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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1920)
THE OREGON STATESMAN, SALEM, OREGON. .THURSDAY MORXLVO. OiTOnRR 2. 3 is the United States, and It Will Before Long Have Factories and in Due time Great Linen Mills. me Now the Fiber Center of rlax Tw Thread and fHAT WAS SAID A YEAR AGO AND. IS STILL TRUE ii Brief Paragraphs, the History of the Flax Industry in tie Salem District Great Credit Due the Pioneers WhoHadFaith ' i rnliowins are orae "briel ex-1 ably the greatest industrial asset ' 'I. .m ipAinir article in which tDe war uas snen to Am- th Salem sloican issue of The sutesman of. October 30, 1919: - Linen is the world's oldest vegi hl-flbre fabric. e Linen will outlast cotton in everyday wear in proportion of ne to eieht or more: tnat is, on- liaen sheet or tablecloth will out wear eight or more of cotton. . It is extremely important, there lore, that the world should have more linen; it is bound to have more and more; the cry . now Is for more and more. Ireland now manufactures more than one-third of the linen of the world; and she produces only about 3 per cent of the flax need ed in ber manufactures. About 90 per. ceni of her raw materials have come from Russia- , The world has been using 800.- 000 to 1,000.00-0. tons of flax' fi ber in her manufactures; with 92 per cent of it all raised in Russia and Belgium. - . ,. Bnssia Is now out of it; per heps permanently; for before the ma it was raised by Russian peasants as a tax tribute crop. jThe.tJnited States was. a flax- growlng and .manufacturing coun try .in colonial days; making the "oome-sprinl" on hand ' looms In tie, tiouses of the people; each farmer- cultivating a small patch of flax, r, . - .The tJnited States manufactur ed .more flax in 1770 than she does now. .,.." '. But a new day is coming. ' , A recent authoritative . state meat reads: "It is said that prbb- erica is the possibility of estab lishing in the United Sites' a flax and linen industry; that Is thv manufacture of American linen from American flax-.". WnatMoes that mean to Salem? ; This writer is willing to risk his reputation as a prophet by saying it means millions; millions annually. Flax was first grown on a con siderably scale in Oregon for its seed; in the seventies and early eighties for the linseed oil mill of the Gray family, the mills be ing located on the present site of the Salem woolen mills. I In 1893, Eugene Bosse, from Belgium, who had been experting flax for the United States depart ment of agriculture, came to Sa lem. He had been so employed for two years, the flax being grown under the direction of the various state agricultural college pany, financed by Theodore Itoth. K. J. llansctt and oilier Salein 'parties, three years aso built, a scutching and u low mill at Tur- j ner. seven miles eouth of Salem J They have been only reason-' ably successful in Retting ilax grown. They have themselves grown some flax, but have been! hampered by scarcity and high ' . i i coi oi laoor. They are in active business, however, under the direction of Mr. Hansett as superintendent,' and they have capacity o make 300 to 4 00 tons of tow and 200 to 300 tons' of fiber ' annually and they expect to solve the prob lem of getting the flax grown in some way or other. FLAX CULTURE IN OREGON, BY SUPERINTENDENT CRAWFORD use,i, and a double harrowing I ' highly recommended, then rolled , j with a Mnootb roller. ThU eUwe.4 . the surface and produces a niiire", even and better germination. Iti- jsurinp a more uniform crop. 1 i A a trnrral rul. lh tvi t ttmi He Tells Farmers How to Prepare Their Land. How tol'w'ApJii"" anVuTr 'loVh.j ; anu no rowing lor tuts crop k&oui1 EVERYTHEiG : IN . HARDWARE SALEM HARDWARE CO llGISBROS. M Kinds of Fruit Car Lot Shippers of Potatoes M2 State! St. Phone 717 experiment stations and he had round that the best flax in the United States or the world the best fiber flax-r-was raised in this section of Oregon. This fact was known before to a few people, as will appear below. Mr. Rosse raised and treated flax for its fiber here for a num ber of years, with varying busi ness success or failure, due to many causes, the storv hein? tnn long for details at this time. In 189f, Mrs. W. P. Lord, wife or Governor Lord of Oregon, or ganized the Oregon Women's Plax Fiber association, and, under the direction of this association and its financing, several crops of flax were raised. " Due to several misfortunes, including a fire, this association was not : financially able to carry out all its program; but It at least demonstrated over again the superiority of the flax grown here, for its fiber. Dr. Deimcl, the great manufac turer of linen mesh wearing ap parel, . investigated conditions here, and he wan on the point of .establishing a mill here when the war in terf ered. . . ' -i ? v . ; t.: 'The, companies with which he Is connected may yet. be interest ed; -and they wilf have, to look somewhere for raw materials, at least. - , : The Oregon Flax Fiber com- Now for the most convincing proof of all that this. is the best flax country on earth, for the fiber: Listen: Mr. Millerr near Turner, took samples of flax fiber grown by himself to the Philadelphia Cen .ennial in 1870. His product came into compe tition with every flax growing country in the world. The judges did not know where the samples were raised. They judged by points length, strength, etc.. nine points in all. Xotone of the judges, however, knew the findings of any other judge. When the footings were made it was found that the Ore- C .1 n i ww - . ii . .i . I an oow ine oeea, now 10 narvesi we Lrop ne Ueclares ,H after the utter date. : ; nowever. in some instances, jcimmi i crops nave been produced by sow ling up to May 20th. That Flax Growing Is Not Hard on the Soil (Robert Crawford, superintend ent of the state flax industry. In the Oregon state penitentiary, on April 1 last issued a printed cir cular on "Flax Culture in Ore gon."' .the full text of which is printed below: ) expected from ground that is cov- i Amount i !sre! sma to Acre, ered with surface water In the! Overselling is as much to tv winter. The land should be rich 'avoided as underscoring. It ts in itself, and made as free from ', recommended from our experl- eeas as possible by previous cul-jence here that S to 100 pound Pny of Turner, with their otf're tivation. ' In lh irro rlios ih mni -tl..!at Salem, have b-n rtiTiainr lh(r THE OREGON FLAX FIBRE - COMPANY IS HAVING SUCCESS This Pioneer Institution in the Development of the Flax Industry is Without Doubt the Forerunner of Great Things in the Salem District, Including Twine and ' Linen Mills Editor Statesman: The Oregon Flax Fib.- eom- Clover sod. old pasture. mead- Flax for fibre can be grown, !ow land, or land under a hoed gon flax had won OX ALL NINE POINTS. successfully on any soil that will proaucje good wheat, oats. rye. barley or other cereals, but soils best suited are deep loams which are well drained and in good con dition of fertility. Flax does well on stubble or corn land, and It also docs well on sod, especially following clover where It is worked Into a good, fine eed bed, and compact. Fibre flax is easily distinguish ed from seed flax, as It grows tall er, reaching a height of thirty-six to forty-eight inches and not branching' until near the top. therefore producing less seed. The root penetrates little more than an Inch into the ground and the feeders are about the size of a hair. This short description of tne flax plant should explain why ctop of the previous year Is usnal iy ine best ground for flax. If It oam-yard manure on m field, it should be applied to a previous crop, and not directly to the flax. ...Mi r . i .. . i. -. J a splendid snccens of It. Why? It was the best flax fiber grown it is a dainty, feeder and does not in the world in every single par- draw heavily from the soil, and ticular. iwhy the ground should be well At that time, a great Belfast 'prepared, manufacturer of linen products I Flax Hani on Soil? made the statement that no other' ,., K - v, . rnnntr.. i, . For years there has been an er- and that he could take two pounds of the Marion county fiber AND SPfN A THREAD THAT WOULD REACH A ROUND, THE WORLD. are spinning selling it nw The Harbours linen thread and at $6 a pound; $12,000 a ton. Fishermen at Astoria are pay Jng $3.85 a pound for the twine thatr goes -into their nets. It costs them $400 for. a net;' and. in the salt water, the iiet iastsJ only two years. Hence, the high, cost of fish.t Why shpuld not Salem people who could cut these prices in two several times, put the rug and twine and . linen i industries . on their feet Salem by nature des ignated to'do all this? James J. Hill said many times, that commerce, was bound to fol low, the lines of, least resistance. No man, no company of men, no nation, can for long resist the decrees of nature. "Eventually, why not now?". Eventually, Salem will be the flax and linen center oi the world. Why not now? roneous impression that flax was hard on soil. This arose from the practice of a class of farmers who grew the crop for seed only, and persisted in growing it year after year on the same p round. factory remits to the grower. CuMlvall.xi Fihr. n rouirM n mi. ir. J t because the land and the cli . t ..-. j. : ., tiulr of th Willamelt allv jre ! ot t uvu uirirr auriaic iot pari. Pit ' . . r ' . s at all found necessary to oie;.h. rom int: hul T. m.t 1 Py adapted to rat&e and 1 A 1,1 . . . . m" - . . T . . tit desirable and highly recommend- ""- - ed that any Urge, noiiou weeds j W have certainly nometlmes. a thai mil-, thir annAamnM in a drawback, lhat la a nl fall. Thia y applying barn-yard manure J field of flax when It I six to eight can b remedied by doing the ret directly ta a flax field the aamejlneheji high should be pulled, or ting (brooch the rummer, year it is liable to produce an un- stubbed carefully. I Mr. Lyster Dewey, of the fibre HarrribiK ' Investigaiion at Washington. l This Is one of the most impor-.C" cme P taut operations In producing good f II1nlmr on i y rrora ria- even growth and cause weeds which are Injurious to the eroD. Commercial fertilizers are nrefer- able providing the proper ingredi ents are used. IVeparlitC the Land. Indeed, too much cannot be said In this respect. Fall plowing is recommended very strongly, but it has been found that early spring plowing, if the season Is favora ble, does very well. It has been proven without doubt that deep plowing produces the best results and in plowing sod land a plow equipped with- a jointer should be used in order that all the' grass may be turned under to prevent it from coming up In the flax. This also gives you a much easier surface to disc and work up Into a fine.pulverlzed bed. which la ab solutely essential. And it must' be borne in mind that a good cro of flax cannot be expected on a poor. rihr fi.r it i. h..n ti.. iicnigan. ana som&.oiner states n v ih vm .nt it i. k...v. where there are- flax that pays the fibre mill. A good flax straw properly harvest ed at the right time weighs heavy and produces strong fibre. As the flax straw becomes over-ripe, it loses weight on curing beyond the same straw cured at the right stage. As a general rule flax straw In Oregon has cot bcehi harvested until too ripe, too much attrntlAn being paid to the seed. The flax should be polled or some flax mills. He told me that we were getting more tonnage to the acre, and the quality of the flax was so much better. He mast know. NHnc in that line of business for 21 years. I will make the tatement that there Is no sense la saying that the farmers have to learn to pre pare their flax field so as to raise ant lots taking full advantage of the tunfthine. which had been all loo scarre tor their purpose for several weeks. The plant of the Ortfon Flax Fibre Co. la easily the outstand ing Industry of Turner.- and there la every reaaon to predict that It will grow steadily In Importance and taacaimd. as .It has, done since it ri atarted there. In tacu there "is eerjr prospect that It will make Turner a most prosperous and - prorreasive sub urb of Salern as It will virtually be after the completion of the paved market road next summer. The Oregon Flax Fibre Co. ob tained the flax from ?40 acrt of and the rt s?aoa: about. 40 tons, or an averare of about two tons to the acre. The reader will see that the work Is "cut out for Mr. !Untt and his aaistants. putting all tSal nearly a ration ponnJ of flat througs their ma rnines before the time of the next harvest. Mr. !!anett said be was erabar- a good crop. 1 notice that mwt oiiard "o by ihe number of them have their land prepared Jut as good as in Belgium. Take for example p. A. Thorn cut when Ihe'stalks begin to atrip !a!,?n- J- t. A. Bradley. their leaves eight or ten Inched !J A?? r?r 0fr,Tbwa'i' rmffl . t. i. ,K-.been railing flax for five year. Flax grown on some soils is ab-.if ihl:inft ! t Bn lnmnv it i solutely beneficial, and I beg to submit herewith an extract from Dulletin ;No. 74. issued by . the Minnesota Agricultural Experi ment Station. Tlie flax crop has for years better to roll it with a corrugated from the root firm In the bole and not yet rat tling. The seed will ripen after harvesting. In harvesting, either pulling or rutting, care should be taken lhat the bundles are not made too large. They should not be over roller, then. Irorrdw again before six inches in diameter in order to vowing. Sowing should not be cure- proierly. Care should also done immediately after using cor- be exercised to see that the straw been one of the most lucrative in j by all means. rueated roller; if it is. it will be in rows better to harrow again FIVE ACRE NUT OR BERRY TRACTS Supplement your regular In terna by owning a small fruit tract. - ; TV We care for it for you. m See as about baying: one now. - Limited; nttinber tracts for i PEARCY BRbs. - Oreson Building Salem MRS. LORD WRITES ON RAX HEMP CROPS Sne Urges the Growers to Give Flax Good Cultivation, in Order to. Produce a fine Quality of Fiber, and Says Hemp is Also Important WhlXRIETTE VALLEY TRANSFER CO. Corner High: and Ferry Sts., . SALEM move anything. ' Also makinp throUgh trips to Portland and return. VVal o do loefilhanlinjr. ; p j . : 1400 "ipid transportation is a pri 7 esfcfetial , to speeding BP production T flow with bMifhenl. te,-'. .Wtttoga: b.rn?with ; ; w .unrtiotig. tw. ',ilo. If " ' ir l wil. on n-Tt tIe to pd rad.' walking 0"WI tte norhial achool well Lti.i.i 4 ZL'.".if 01 lb oeS. Term. Wfl USD LOIHJIXO llbl'SK 1K- ?' "T.inj an1 boarding W 4 ,n "t""! town in fc!lrnVi! nr tar i(uipment, for- k - mam 111 I Idl n v - -. . M- HL?i tWolofsky, 341 State (Mrs. W. P. Lord was asked for an article for this Salem slo gan issue. She has been very busy, but she managed, last eve ning, to" find, time to furnish the following. . She promises further contributions when she can get more time, especially on the im portance of -raising hemp on our lands adapted to its growtnij A leading article in a number of the Saturday Evening Post, in the month of August, called at tention to Athe great scarcity of flax fiber. Here is one paragraph: "Before the war, Russia pro duced 92 per cent of all the flax grown In the world. Up until the time of the revolution in Russia flax was groVn by Individual far mers and all I the large estates, as a compulsory tax crop. Bol shevism has changed all that and the outlook now s, that Russia will never again proauce as much flax, or as cheap flax, as was raised in the past.': , It was Russian flax which prin cipally furnished the raw material for the twines used in sewing the millions of bags , containing the products ot our fields of wheat and other cereals, and potatoes and onions and the farmers' pa tience is sorely tried today by the oor twines, which snap at the least strain, largely made of jute. The only material which will resist the action of salt water is flax fiber, and seines must be re newed every other year, at an al most unbelievable price. Prob ably no state in the union has a greater personal interest in the products of flax fiber than our own. 1 While we have done a great deal of talking and I might al most say boasting about the flax we CAN raise, we have never yet come down to make use of a slang phrase to brass tacks, and giown flax.. in such quantities as to commend our product to the woild of commerce. Ve must grow flax commerci ally oetore we can ever expect to manufacture even the common twine. (Continued gn page 8) Minnpsota. and in ordr to main tain the acreage, and to ascer'aln the effect upon the soil. th State of Minnesota instructed its exper iment station to make thorough investigation and to particularly ascertain if flax depleted the soil. The following section from the re port made by the station shows that many of the common crops remove more fertility than flax does. ' L. ' 1 -- -' ' "A corn; crop removes a -half more nitrogen, twice as much pot ash, and About the same amount of Tho8phetfl&i&t'fci4fc..n 6?Terf4iarrow crop remove practically the same amount of nitrogen and phosphor ic acid and about three-quarters more potash than a flax . crop. Compared with wheat, flar re moves less phosphoric acid and potash from the land, but about one-half more nitrogen. Potatoes remove about the same amount of phosphoric acid, about one-third less nitrogen and nearly three times more potash per acre than an average crop of flax. In flax grdwing the heavy draft, falls .up on the nitrogen, but when clover Is grown, the loss of nitrogen is not at all a serious matter, be cause one fair crop of clover will more than return all of the nitro gen removed . by two cr.ops of flax." , " ! ; . This statement isalso support ed by j the United States Depart ment of Agriculture; also by the Oregon Agricultural College " in this state. Selection of Soil for a Flax Crop. As before stated, flax does well on any good soil, but some good soils differ in fertility, and are not suited for' a profitable flax crop, producing a large amount of straw with a small yield of fibre. For Instance, a deep, fertile and mellow loam will grow a heavy crop of both seed and fibre. A It is very important that the seed bed.be mll pulverized and fine on top. flax eed being very Email and easily lost in poorly prepared land. If the seed Ih bur ls kept even at the butt, whether pulled or cut. Curing. As soon as the straw la hArvesl ed. whether pulled or cut. and bound, .it should be shocked or stooked. and not left lay on the ground for any length of lime. In led too deep, it iMually die, or If formng the shock or .took u It come up at all, it is sickly and stunted and does not mature evenly. .Sowing the Noel for Fibre. Using a broadcast seeder pro duces the best results, as It la very important that the.seed be evenly distributed to insure an average crop. Alter sowing, tne iigniesi possible should be care to re that It Is put op so lhat It .will not fall down. Ar rance the sheave or bundles In rows, eight or tea together, tak ing two sheave at a time and leaning them 'against each other. This forms a long narrow shock returns would not brine as hlch a flPrt to i;o rlesr money to the acre. Taking an averare of loo acre on the Kame farms. Th return was this LaM crop front 40 to S50 an acre. 5U well pleaed are they that every year Ihey rale 100 acren each. On account ot the wet fall mwt of th- crop will be put In la tb pr!ng. and a big flax corporation conlJ get all the acreage needed. This I proved by so many farmers coming etrry day to s'gn contracts for next year. . E. J. flanaett. farmer wUhler to-pot out larre fields of rlax for their company next soaaoa many more acres being offered than their machin ery for working and finances for handling will allow at Ihm present time. CVmI for the Farmer. To the fanner who did their own harvesting, the. Oregon Flax Ffbre com pa ay paid the tat aea- aon 120 a ton for their flax. ine company luelf ri tmi harvested some of the flax. Mr. JIansett say some of their flax has thrmhed out as high as If buhels ot seed to the acre worth at sowing time, last year tC.SO a bushel. He says the s-e4 alone. In some eas. will pay the company for the- straw. , In paying the farmers 1:0 a ton for their flax, 'the company also famished the seed for soaiag free Superintendent of the Oregon J of c&Jt to the farmer. Rax Fibre Co. Tarner. Or.. Oct. 2C. l$:o. A Buy riaca. The Salem slogan editor visited Turner on Sunday last and found Mr. Hanaett and a number of helpers busy with their flax beinl; or .took, one sheaf or bundle toidred he fWd- Md OJ b Tmc (Continued on rage 1) A THOUSAND ACRES OF FLAX FOR PRISON PLANT .. . The Acreage Next Year Will before Than Three Times " as Large as it Was This Year This is the Best Plant the United States, hat it Needs Many Improvements Yet .So well r,!fajed ha been the farmers with the net retaras for their flax, grown for the Oregoa Flax Fibre. Co.. that several of thetn want to rsiae Larger fields: one man offering to grow ZC acres, and others 100 acre each. ; The Salem slogan editor visited the flax plant at the Oregon state penitentiary on Monday and had a talk with Robert Crawford, su perintendent ot the Oregon State Flax industry. Mr. Crawford was born a flax roan. In the great linen city of Belfast, Ireland, and he ha been a flax worker all hla busy life. Sol Worden is foreman of the working forces inside the prison, and together "these men have brought system to the industry in the prison ahops. Everything is In order; everytnlng goes accord- method. inr to svstem and th, u tha best flax fiber plant deep, clay loam with a clay snb- . tK. United states: bnt. even so. um i souu. . mams joaui u jU y not neaTly as good a 11 tor working S5. With even the present plant the flax from 2000 acres could be taken care of; and with the improvements suggested above, and some more storage room, they could take care ot the product of a much larger acreage, with the same sized force. It was formerly estimated that the needed improvements might be made tor. 15000. They might rort S10.00O cow. and they would be rhear at that. Would Fajr for lTMTnr!vr. Moreover, no appropriation would be needed to pay for the?e improvements If only 'e funds, earned by the plant were made! avalt'iule. for the r-orpose. In fact, the punt will net only t : it ' , . t Ihilline f!.ix in the ricM near Salem ilurin? the lat rjarrel. standard flax soil, yon may vao - obW and Mr Crawford earn , the money to pay tor all from this to wav between a soil that is nan and a heavy clay nuM like to make It. The machinery when bongni ;J. k , . TI' P was archaic, and a lar-e part ot a light sandy soil, with good re- itshould be replaced b, ; m suits. But w-hatever the soil may ?,n nfry' and -T.iJ. i Jn arl u ia v mnr.ont iht it flclal retting facnitles and an artl i should be well drained. Although ,, - , flax requires a'Certatn amount 01 . . . moisture, a good crop canno. be; men now. and they have facilities; A BE EM AN ' ONE-HORSE TRACTOR , W25SALEM L0ACH& TROVER i tjr Gaiage, Hi Ferry St, I 1 1 i. j-.. - - :' . 'TS . ... - i I ' -, . v' . : -, ; - '."i'.i .-'-.'r' " ' -.-rvvr' -''?. v-i'.-r .r . needed liiiprovemnt. but. In two or three years-1' will earn enough1 to put in spinning machines. o' that the twine lor the fishermen of Oregon could be made here, ' and the twine lor the farmers which tLey need for sewing their uraiu sacks. , Continued on pa go 4i MR. STREET ASKS WHAT SALEM HAS BEEN DOING Since the Conditions Are Ideal Here for a Great Flax Industry, Why Have Oregonians Been so Slow.in Tak- ing Full Advantage of the Opportunities so Gener ously Provided hy Nature? "What have your people becniand that at that time a great Uel doinu all these years?" j fat linen manufacinrer id he That was the question put to a could take two pounds of Maroin Statesman reporter by George II-'county flax and SPIN A TIIUKAI street at Hotel Marlon last Sat- j THAT WOULD RKAClf Ai:OUNI urday. jTHK WOULD He meant.' what have the peo-j Anj aftaT back before that, and pie of the Salem district bt-en do-inp to the early eighties, ttm Gray ing all these years, when theyfamuy had a linseed oil mill in knew, or ought to have . known. Isaiem. where the Salem woolen that the best fiber flax in thetmj now ,Unds. and tbey had world 1.4 produced here; and that j nax grown all over nhe Wlllaro ideal manufacturing conditions , ette valley, and as far south as were provided by nature? That ; Douclas county, and the men of Is. everybody here ought to know thos days knew this ciion vu thee facts, for they have been . especially adapted to the growing demonstrated over and over again :0r fiber flax for many years - And year after year, in many For away back In 18 4 6. at the experiments. It has been shown I Philadelphia Centennial, uoer flax grown near Turner took tne firtt priie against the flax of all other countries; on all the nine i points considered by the Judges; that no section ot the world can raise better fiber flax than has been produced hert - . - . (Continued on past i) KLEARFLAX LINEN RUGS Tlu lil-al 1'1,-tiu, tm i-.I.r Rtiir ?titalJe for rcry rom in liie ln,tie KLEARFLAX FACTS IJewi il.1e ont-r-.i!liir, mothproof, tlii-k. flat lying7, an.l rie'uly ll.rI, Klearilax Linen IIuj rrr fnomieal. Vu ran e! Klr.irfirx Linen Un? in Taupe. Illaek. Itlue. tirf.jti, tJiey. ItrowtK, IJom ail Natural Huff, in all niati !ar ni? !i.e .it.I any h-nplh r liar,. Siltl itilv in Salcta lv . C. S. HAMILTON 140 Cotirt Street Running 0