Newark post., 1920-10-27
WORK ON PLANT
FOR FLAX HANDLING
UNDER WAY
p.ckers of Movement Claim
y Crop Will Be Good for
Farmers
+ afnefS

Gtl lltSI .
Farmers Of Delaware and of the
Eastern Shore will be deeply in
..rpsted in the establishment of
.lont al Elk Mills, Nd, for the
landing Of fax-for its cure and
nronaration in readiness for the
t.vtile mills in this country and
'hroad The work on the new
liant is we'll under way, it is said,
md i is added that it is to be the
Srst or central, plant of a large
amber to be erected in this coun-
-v in all sections where flax may
be grown.
Bv the recent discovery of a
Drocess for curing fax, reducing
.bp time hitherto requisite from
npriod of months, to- as many
bours, this fabric, it is said, can
bp produced at a remarkably low
cost, a cost, indeed, that will make
4 the most formidable competition
that cotton has ever encountered.
The part that will concern the
farmers of this section, is the an
pouncement by heads of the enter
mise, that they will look to our
sgriculturists for their supply of
raw material. Those of this State
and those across the Maryland
line will be solicited to plant
fair percentage of their lands in
fax, and to harvest it when it is
ready for processing. ..
It is proposed to pay such a rate
for the harvested crop that it will
reach almost double the value of
other things grown by the farmer.
The chiefs of the big enterprise
say the cultivation of flax is easier
than that of any of the staples of
the farm. 1t is easily planted,
like wheat or oats, FOR example,
and harvested by machinery, al
most entirely without manual
labor.
It is declared also that flax does
not impoverish the soil to any de-
gree-at least less than almost
any of the other crops grown on
the farms of this section. In addi-
ton to this desirable quality, it is
said flax chokes out all noxious
weeds, and is used in some sec.
tiOnS of the country for this eco
nOmic purpose. 1t grows so sturdi-
| ly and thick that no noxious weed,
however deeply seeded the land
may be with them, can survive the
choking process.
Apparently the culture of flax
has everything to commend it, es-
peCially the important fact that it
will yield more than twice as
much in dollars and cents as any
cereal or forage crop.
The inability of Russia to pro
dlce fax while she is still fight
ing and the falling off in the pro
duct Of the fibre in Ireland has
created scarcity in the product,
so marked, indeed, that the Brit
lSh government is said to be Of
terlng a subsidy on the produc-
ton, to encourage a return to it's
cultivation.
By the new treatment flax will
be, as said before, as cheap as
cotton and will largely take the
place of that staple, so it is
thought, when the details of the
proposition are carried out. 1t is
the Intention to eventually induce
farmers from all sections of the
United States to raise flax and to
establish plants in all parts Of the
world by which it may be treated
by the newly discovered process,
through which chemical manipu-
iatlon takes the place of the labor
nous and tedious manual labor.
.
Farmers will be asked to plant
#SeVeraI thnnSopd ocrac in fax in
early spring, that many be har-
vested in about seventy days and
De followed by another crop on
1he same soil if desired. 1t seems
as If this will be an opportunity
lor the farmers to multiply the
products of their lands, for ex'
perlments have been made, it is
sad, that prove the soil needs OF
max to be fully met by our land
IN Delaware and throughout the