The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-01-03
Factories I'm Prospect.
PUGET SOUND FLAX.
Practical Tests Prove Ii 10 he the
Equal Of the Famous Bel
uiau Product

Two members O. me AFA OF Barbour
Bros Of the great linen mills Of Lisnurn.
ireland. were here during the summer on
a visit having been Induced 10 make the
trim bv the. fine specimens OF fax grown
on Puget sound sent 10 them by DR.. A.
w. Thornton, the agent OF the argicul-
tural department They looked over the
Puget sound region. made careful ex-
animation % its soils. and compared them
and the climate with the very few locah
ties IN the world where fax can be sue
eessfultv cultivated. They were so i'm
pressed By the favorableness of the con-
dlt3ons I'm this part of the state that they
ordered a ton of the fax straw sent 10
them. to have Il worked into finished
linen, and thus 70 secure practical COM
rnercial test OF Il. Last month they sent
a full technical report. giving the details
Of the manufacture Of this fax. which
was published in the Post-Inte.iigeneer
some days ago. Frank Barbour. the gen
erai manager Of this celebrated firm, con-
cluded the report as follows:
Result of the Test.
I'VE congratulate You on the success OF
this experiment. which far exceeds our
expectation. We believe there is a great
future before fax growers In the West of
America The fax Is eminently adapted
for thread making and warp yarn spin
ming purposes. Il is exceedingly strong
fax Is grown and manipulated under
proper. conditions on Puget sound, We arc
convinced that the cultivation OF II VIII
be OF the greatest Importance and Ia
short time rival the great Belgian district
OF C0urtrai"
The market value Of the fax thus treat
ed was OF one lot $40 and OF another 1915
per ton. Though this IS a good price DR..
Thornton points out that there was six
weeks delay in receiving the seed from
Europe. which forced the crop into the
DRYER summer months and caused an abb
normal rapidly OF ripeuing. He has no
hesitation in saying that but for this the
fax would have reached market value
of 500 per ton.
DR.. Thornton has been experimenting
with iax culture for the past five years,
and he Is well rewarded by this praeticai
demonstration OF the commercial value or
the fax grown here. The principal ex-
periments have been made near Or.
Thornton's home IN Whatcom county, but
tests have also been made in all the coun-
Ties on Puget sound. 4 phenomenally
large WELD of ine straw was grown on
an empty lot within Seattle city limits
last season.
Bounty Is Proposed.
A bill has been prepared for passage by
the new legislature granting a bounty
on the culture Of flax running over FIVE
years. on a graduated scale Of from 70
2 cents per pound. With this encourage
ment, and with the excellent report % the
Messrs. Barbour. DR.. Thornton believes
mills for handling the product can be es-
tahlighei IN the state during this year,
and the new industry started under the
most favorable circumstances. That a
fire quality OF fax can be produced here.
and that there are so few localities in the
world where it can be produced and none
where the conditions are so entirely favor
able as here. is IN itself a sufficient guar
antee that any enterprise based upon this
one cannot fail of success. and no other
industry IS better calculated 70 build up
the state than Is the fax culture and the
corelative industries dependent upon #.