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Les cartes, planchea. tableaux, etc., peuvent itrm filmte i dee taux de rMuction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour itre reproduit en un seul cliche, il eat film* i partir de I'angle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche i droite, et do haut en baa, en prenant le nombre d'imagea nteessaire. Les diagrammee suivants iliustrent la m^thode. J2X 1 2 3 4 8 6 Q^ •>'. / REPORT ON ( CANADIAN FLAX INDUSTRIES JOHN LOWE, Deputy Minister of Agriculture. I ^ REPOBT ON CANADIAN FLAX INDUSTKIES. (John Lowk, Dkpvtt Minister oi* Agriculture.) Ottawa, November, 1894. Sir, — I have the honour to state that daring a visit paid by me to western Onta- rio this autumn, I availed myself of the opportunity to visit the flux mills at Baden, in the county of Waterloo, so as to gain by observation and inquiry facts pertaining to the flax industries. Mr, Erbach, the manager of these mills, personally accompa- nied me, at the suggestion of Mr. Livingston, M.P,, and afforded me the information I embody in this report. On entering the mills, the first thing shown me was the flax seed cake for feeding, of which Mr. Erbach said the mill exported 100 tons per week to the United Kingdom. He said very little of this flnx seed cuke wa^ nont^umod in Cunada, although they send an occasional carload to Quebec at the price ot $25 per ton, or about IJ cents per pound for feeding. I axked Mr. Erbuih how many pot ""ds of cake a bushel of flux seed would give. He told me about 40. The remainder of the bushel (60 lbs. statute weight) would, therefore, be pure oil. The waste 1 think would be very trifling. Proceeding to see tho process, we found the flax seed was ground in an upper stoiy and shot down by a hoppi'r into a healing receptacle, the heat being applied by steam. The ground seed by a simple and ingenious process is taken from this heating reoeptuole and fitted in square boxes with strong lining of cloth open at the sides, the boxes or matrices being of the exact size of the flux Keed cake. The ground seed in this form is put into a hydraulic press to which Mr. E^buch said a pressure of 300 tons per square inch wuh applied. The oil thus expressed from (he ground and warmed need flows out freely and by gravitation descends into u reser- voir from which it is pumped into barrels, this beiiig the whole of the himple and effective pioceNs. The cakes taken out of the press are put in bags tied up at the ends and are thus ready for export. Handling the cakes as they came from the press they were found to be quite dry. 1 ask<'d Mr. Eibach how long in the neason they continued to export 100 tons of flax cake a week. He said all the year if they could get seed. Abked how they procured seed ho said that in that vicinity thoy generally made arrangemt'nts with the furmer-* to hire or rent from them prepared land, that is land piepared for needing by plongbing and harrowing early in the season, in the month of May. At this point the Mill Co. takes pohhexHion of the land,' sows it and reaps the flax. Young Mr. Livingston intornied me that the price paid — $11 per acre — was about an equul divi-ion of conts as between preparing the Itind and taking off the crop. 1 did not ank him what allowance was made for ground value. Mr. Erbach told me that they had this year obtained 150,000 bushels of flax seed from the Mennoniier* of Manitoba, thoy having put this in as a catch crop ufter they could no longer sow wheat in the month of May. He said they also soweil flux on the new breakings by the process of simple harrowing and got fairly good crops. Mr. Erbach utid La had this year given the Pembina Mennoniie settlers $150,000, for their flax seed. Mr. Erbach further informed me that the flax in Manitoba wuh grown wholly for seed and that owing to the richnesK of the soil they go' almost double the quaniily of seed obtained in Ontario; but he said the fibre in Manitoba wiw of no use. that be could take a bunch of it in his hand and break it otf with his own strength. He '^tB"'. ' ■] / said the same thing was true in many of the western United States where many hundreds oHhouHandH of bushels of Lx seed were grown for the seed alone, the ^''^'rSSon, M^P'S me tha^ in Manitoba not more than one half bushel of ^''^'^'ll^rSn^irnTnS^^^^ that the -H for .rowing Aax had to be BDeciaUv Irepured, that it should not be too rich where the object was to obtain fiC hat t should never be grown on the application of fresh manure. Thrvalueo the fibre in Ontario, I gathered f.ora information affordedjne at the mills added to the seed, would make the crop quite as valuable or more so than Se crop of Manitoba for 'seed aloue, which gives 20 or 22 bushels to the acre, or "'•■\TSblclfi:i?fhafs?rof"the Mennonites cut the flax with tb^r binders and bound tin staves in the same way as tbe wheat ; but he thought that unne cesHavy,and that the flax cut by a reaper and handled m the bulk would De betto'- Of course this latter process would be cheaper. He also told me that the Mennonites from whom he had P^';^'?'^^^'^.*!?* J, JJ'^IJJ »orth of flax seed in the fall, grew quite as much wheat as their neighbours, for Te L^on^as Xve slated t'h^t the'seed was only put in after wheat sowing was done or on new breakings on which wheat could not be sown. Mr Kgston and^ Mr. Erbach both expressed to ™e the opinion, based on laree «xpeWe ?e that flax could not be considered an exhaustive crop as respects the laige uxpeiiomo, mat u.,t M- T.i^rino'Bton said that he considered rotation or vHlnfthle on the rich prairies of Manitoba and the North-webt. Mr Erbnch"old me that owing to the drought of last summer »" ^a" ^oba the flax sown in May by the Mennonitis did not come up until the ra.n f?''./" J«"«.^°* after tTat t" g owt^ was very rapid and the seed ripened. This ''aFdity of growth £l5 make'it a valuable Lp^or the short ««»-- «f/J« ^^"5^^^^^^^^^^ Siil;t:^s!rr;:^:t:t!faS^^ '- -A'SAZ'Z:'2.'lZf^^^^^^ to the Manitoba Mennonites. I have the honour to be sir, Your obedient servant, JOHN LOWE, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, The Honourable The Minister of Agriculture, Ottawa.