Show FLAX flox CULTURE the cultivation of flax is s a subject which should command a great deal of attention from our oun people atthe present time lime exertions have been made to produce a supply of cotton for our use which would seem almost incredible to those unacquainted with them and those exertions have been successful the importance of wool growing is claiming its share of attention with prospects that we shall at a not distant date have better breeds of sheep and finer and better belter wool in sufficient quantity to supply lAr gerand a greater number ol factories than are now in the territory the manufacture of linen ought to go 90 hand in hand with that of cotton and woolen goods its value for articles of clothing in a climate such as ours especially in the summer would be difficult to overestimate and for a variety of purposes such as table linen toweling shee tings ac the home article would soon take the place of the imported material and of other fabrics now in use uee its purity beauty and durability making ib it much more preferable the first steps to the manufacture of liri enis the cultivation of flax of the plant from which the is obtained there is nothing speculative in saying that we can grow flax in this territory as easily as any other crop and more profitably than many others in the various processes through which it has 10 to pass from the time it is ready to pull until the is in a con to be spun parts of the plant which in many other products would be waste and comparatively worthless are found to be valuable the seed alone forms a paying pro duct of the cultivation of flax being excellent for medicinal purposes als ais also aiso yielding an oil the worth of which 10 is s well known and the residuum from which forms a very superior article of food for fon animals in ireland where its cultivation is great the broken stem of the plant after the has been taken from it Is found useful and the hatche lings are used in a variety of awaya ways in ireland so justly celebrated for its linen manufactures acres were sown with flax in 1853 the latest date ib of which we have the statistics at hand much of the flax grown there is of course worked up by machinery in its various stages after being 11 retted 11 or exposed to the action of water for a ime but much of it is taken through all the processes by hand labor except breaking chestern th the stem estern odthe of the plant which is offen done by a large rock crusher worked by horse power there the ilai flax is pulled a little before it becomes fully ripe and being tied into bundles with flags or rushes is placed in water with rocks placed upon it to keep it down pond retting and stream rettin bettin retting 9 being resorted to according to the faaili ties liea of the cultivator after remaining in the water some fourteen or fifteen days until the stem will break and readily separate from the it is lifted and spread out to dry in inthe the sun when thoroughly dried it is taken to the crusher and spread in a circle where the ponderous roller toller passes over and over it until it is sufficiently bruised for hat cheling this latter iatter is usually done in ireland by fema females les leg who will work steadily day after day preparing the flax for the homes pinner or uhe the market if spun and woven at home then the members of the family wear year at least their underclothing ef of their own manufacture while their household linen is also so produced and much cloth is sold to heavy buyers bleached in the large bleach greens and carried ovar over oven much of the civilized world commanding high prices everywhere it is egid the foregoing proves very vety conclusively that situated as many of our people are they are well able to cultivate flax ta tak tab a it through its various processes with out imported weave their own linen and that too when properly done at a less cost than they thoy c can ean an buy 1 imported linen |