Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-02-19
FLAX.
The Future of the Flax Industry In the
United States.


United States.
Some papers in Iowa and Kansas ane
endeavoring to convince the farmers OF
those States that faxseed will no
longer be paying crop. They predict
that the price of faxseed will decline
during the next two or three years as
rapidly as that of wheat has since 1880.
Their predictions are based on fears of
overproduction. While they think that
the production of fiaxseed will increase
very largely, they declare that the de-
mand for linseed oil will decrease, for
the reason that the majority of farmers
can not, with the present price of
ings and fences. They also express the
fear that the price of oil-cake will
greatly decline. for the reason that corn
and other grains are so cheap. A few
argue that cotton-seed meal will grad
ually supersede linseed cake and meal
in all the great markets of the world.
They state what is perfectly true-that
less than half of the cotton-seed pro-
duced in any country is now pressed
for the purpose of extracting oil, and
suggest that when it is all utilized for
furnishing oil the supply of cotton
seed meal will be so large as to
render inseed cake almost if not quite
unnecessary. They think that this state
of things will be reached in the near
future. One person in Iowa who is
seeking to enlighten the public on the
matter of producing flaxseed for the
market states the crop in this country
last year amounted to $4,000, 600 BUSH
els, of which farmers have saved over
100000 bushels for the purpose of
sowing next spring. He states that this
amount will SOW 100000 acres, and
will produce twice as much seed as can
be crushed in all the mills in the coun-
try, though they work at their full ca
pacity during the entire season. He
accordingly predicts that the price of
faxseed will decline next year to such
an extent that the crop will not pay for
raising. He therefore cautious farmers
to beware of fax and to SOW their fields
to some other crop.
1t is certainly difficult to foretell the
future of any farm product. 1t is pos
sible that there may be in the course of
few years more flaxseed produced
than will be wanted for making Oil or
for furnishing meal to be used for stock
food. 1t is certain, however, that there
is at present no Indication that such a
state of things will occur. AS nearly as
can be estimated at present, the amount
of f1aXseed raised in this country
last year and sent to market amounted
to about 100000 bushels. OF this
amount 3,67S, 1O2 bushels were received
in Chicago. This crop was not suffi-
cient to supply the demands of our
linseed-oil producers, as there were
imported from foreign countries, chiefly
from India, no less than 2, S49, 226 BUSH
els during the year. Strange as it
may appear, fiaxseed produced on the
banks of the river Gauges was brought
to Chicago manufacturers and convert
ed into oil last season, This seed pays
duty of twenty cents per bushel.
Flaxseed holds its price better than any
American farm product. At present
writing it is worth S1.9O per bushel in
the New York market. The stock
on hand is apparently quite small.
The amount in store in this city at the
commencement of the present year was
only 81, 725 bushels. A considerable
part of this is held by seed merchants,
and will be sown next spring. There
is apparently no prospect that the de-
mand for oil will fall off next year. The
custom of painting buildings and fences
has become general. Wood exposed to
the action of the atmosphere is covered
with paint not so much to add to its
beauty as to insure its durability. 1t is
found to be economical to cover the
surface of wood with paint. In this
city brick walls are generally painted,
and in many cases those COM
posed of stone are treated in the
same manner. There is appar-
emily no prospect that. any substitute
will be found for the oil extracted from
faxseed for the purposes for which it
has long been employed.
While the demand for flaxseed in this
country is large, there is little prospect
that its production will be undertaken
in most of the States. 1t has never
been raised in any of the Southern
States to any considerable extent. 1t
is not promising crop for farmers in
the older settled States. The produc-
tiveness of their fields has been injured
by long cultivation, and the soil is full
of the seeds of weeds. Other crops
pay better on high-priced lands. Flax
is suitable crop for farmers in the
northwest for many reasons. 1t is easy
to market. A carload of faxseed
brings much more money than the
same bulk of corn or any of the small
grains. The cost of seed for a given
amount of land is comparatively small,
as only half bushel is required for an
acre. A paying crop can be obtained
from land that has been broken for the
first time. Flax is more remuneratlve
crop than corn to raise on newly
plowed prairie land, even in localities
where the seasons are long enough to
produce good crops of corn. 1t is spe-
cially adapted to regions where
corn crop can not be raised
or can not be depended on, or
where it can only be raised on soil that
is under high degree of cultivation.
A farmer in any of the States or Ter
ritories west of the Mississippi River
can at least realize enough from a crop
of faxseed to pay the cost of breaking
the land and expense of seed, sowing,
harvesting, and marketing. This is all
a farmer in any part of the country
can reasonably expect of crop of seed
corn. In many eases crop of flaxseed
has sold for enough to pay for the land
as well as for preparing it. If the
growth of fiaxseed is exhaustive to the
soil, it has the effect of subduing a
tough turf and putting it in condition
to be easily worked with view of pre-
pairing it for the production of corn or
small grain.
Flax is a source of wealth to the
farmers of the Northwest. The amount
of oil-cake exported last year was 524,-
S47, 1881 pounds, which sold for 81, 49,
153. Flax will do better in soils con-
tanning an excess of alkali than any