceedingly exhaustive crop,
but those who have grown it extensively
claim that it exhausts the soil no more than
grain crops. The pure fibre of fax, when
burned. gives no ash, and hence takes moth
ing from the soil. When flax is grown for
the fibre alone the ligneous tissue being
formed Of air and water, the exhaustion of
the soil has been shown. may be counter
acted by the returning to it the chaff and
the water in which it has been stepped.
DR.. IRE gives the following mixture of
salts as sufficient to replace, chemically,
the constituents of the plants produced from
an acre: Potash, 80 lbs common salt, %
lbs; burned gypsum, powdered 81 lbs !;
bone dust "a lbs and sulphate of magne-
STA, Sc lbs, The character Of soil best adap
ted to flax, is any good, deep loan, where
good barley may be grown Strong, stiff
clays and soils of dry gravelly nature are
not well adapted to the plant, but it may
be grown on any soil of moderate fertility,
making, of course the largest yield where
the soil is the most fertile 1t is important,
however, that the soil be put in fine filth,
as the preparation for the crop is of more
Importance than the quality Of the soil
itself
In OHIO three pecks of fax seeds are sown
to the acre, which yields about twelve busl,-
els of seed, and from one to two bushels of
straw. The Belgians who are quite sue
cessful growers of fax and who produce a
quality of fibre highly esteemed in the mar
ket, use three bushels of seed to the acre on
their best land, and two bushels on tire
poorer soils. In Flanders fax is grown
with much success upon light sandy soils,
but careful tillage and manuring are re-
CURED On such lands, peat ashes, the
sweeping Of the street and slaughter houses.
mixed with night sol and urine, are en-
pIoyed as a top dressing before sowing the
seed. In Ireland fax usually follows po-
tatoes, but in Scotland, land that has been
several years in pasture and from which
one crop Of grain has been taken is
preferred.
Linseed cake makes one of the best feed
Jog materials for stock, and It's use should
be more general among our farmers than
now exists. Oil cake is extensively used
in England as food for stock, and many es-
innate that nearly one half Of the cost Of
the cake is returned in the increased value
of manures. The question is am important
one for the consideration of farmers, and es-
pecialIy for dairymen who purchase largely
Of grains to carry their mich cows during
the spring.