Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-17
FLAX CULTURE.

Flax culture was one of the earliest cult
ures of which we have any historic record.
1t has also been cultivated over as large area
of the earth's surface as any other crop we
have any knowledge of. All kinds of soil
will produce fax, and the crop seems to be
adapted to the warnest as well as the coolest
of climates. In ancient times from the fiber
of fax was produced the most fashionable
apparel of kings and princes and to this day
fine linen is necessity to those who clothe
themselves in costly and elegant clothes.
The cultivation and manufacture of flax, in
whatever country, has always given employ
ment to great numbers of farmers. artisans
and laborers, and has contributed materially
to the general prosperity of more classes OF
people than any other article of culture
known to agriculture. 1t has also contributed
more than most any other culture to the gen.
eral wealth and intelligence of the countries
in which it has been extensively grown and
used than most any other single plant we
have any account of. While the preparation
of fax for the great number of uses to which
it is put gives employment to so many people,
these processes are so simple as not to require
any very great skill and this is one of the
chief reasons why the influence of its culti-
walton is SO generally good. Most of the
work in the preparation of the fiber for use is
also done indoors, and hence. too, people can
make use of all kinds of weather and turn
greater proportion of their time to account
than they could if all this labor had to be
done out of doors and in good weather. The
strength of the fiber of fax renders it valu-
able for large class of necessary uses, but
the luxuries to which it contributes are in
debted to the great fneness to which the
thread may be spun out. Thread has been
made from fax fiber so fine that it required
22S yards to the pound. In this State the
cultivation of fax has been entered into
mostly for the seed, for the manufacture of
linseed oil, while the fiber has been made use
of to but very limited extent In many of
thelsouthern coast counties fax is cultivated
quite extensively, and its cultivation is prov
ing more remunerative for this purpose alone
than is the cultivation of wheat, corn barley
or oats. If in addition to this use the fiber
could be utilized, the proftableness of the
crop could be greatly increased, and the
number of people to whom employment
would be given would be greatly extended
The experience of farmers IN California who
have alternated fax with other crops has de-
monstrated to their satisfaction quite gener-
ally the fact that the crops that succeed fax
Immediately are much lighter than those sue
ceeding other crops. This at first gave rise
to the opinion that fax was very exhaustive
to the soil. But while this idea seemed war
ranted in some cases, in others the experience
demonstrated quite the opposite state of
facts, and warranted a contrary opin-
ion. Continued cultivation and more
close observations have now set
tied the difference of opinion on
this subject, and it has been proven pretty
satisfactorily that fax does not extract from
the soil any more of the fertilizing ingredients
than does wheat, barley, oats or corn, but
that it does exhaust the soil of moisture to a
much greater extent than any of these crops
that this seems to be the case to greater
extent on light soils than on heavy adobe
soils. Even on adobe soils the fax seems to
improve succeeding crops by an improvement
of the mechanical condition of the soil. This
set of facts is indicative of the kinds OF soil
that should be devoted to fax as an alternate
crop. Heavy, wet soils are found to pro-
duce as much fax seed to the acre as good
wheat lands produce of wheat, and as fax
brings from so to so per cent. more per
pound than wheat, it follows that it is more
profitable crop ON soil adapted to it. Much
of the tule lands of this State, if the water
could be kept off of them, would prove the
best fax lands we have. It is found, how
ever, that while fax seems to improve the |
mechanical condition of this class of lands, |
they need very thorough cultivation and pull
verization before the seed is sown on them. |
Then the great number of deep running roots
the fax sends down. into the soil SO separates
and breaks it up that for years after its filth |
is much improved. In sowing fax for the |
fiber it should be sovn very thick, so as to |
induce a straight growth of the stem without |
branches but in sowing for the seed |
alone it produces more if sown quite
thin, as then it branches out
and makes a stronger stalk and gives better
pods or heads and more seed Fifty pounds
is generally sown to the acre where seed
alone is the object, and even thirty pounds
has been found to give better results than fifty
or more. The average product per acre of
fax-seed in this State is about !, 200 pounds.
The expenses of cultivation may be set down
about as follows:
Flowing, say three times, and sowing seed,
per acre Observation-Disclosures. "a 90 |