Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-08-31
The Culture Of Flax.

crops in the West, because of it's Ger
tainty in returning profit to the farm
er; sure, because it defes the ravage of
the chintz bug, and natures too early
for the locust. The fact that the pota-
to bug runs away from it has induced
many persons to plant flax in the hills
with the potatoes, in the hope that when
the flax comes to the surface it will pro-
tect the potato. IF this proves to be a
remedy, chemists ought to examine flax
to see what principle it contains which
is destructive to insects, and to have it
prepared for use as substitute for Par
is green.
Flax straw is now extensively used in
the manufacture Of baggirg, and as "a,
100000 yards of bagging- cloth are annu-
ally required for the packing of cotton,
it is important to manufacture as much
as possible Of it in this country, and
hence the attention bestowed upon fax.
The preparation of the straw is not
difficult matter. The tangled straw as
it comes from the threshing machine, is
taken to grass field, and spread evenly
with forks at the rate of two or three
tons to the acre, and there rotted by
dews and rain until the fibre is loose on
the stem, At this stage it should be
carefully watched, as rotting too much
impairs the strength of the fibre, and
also causes a waste in the process Of
manufacture A machine is manufac-
tured in Ohio by Lee 4 Smith for the
exclusive purpose of threshing and sep
arating hax-seed from the straw, and
leaving the straw in the best possible
condition for manufacturing purposes,
thresbing either tangled or straight
straw as straight as it went into the ma
chine, threshing at the rate of fifteen to
twenty bushels per hour and cleaning
the seed ready for market. When the
straw is straight it can be profitably rot
ted under water for dressing There is
a machine, costing 1925, which will
scutch well selected and pulled fax, pro-
ducing about 300 pounds Of scutched
fibre from one ton of retted straw, now
worth fifteen cents per pound. The tow
from scutching will pay good return
for the labor of its preparation. The
United States produce annually about
100000 bales of cotton, requiring "a
100000 yards of bagging-cloth, about
half of which is manufactured in the
United States, and nearly all from I'M
ported stock; 5000 tons Of jute-butts
imported from India are annually con-
sumed in St. Louis in the manufacture
of bagging, all of which material might
be displaced by the use of flax -tow,
which is really a better fibre than butts
for working and also producing a super
ior article of bagging. Since the intro
duction Of improved machinery for i'm
proving the tow there would seem to be
no good reason why it should not be
substituted for the imported jute-butts,
especially in consideration Of the fact
that the crop thus far has escaped the
ravages of insects which have caused 50
much damage to other agricultural pro-
ducts. Besides Improvements i'll the
threshing and scutching of flax, there is
also an opportunity for introducing the
German method for extracting the oil
from the seed by means Of carbon di
sulphde. The use of carbon di-sulphide
not only produces pure article, but al
so much larger yield, without in any
way impairing the value Of the cake.
There is large factory near Berlin
where all Of the eXtractive oils are man
ufactured by means OF carbon disul
phide, and there is no reason why the
same process should not be introduced
into the United States. Such an indus
try would be very apt to carry with it
the introduction of new agricultural
products from which oil is made The
castor-oil bean, for example, could be
tried and more attention paid to numer-
Gus pharmaceutical plants.
TO return again to the flaXtow. The
manufacture of bagging 4ow of good
quality, after machinery is erected and
the straw delivered at the mill, does not
exceed cost Of one-half cent per pound.
The machinery of the most approved
kind for the manufacture OF tow at the
rate of 1000 to $500 pounds per day,
including steam-power, betting, shafting,
and all findings necessary, will cost
about $1,000, with u capacity of consum-
ing LOCO tons of straw annually. The
waste taken from the straw in passing
through the machinery makes abundant
fuel for steam power, an item OF much
importance in localities where fuel is
dear. And BESIDES bagging, cordage and
twines could also be made from flax and
hemp. These articles now are chiefly
manufactured in the Eastern States
from imported material. The imports
into the United States of vegetable
fibre, except cotton, have amounted to
the value of $26 ,2OS,O00 in a single year;
of this amount $6.313,O00 was for raw
material. 1t is evident, from these sta
tistics and observations, that flax culture
is one of the industries to which the at
tention of our agriculturists and manu-
facturers ought to be called. 1t offers
the strongest inducements OF certain
crops and ready sales, with a prospect
of constant improvements i'll methods
Of culture and manner Of treatment.