ft of the land in the kingdom, there' is little doubt >but .that the produce will at firft belafge; t td it i§ very
Uble.to introduce a new kind of grain into hufbandry to extend the fucceffion of-crops;
“ For the vicijjitudes of various grain
“ Tend to preferve the vigour of the plain”
Jaxnot only fupplies ns with cloathing, but its feeds, well known by the name of lin-feed; afford an bil.of <rrent
in painting, varuifhing, See. j They arealfo;ufed medicinally.. Infufions of lin-feed, like other.mucilaginous.
( are uied. as emollients, inpr^ffants,1 and. obtuud,ers of acrimony, in- heat o f urine, ftranguries, thin
.„jiis‘011 the lungs, and other like diforders. A fpöonful of the.feeds,,unbruifed, is fufficient for a'quart of
€ larger proportions rendering the 'liquor difagreeably -flimy; The mucilage - obtained -by infpiflatmg. thé
lous or decoftions is an excellent addition for reducing .difguftful powders into the form* of. an ele£tuary
Toning.the compound to pafs the fauces.freely, without flicking or difeovering its tafte iii.the-mouth. Thé
i d oil is fuppofed tö! be morepf a healing and balfamic nature than ,the other oils of this elaf's, arid has been
Vularly recommended in coughs-, .{pitting of blood, "cholics, and conftipatious of the belly. Thé feeds in
* l or the matter remaining after the expreflipn of the oil.,- are: employed externally in emollient and
»rating cataplafms. In fome places thefe leeds in times of fcarcity have fupplied the place of grain ; but
Iredtobe.an unwholefo.me as .well as an unpalatable food, i Tragus relates, that thofe who fed on them in
fnd had the hypochondres in a fhort time djftended, and the face and other parts fvvelled ; and that not a ievt
fof thefe complaints.
ie following refledions'hbmmuni'cated'to the by a friend will, I flattc
^readers. Should practice juftily the theory, 1 will venture, to-fay, they
• my fid f, n ot be unacceptable to rhy
ill be golden reflections to the nation.
irtfofiions relative to the watering of flax by a new method,fo as to Jhorten labour, add to the Jlrength of the flax, and
oive it a much frier colour, which would render the operation of bleaching f f e r and left tedious.
THOUGH the following reflections have for their object an improvement in the very eflèhtial article of watering
, yet I muft advertife my reader, that-they are only theory, and mult depend entirely for their truth and
îcatiohiupon future experiments, fkilfully and jiidiCioufly made. Should repeated trials prove the advantage of
[method propofed, wé may venture to affirm, it would be an improvement that would’ increafe the national
Tne in the agricultural-branch many thoufand pounds annually, would add greatly to the perfection of the line n
Tifaflure, and over and abovè would fupprefs a very difagrèeable nuifance, which the prefent method of watering
tmfions during fome part of thefummer in every flax-growing country. • ’ ■ ’
Ihe intention of watering flax is, in my o p in io n , to make the boon .more brittle or friable, and by foaking to
ive that gluey kind of fap that makes the bark of plants and trees adhere, in a final 1 degree, to the woody part. The
| is called the harle, and produces the flax ; the ufelefs woody part, which remains w h e n the bark is feparated,
boon. To effeCt this feparation eafily, the practice has long prevailed of foaking the flax in water to a certain
e of fermentation,' and afterwards drying it. For this foaking fome prefer rivulets that have a fmall current*
others ftâgnant water in ponds and lakes. In both thefe ways the water aCts as in all other cafes of infufion and
After two or three weeks it extracts a great many juices of a very ftrong quality, which in ponds give
jvateran inky tinge, and offenfive fm e ll, and iii rivulets mix in the ftream, and kill the fifh.
jay, if this maceration is too long continued, the extracted and fermented fap will completely kill the flax itfelf:
f, inftead of two or three weeks, the new flax were to lay foaking in the water four or five months, I préfumé
fluid be good for nothing but to be thrown upon the dunghill. Both harle and boon would in that time be
jpletely rotted; yet the harle pr flax, when entirely freed from this fap, and manufactured into linen, or into
I, might be many months under water without being much damaged. As linen, it may be w a fh e d , fteeped,
Boiled in fcalding water twenty times, without lofing much of its ftrength : and as paper, it acquires a kind
^corruptibility. Uppears then effential, to the right management of new flax, to get rid of this pernicious vegetative f Sate the boon ; but from the complaints made againft both the methods of watering now in ufe, theraep i,s raenadf otno I), tihs acta rtrhieedre oifsf fbtiyll thgree catu rrroeonmt, tfoo rt hiem pderoftvruemCteionnt oinf tthhea tf iafhrt.i cleT. hisI np rreivvuelnettss , ththe ef lvaxe gfertoamtiv eb efianpg, .aftsa inite di s{ II® w ohpeenr aitti oins jius ftet deinoouus,g ha,n da,n Id hnaovte t oboe emn utoclhd, , oorf tpeenr hnaopts cforommpl neteeg,l efCrot.m tIhne puonncdesr,t atihnety inokf vk ntionwgein ogf tthhee pwreactiefér . i|ltehreve lsin aesn a m kainded od yf ef utoc ht hfela xfl atxo, awn heiqcuha liimtyb iibne sw ihti tfeon fetfrso nwgiltyh, ltihnaetn dmouabdlee othfe f llaaxb ouunrt iinng ebdle. achTinhgis wfeilelm hsatrod blye eg buencwomifee ,a agsr etaht onuugihfa nwcee Wtoe rteh eto n ediygeh bcoouttrohno obdla :c kt hfei rifmt, parse gan amteeda wnsa tteor iws ohfitteenn oitf affutecrhw aa rpdesr.n icTiohuesf eq upaolintdys, lIipvtet,l e, Ihf otwhiesv eer ftfhluivrfiaty ,i s wrielal lnlyo t adtrteinnkd eodf iwt,i tha nda ntyh e ceofnfltuavgiiao uosf eitf fmecatsy pine rhoauprs bcoe ldn eacrlliym aatse si,n fae ctthioiunsg’ asw iot rtihs |B ri0n1g mtgor,e ahto cwul tmivuactiho nm oofre f plaexr n!icious muft its effeCts have been in the hot climate of Egypt, a Country early
» j i e eon,fidérations I have been led to think, that the procefs of watering might be greatly improved and
r'.ed p plunging the new flax, after it is rippled, into fcalding water, which, in regard to extracting the
■ lap, would do in five minutes more than cold water would do in a fortnight, or perhaps more than cold
«could do at all, in refpeCt to the clearing the plant of that lap. Rough almonds, when thrown into fcalding
^ are blanched in an inftant; but perhaps a fortnight macerating’’thofe almonds in cold water would not makq
Prt 0 with their fkins, which are the fame to them as the. harle t.o the flax. Were tea leaves to be.-.
lelv t-co j a*-er a fortnight, perhaps the tea produced by that infufion would not be fo good to the tafte, nor fo
Jbr 11 r t0 i t t e7e> as what is effected by fcalding water in five minutes. By the fame analogy, I think,
mall twig, would be made to part with its bark much eafier and quicker, by being dipped in boiling
Itofl1 ybTe,nS ^eePed in cotd water. 'I his reflection opens a door for a great variety of new experiments in
Pewfft* r Wo.u^ therefore recommend to gentlemen cultivators and farmers to make repeated trials upon
* ] em, which would foon afeertain whether it ought to be adopted in practice or rejected. One thing, I
think,