The flax is one of the oldest textile fibres in Latvia, but after the Second World War there was no work done in flax breeding. Therefore, there were only some local varieties, but mainly farmers had to use foreign varieties. The first task of the research has been to determine the best foreign varieties for Latvian climatic conditions and soils. Ten foreign varieties have been compared, namely: Vega 2, Snaigiai, Dangiai, Sartai, Jarok, Blakit, Vasilok, Levit, Iva and Hermes. The second task has been to determine the potential use of such Latvian varieties as Osupes 30, Priekulu 665. It has to be mentioned that the previously mentioned Latvian varieties have very low fibre yield, small percentage of long fibres and bad fibre quality. The best varieties for Latvian climatic conditions in 2010 were Vasilok and Dangiai. The research should be continued because in 2010 the weather was hot and dry and not typical for Latvia.