FLAX. Limn usitatissimum, Linn. Linacem Linum (Latin), Linon (Greek), Lein (German), Lin (French); Llin (Celtic). It is from these names that we get our common words, linen, lint, linseed and line. The specific Latin name means "most useful." [See also Fiber Plants.] Figs. 405-410.
By C. P. Bull.
Flax is annual, grown for the fiber of the bast and the oil of the seeds. It grows one to four feet tall. Flowers are borne in cymose inflorescences and are distinctly 5-parted in every respect ; sta mens 10, monodelphous ; stigma 5-parted ; sepals 5; petals 5, blue, sometimes white; each loculns of the ovary is incompletely halved and bears 2 seeds: fruit, a capsule, 5-celled, with 10 seeds. This species is the only cultivated form of the flax family (Linac.r), except for orna ment, but some of the species so closely resemble it that the hus bandman would be unable to recog nize any difference. A large number of species are recognized by botan ists. Bessey reports 135 species in all, and 22 native to America. Some of these are perennial. Many of them are of easy culture in an open and warm place, where they are fully exposed to the sun, giving attractive bloom.
History.
It is not definitely known to what country may be attributed the origin of the flax plant. L.angusti foliuin is said to grow wild from Palestine to the Canary islands. It is also reported as being the species grown by the Swiss lake dwellers. L. usi tatissimum, it is said, is the ancient flax of Egypt and Assyria. The ancient use of the fiber is evident from the fact that the Egyptian mummies are found wrapped in linen and the flax plant is carved on their tombs. Another evidence of its antiquity is found in Genesis xli. 42: "Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's band and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen." Its introduction into Europe dates from very remote times. Its importance was materially lessened by the general introduction and use of cotton.
The introduction of flax into the United States was made at an early date, probably by the early Pilgrims. No definite records are available. Up to some thirty or more years ago it formed a part of most farmers' harvest, but since the opening of the new lands in the West, and the wonderful manu facturing achievements, it has been a crop with which to reclaim the native sod. The farmers of
older lands gave up its culture to cheaper lands. At present (1906), a new interest is awakening. A wide-spread use for the fiber calls for added care in harvesting, and a better knowledge of the science of agriculture develops the fact that flax is not "hard" on the land, and that crop rotation permits of the use of the crop on every well-managed farm. The production of flax in America is now placed on an entirely new basis.
Geographical distribution.
In America the flax industry stands as one of the oldest. The production of flax has been confined largely to the newer, western lands, as it gradually became less profitable on the older eastern farms. The importance of the industry in the United States is shown by the number of acres (2,534,836) de voted to flax, the number of bushels (28,477,753) of seed produced, and the farm value ($24,049,072) of the crop. [These figures and following table from the agricultural Yearbook, 1905.] For the most part, flax is grown in the northern states and Canada, the two Dakotas and Minnesota pro ducing about 90 per cent of the total American It does not seem to matter much, for the produc tion of flax seed, whether the climate be hot or cold. It is grown in north and south Europe, and in this country from Texas to Manitoba. For fiber, however, it has been asserted that certain localities, as Michigan and Oregon, produce a better quality for spinning purposes.
The production of flax seed at present exceeds the home demand, but a ready market is found in European countries, especially England, for all the export trade that can be supplied. The exports are mostly by-products of the oil-mills,—oil-cake and oil-meal. Until the year 1891, the domestic supply was not equal to the demand, and most of the flax seed used in the East was imported from Europe, the home products being nearly all manufactured and used in the states west of the Alleghanies.