Flax Culture. 425 



was injurious to tlio growth of flax. Flax, it is well known, deliglits 

 in light silicious soils, and such soils are very generally de- 

 ficient in lime. He could hardly venture to say, therefore, that the 

 deficiency in lime, in the case of light soils, was favourable to the 

 growth of flax : nor, on the other hand, that the presence of lime in 

 calcareous clays on the Cotswold Hills was injurious. He was rather 

 inclined to think that a moderate quantity of lime would be favour- 

 able to the growth of flax, if otherwise the mechanical condition of 

 the land was such as would enable the plants to draw their noiu'ish- 

 ment from the land, so that an occasional dressing of lime would have 

 a beneficial effect upon the lightest soils on which flax is grown. 

 He admitted the advantage of growing flax upon some land which 

 happens to be deficient in lime. 



Mr. Beale Bkowne : Upon the soils in Ireland, of which I have 

 been speaking, nothing else could be grown without the application 

 of lime. They would not even get the seed back again. He considered 

 it a great advantage, then, that in this part of Ireland, where there was 

 a deficiency of lime, they could grow remunerative crops of flax when 

 they could grow nothing else. 



Professor Voelckee : If that be the fact, it is a very important one, 

 and worth keeping in mind. 



Mr. Feere inquired whether, in the western part of the county of 

 Limerick, the soil was not rather of a clayey than of a light nature, 

 whilst it had the character of being very deficient in lime. If 

 that were so, its suitability for flax could not arise from its sandy 

 character. 



Mr. Beale Beowne observed that the land to which he alluded in 

 Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary was almost in a wild state — in fact, it 

 was nearly peat. To a depth of 6 or 8 inches, it was composed almost 

 entirely of roots, while underneath there was clay, but wholly deficient 

 in lime. His difficulty in breaking up this barren land was to get 

 sufficient tilth to put in the seed. The j^oint he wished to imjiress 

 upon gentlemen was, that a crop of flax, and that of a very high 

 quality, could be raised upon land where nothing else could be 

 grown. 



Professor Coleman said, that however interesting it might be to 

 hear of what was done in Ireland, yet in this Society it was more 

 important to draw attention to the practicability of introducing flax 

 into this country in the place of a cereal crop. Mr. Beale Brown had 

 stated that the value of the fibre varied from 35Z. to 60Z. a ton, 

 according to the management ; that it required the most careful and 

 delicate manipulation ; and that the processes connected with the 

 dressing of the fibre, removing the woody matter, &c., were best 

 carried out by hand-labour. There were two great difficulties in 

 the way of the tenant-farmers in this country. They could never 

 hope, with their numerous other duties on the farm, to be able to give 

 that attention to the manufacture of flax which would result in pro- 

 ducing the best fibre. Then the question was, whether it was likely 

 to prove sufficiently remunerative to induce capitalists to establish 

 mills. He had very little experience of his own on the subject ; but 



