202 Flax-Culture in Enr/land and Ireland. 



also gets 1^ ton of straw per acre, it would seem that he may make 

 from it, sav, 4^ cwt. of fine fibre, which at 70^. per cwt, would bring- 

 him 15/. 155. Now, if his extra expenses are roughly set at 1/. per 

 cwt, he will realise 11/. 5^. by his fibre, apart from the value of 

 the tow and shoves, that is to say, he would apparently make 

 a very good trade profit by the trading risk which he incurs. 



The above statement has no pretensions to accuracy, its aim 

 being simply to avoid an over-statement of the produce, or an 

 under-estimate of the cost of labour required. 



According to a recent Irish account, published in the ' Gar- 

 dener's Chronicle' of Dec. 31, 1864, the dressing of flax costs Is. 

 per stone, or 8.s". per cwt. This charge probably does not include 

 steeping, which may nearly double the expense, and still leave a 

 good margin for our estimate of 1/. per cwt. 



Again, in the instance quoted, the fine fibre, yielding 6 cwt. 

 per English acre, was sold at SO.v. per cwL I have only assumed 

 a yield of 4^ cwt. of fine filjre, and a price of 10s. per cwt, and 

 have left out of account the inferior flax and tow, the value of 

 which, in that case, was fully one-fourth of that of the fine flax ; 

 yet we still get the diflbrence between 11/. 5^. and 6/. 15^. as 

 extra profit for the more adventurous farmer. 



These expenses moreover, are here calculated on a basis 

 adapted to hand-labour, whilst the introduction of machinery 

 uniformly cheapens the process, if it somewhat impairs the 

 value of the produce. The Suffolk flax-fibre seems to make 

 as good a price in the market as the best Irish produce, 

 and it is therefore a question whether the machinery there 

 employed is wasteful, or the straw, as there grown, less 

 yielding. In the flax-crop, as it would seem, the difference in 

 the value of the raw material is far greater and far less evident 

 than in any other produce with which the farmer has hitherto 

 dealt ; and this difference is connected with various and diverse 

 causes, — the soil itself, its management, climate, the rotation 

 adopted, the maturity given to the seed, «Scc. &:c. So that while 

 Mr. Druce, an able and experienced farmer, gets only 3/. XOs. or 

 3/. 15.9. per ton for his straw, and the Suffolk farmers average 

 4/. IO5., the best agriculturists in Flanders make 11. \0s. and 8/. 

 of their crop of straw, and grow from 2 to 2h tons per acre ; 

 securing, it must be admitted, only half as much seed as is 

 harvested in Enofland, but that of a first-rate quality.* 



Mr. Arthur oMarshall, of Leeds, informs me that in Yorkshire 

 5 cwt. per acre is reckoned above an average yield, and 406-. 



* These details are derived from the elaborate reports on the Prize Farm in 

 the French Department " Le Nord," published in the ' Journal d'Agriculture 

 Pratique.' 



