A 1919 economics article comparing flax grown for spinning fiber with flax grown for seed (linseed oil). It describes European handicraft fiber culture, including hand pulling, rippling, water and dew retting, and scutching, against mechanized frontier flaxseed farming in the United States, Canada and Argentina. It also covers failed attempts to mechanize fiber production, the westward migration of the U.S. flaxseed crop, and the principle of comparative advantage. Appendix tables give U.S. flaxseed production by state, 1849-1916 acreage and bushels, and world fiber and seed output for 1911-13.