Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-02-28
ABOUT FLAX GROWING.
IN INDUSTRY THAT HAS NOT FLOUR
IsHeD IN AMERICA.

~y~hsro-WhT 10 Has Met Comparativs
Failure In the United stats
Ihereis hardly thing that grows which
requires more labor TO make IL useful to
man than FAX. From the time the seed
V sown until the finished linen, linseed
'il, or oil cake, Is put upon the market,
every process-and they are many and
complex-calls FOR slow, patient manual
labor. Machinery enters here and there,
70 be sure, but Il has no such important
place in the industry as il has had in
cotton, for instance, since the invention
Of the gin, OF In the making of wooden
fabrics, OF leather articles.
In spite, however, Of the. toll involved
in caltivating fax and making cloth
from IL, and the very considerable
knowledge required 10 conduct the oper-
atons. the industry Il universal today,
and Is more ancient than history itself.
The linen wrsppiags found en- Egyptian
mummies were made OF FAX, and even
In barbarous countries the nature and
value Of the plant Is recognized.
Flax is apparently Of tropical origin,
but u fourishes % the best purpose in
temperate climes. In the tropics the
seeds are richer and therefore more pro-
ductive Of oil, but the best fabric is OBJ
taine1 from northern cultivation. The
best product comes from Holland and
Belgium; but this is not 30 much due to
superior quality Of soil as 70 the extra
ordinary care exercised BY the people In
handling the crop. Next to this tax In
quality il the Russian product. though
the Irish crop may be said 20 be on about
thu same level. IIish linen certainly Is
famous enough to justify this superstition.
In Egypt the ancient industry received a
new start about twenty years ago through
the influence Of English capitalists, and
by the same initiative 1t has come TO be
an important feature Of agriculture In
New Zealand.
Tue earliest settlers in New York
brought seed with them from the Meth.
erlands. and it was introduced into the
Massachusetts, colony in 1929 by statu.
tory order. In 1870 there were manu-
factories In Salem and Springfield for
turning the plant into sail cloth. In sew.
eral other colonies about the middle Of
the Seventeenth century bounties we're
granted for TAX cultivation by act Of
parliament.
As population has extended westward
FAX has followed, 50 that today some OF
the most important Of the fields and
mills Of this industry are west Of the
Mississippi. At the same time the mag
nirude OF the industry has not increased
IN any proportion comparable 10 the
population or area Of the country.
Every device Of inventors 70 improve
the work, every suggestion Of scientists
70 shorten the long processes OF prepar-
ing the dbsr for the mill, and every
measure q the legislators 70 stimulats
cultivation, have failed 70 push it to the
fore.
OF course the annual product, taken In
gross, Is something immense, measured
by thousands Of tons or millions Of BUSH
els, and thL amount IL greater today
than 1t was fifty years ago, and Of course
there srs many important factories and
farms devoted TO il. But 1t is q striking
fact that In America great proportion
OF the fields drst devoted 10 tho growing
Of fax have bssn turned 10 other crops
The industry 10 continually striking into
new sol, and the old fields are either
abandoned or devoted TO other purposes
This is not due to the quality OF the
sol Any good soil, wei drained and
thoroughly plowed and narrowed, will
serve for the growth Of fax. Sandy
loans, where there IL a good ana regular
rainfall m the spring, are better than
any other lands, but there Is an abund-
aDce Of this kind Of soil in America and
no hack Of natural opportunities for ex-
csllent products.
The secret Of the slow develop .nsnt Of
the industry, OF rather OF its limited
scope, lies IN the high cost Of manual
labor. The crop cannot be reaped, like
wheat and harley, By machinery, but
must DO patiently and carefully plucked
up by the roots by hand. 1t also re-
quires careful wedding when the plant lie
about thrss inches high. After tho crop
II gathered the seeds have to be separated
from the stalk, a process that may be 30
oomplisbed by a threshing machine, but
in many parts Of the world, where the
best fabric is obtained, it is done by hand
and ripping combs crude affair
with iron teeth, through which the stalks
are drawn, handful at a time.
II is said that four men with these
combs can separate the seeds from an
acre crop in one day. Then the stalks
must be stepped until fermentation takes
place. This is one Of the longest pro-
cesses, and one upon which inventors
have expended a great deal OF labor.
The best authorities seem TO agree that
the most desirable results are obtained
from the slowest process, as the intro
duction Of chemicals, etc., 70 hasten fer
raentation affects the inner fiber injuri.
ously. A good many things follow after
this before the outside husk of the stalk
b removed and the inner fiber separated
from the core and made ready for the
spinner.
AL this involves a vast amount of la
Dor In which there is q minimum of
economy in the handling Of quantity at
q given time. Almost all Of the product
10 Of value, the seeds making oil and oil
cake, and even the water in which the
stalks are stepped is Of great service. It
10 found to contain nine-tenths of the nu-
nitious matter of the plant, and when
poured out upon the field helps greatly
In restoring the soil.
Nevertheless, 30 great is the labor In
volved that fax cultivation in this coun-
try cannot be regarded as profitable
industry. 1t has had nearly three con-
tu,ies OF trial and has been fostered by
boantics and tariff until II should have
demonstrated its strength long since.
The fact Is our soils Gun be put to more
sroftable uses.
Meantime. to enable some growers 10
obtain pr ces from the people high enough