Show plax culture the operations of 0 the war inhibiting b the obtaining of cotton from the growers ot of that staple of commerce at the south by the ahe people ot of the north they are diligently seeking for substitutes for that article aside from th the movements that have been and are bein being made to introduce cotton culture into illinois indiana and other western states to supply the demand for lint and fabre fibre that has been and will be created by a continuance of hos bos between the contending factions a return to flax growing which has for years been m measurably e ssu isu bably abandoned or neglected in the eastern and middle middie states has been and continues to be strongly urged by agriculturists and alid others interested in the matter at a fate late ate meeting of the american institute farmers armors far yar merb mers club new york the subject of flax growing browin gr owin 0 was taken up u p and lengthily discussed te toe following is a synopsis of the re mr I 1 ke made by the speakers on that occasion ision mr carpenter gave his opinion that this was one on of the most important questions that have ever been brought before the club fax F ax should be sown about the loh 10 ah of may on orwell well weli prepared soil eoll about halfa haifa hushel an acie acle acre flax fiber mixed with cotton unproven Un proves both it does not require a very stron strong soil to grow 1 row flax nor do a it exhaust the land lad any more than other cr crop gand sand he be wanted to see the cultivation greatly extended and hoped that the club would lend its influence to promote this object prof nash said flax is grown at the west tor for or the a sed aed bed ed alone when I 1 was a boy every family used to grow flax to make cloth for domestic use all over new england it requires a stron sr heavy soil and is very exhausting hau sting so much so that grass did not take well it if sown for seed or to use the fiber for coarse cloth half balf a bushel per acre is enough for very fine fabrics a bushel and a halo haio per acre Is sown plow about may hlay 1 and make the surface very smooth before sowing sowing atia it is pulled as soon as a part of the seed is 13 ripe and dried and the seed beed beaten oil off and then spread on grass to rot so that it can call be dressed flax will grow of course on stony land but the soll soil must be good the reason that flax culture ceased so far in this country is because that cotton could be produced so much cheaper cheapen the mere act of swin ingling swilling sw 0 ling occupied a man all ali day to dress 16 pounds and the culture of flax will neier be extended in this country until we can prepare the fiber at a cheap rate by some bome of the processes that have been tried either by steam or aracid add or alkali I 1 have no doubt flax is more healthy for garments than cotton and it may be produced to any extent desired if it can be cheaply trize pre prepared ared for use dr tumble said that the culture of flax has been abandoned in a great measure by the pennsylvania farmers who used to grow enough eno u for all family use but cheap cotton has driven arlyen out flax because the labor waa was wasso so great it could not compete with cotton it II will not be revived unless the great labor of 0 its ita preparation can be done by machinery mT chinery at al a cheap rate that is the great difficulty in the way of inducing 6 farmers to extend the flax culture dr jarvis in his remarks said that cottan was not as healthy as flax if flay is dirty at first in its preparation cotton is always so through all its wear it is giving off fine particles of dust that fill the uie air of our houses bouses and injure the abe beaith he aith alth of all who use cotton cloth he thought in every sense of the word cotton has been a curse to the world it is in nov inov as healthy as flax for any kind of clothing particularly bedding and he thought the world would be greatly bene fitted b bj the use of alax flax to as great an aa extent extent as it now uses cotton mr henry 1 I had supposed that rotting totting and breaking and sw ingling and hat bat ebeling flax were among the antediluvian notion of uhe the world As to flax exhausting the boil soil oil any more than any other crop 1 lont dont believe belleve it and certainly with elith the improved machinery of the age there is ia no difficulty in preparing the giber eiber for use mr gale said there is still a great deal of sax feax raised in pennsylvania and in the interior of this state it is now prepared by machinery that obviates the most disagreeable hand labor of the old time farmers are content to raise taise flix at about 12 cents centa a pou d there is no trouble about growing flax the only question qu tation estion is about being able to produce it as cheaply as any other fiber whether cotton or blik bilk alithe all ali the business of dressing flax is very dirty and disagreeable when done by band and most farmers prefer to raise other crops and have subs titu es for linen cloth mr lancaster formerly of new hampshire shire stated that with rc erd ad to flax seed beed beel it depends de ends upon what the crop to is to be used for it ar for seed beed alone three pecks pr por acm acca will do jt it for foi seed and fiber a bushe bushel or a bushel and a peck ind and it should be sawn as aa early as i 4 could gould be after the froit is out of the ground it la 13 a very exhausting and laborio la borios 3 crop A hand band wili will rl not cipull pull puli over a quarter of an acre a day when dry the seed la 19 beaten off it is then spread and i not turned till it is rotted sufficiently A ma man n in new hampshire where I 1 used to work among flax co ild dreis dregs from 25 pounds a day and anti as to the use ot of linen there is no end to its use and there is no cloth applied to so many uses as that of flax we iye can grow pounds per acres acre and used to count it a good crop at per pound for the flax and 1 to ibo 1 50 a bushel for the seed as an acre would produce 25 bushels the flax question is one of great import ance to the country because it if we can pre re prepple th the e lint chea cheaply ly 1 all parts of the country can produce a better e ater fiber than cotton sufficient glent clent for fur the use of the inhabitants at less than the average pice of cotton and the fabric will be more valuable ald aid aed its more healthy I 1 the people of deseret are doubly interested in the colure of flax they need the lint for many purposes paper making not among the least and without the seed oil for painting cannot be produced an article in great demand and will continue so to be and its use wil soon be increased an hundred fold above what it is now or ever has been in these valleys if manufactured here farmers farmer should turn their attention to the subject more th than anthey they have heretofore in preference to growing so much wheat for should they not in the end of the year realize as much profit from an acre of cf flax as from an acre of wheat according to the amount of labor expended in the culture at established prices it will be more advantageous to them eventually as tim LIM time e will prove |