Flax'Culturc in England and Ireland. 197 



prejudice wliicli once existed against steeping- in tepid water is 

 now quite removed, as the money value obtained plainly shows 

 its advantages. A considerable outlay is indeed required for 

 providing the plant, «Scc., in the first instance, but our manufac- 

 turers have been quickly reimbursed from the superior quality 

 of the flax Avhich by this process they are enabled to produce. 



XVII. — Remarks on the General Aspects of Flax-Culture in 

 England and Ireland. By P. H. Feere. 



Various circumstances have contributed of late to recall our 

 attention to the culture and management of flax, a subject which 

 in 1851 excited an interest that the rising prices of corn sub- 

 sequently diminished. At that time the late Sir James Graham, 

 Mr. (now Sir Edward) Kerrison, Messrs. Marshall, and others, 

 actively promoted the growth of this crop, which was brought 

 under the notice of our Society by Mr. Druce, who has steadily 

 continued its culture on a moderate scale up to the present time. 

 The establishment of associations was then discussed in many 

 neighbourhoods, but the then existing law of partnership opposed 

 serious obstacles to such enterprises. 



The prices of corn have now fallen back to their former low 

 level, flax is more in demand, and fetches higher prices than 

 ever ; and if the root or bean crop which it would displace be 

 now of increased importance, from the advanced prices of meat, 

 we have more land in a high condition, and consequently able 

 to bear a flax-crop without injury, even though, as seems de- 

 sirable, it receive no direct application of manure for the crop. 



If the English farmer turns his thoughts in the direction of 

 flax-growing, the preceding papers will readily give him the 

 general information which he may require as to soil, climate, 

 and cultivation, <5cc., but they will disclose some discrepancies 

 between English and Irish practice, which may depend chiefly 

 on physical, but partly on social distinctions. 



If he be a man of energy and skill, he may possibly, acting 

 alone, grow, rett, and scutch his own flax on the Irish plan, and 

 reap a manufacturer's profit from his venture if he be happy 

 enough to turn out first-rate fibre ; and he may convey his 

 produce — some 5 or 6 cwt. per acre — to a distant market at no 

 very great cost. But he will have to call in the aid of skilled 

 labour, which will be costly ; his risk will be great ; he will 

 socially, if not legally, become a nuisance by tainting the air 

 and the streams around, and his attention will be unduly turned 

 away from his general duties on his farm. 



