Report of the Flax and hemp commission
An 1865 United States Department of Agriculture commission report on flax and hemp, printed in Washington for Congress and for farmers and manufacturers weighing domestic fiber production during the cotton shortage. The plates are wood-engraved microscope views of single fibers and fiber bundles: ribbon-like strands twisting over one another, cross-hatched cell walls, split and frayed ends, printed as line work on toned paper and usable as ready-made linear textures, rope motifs, or botanical diagram fragments.
