Description
Book SynopsisHow urban painters and prairie farmers brought a flax and oilseed empire to North America.
Trade Review"This is an impressive study of an important shift in the North American agrarian economy between the mid-nineteenth century and the 1920s. Readers will appreciate the care with which Joshua MacFadyen presents the environmental, economic and labour implications of this transnational agricultural sector and explores issues with novel methodologies." Colin Coates, Glendon College, York University
"Macfadyen has done careful, exhaustive research in farmers' and millers' accounts and government reports. His impressive GIS maps combine census data from the US and Canada. These sources help Macfadyen replace folklore with careful assessments of the crop, its markets and its roles. Along the way he weaves a complex web of considerations around the flax plant itself, which indicates how much goes into crop cultivation. Flax Americana reminds readers that agricultural history is larger than plants, and the environment that influences them includes more than natural phenomena." Environment and History
