The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-06-06


WASHINGTON. May Zone of the mos
important economic questions of the tint
Is What shall take the place of whea
on farms where 1t can no longer be RAISED
at a prolit?" This question is one thai
has received earnest considerat ion at thu
agricultural departn ent, but as yet M
product has been presented that fully com
mends itself to the officials as furnishing
the answer. although many have been sug
gested. Last week Professor .Willetts
the assistant secretary of agriculture, hat
under consideration a letter from Ireland
which The thinks. may offer solution Of
the problem. if the statements made in il
Can be substantiated. The writer says 81
have long had very earnest interest in flax
growing and linen manufacture. and now
address YOU in behalf of these industries
I lave been familiar with flax growing in
America since 1910, and am thoroughly
Informed of tine household manufacture,
and later the efforts to spin and weave
liuen by machinery. and the almost com
plete failure of all efforts in this direction,
until now there are only two establish
ments Weaving-One at Webster, Mass,
and the other at Appleton. Wisconsin,
and the latter doing but little. and neither
weaving anything finer than crash. Be.
sides these there are thread and yard mills,
mostly branches Of British manufactures
and the Irvine and cordage mills.
A part of the reason why linen is not
made in America is. that the raw material
is not as flexible and requires more costly
manipulation and much more labor. than
with cotton, wool and silk. Another rea
son is, that when, in 1861, Congress en-
acted tariff laws, there was no association
to set forth the linen interest. and the
duty was left too low to correspond with
the high duty on the raw material, while,
with low duty upon cotton. wooden and
silks. capital turned to the latter as the
safest investment, and flax and linen have
been neglected. (There can be no raw
flax industry until there is market for
the fbre.)
1cEO 10 HOUtltllSo AL uhO Ciih1hcO Va oOff
conflicting with the assertion that just as
good flax and linen may be produced in ev-
cry State in the American Union as in
any country. Germany now spins and
weayes the finest linen and she has no es.
sentially differing climate from America,
"If the inducements of protective du-
ties cannot be given in favor of linen
manufacture then bounties must be offered
in shape of the approximation of the pres
ant income from duties to encourage the
making of linen from American flaz fibre.
at least such an experiment must be made
as will test and demonstrate the practical
bility or impracticability of establishing
this important industry upon American
soil.
MANY things become successful in
America from the facility with which
the people take up and adopt improved
processes and appliances, and this may be
the salvation of the linen industry, of
the Importance of which there is no ques-
ton. There is every reason why the
American farmers should produce mil
lion acres of flax for both seed and fiber
over and above what is now produced
which would give 10000, 600 to $4,000, 00(
bushels Of seed, worth as many millions OF
dollars, and two millions and half tons of flaz
straw. worth $50, 100000, and from which
500 .0oG tons of flax fibre would be obtains d
worth $l0O,OO0, 600.
"Once established. American invention
would. as in all other Industries, soon buil6
up an industry to consume this raw ma
terial. Further than this have to sa.
that I believe an entire revolution in fla2
and linen for the whole world is at han(
and most assuredly awaiting the operation
of the next few months to demonstrat,
this in America. ] have discovered pro
cess by which the flax straw is minded
and its fibre recovered in length of tim'
of but five minutes from the natural straw
to the perfect fibre, doing away with al
water or dew retting and the labor 0
scutching, and producing fibre of In
color of cotton and as soft and fine as raw
silk, saving the great expense OF tn
bleaching, while the fibre is much stfonge
and the yield much greater than by tn
old processes OF dew and water retting.
II have demonstrated the practicabilit.
of this invention. have made the libr
from American, Irish and Belgian fla
straw. had it spun and woven, and Their
| is an exhibit of the American product a
the Paris exposition, placed there by MI
Dodge. of the department of agricultur
at Washington, last January, and this in
vention has the endorsement of the line
men of England, company has bee
formed. and apparently is at work here
| and the process will be at work all owe
Europe at an early day.
II make this announcement to you an
to the people of America simply that
! few acres of flax may be il the proper wa
Yin America. preparatory to a practics
demonstration of the process there mex
au tumn. / wish the State experiments
farms to grow small amount in eac
State apd such private farmers as are dis
posed to- do the same. The fax should b
sown upon any good mellow soil, whic
has been well manured the past year, {
active chemical fertilizers may be EN-
ployed to reasonable extent. The see
should be sown at the rate Of two and
half bushels on an acre of land, brushe
in, and no further attention is needed eH
cepting that any large weeds may be re
moved until the flax has turned for ha
its length, when it should he pulled. cure
and cared for to keep it bright, in tn
same manner as is done with hay.
1.-THE seed may be taken off by ripplin
or by roller threshing. and there will be
market for all flax straw thus grown at s:
per ton. The crop should give two and
half tons of straw to an acre and II to
bushels Of seed. The cost of pulling i
in Canada. SIS an acre. | enclose you
small sample of fibre as produced in fl
minutes by the.new process from the fls
straw taken in its natural condition, al
no injurious chemicals are used, Dothil
more so than emulsion of liaseed OIL
The sample enclosed was examined wi
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