325 
under flax was returned at 2000 acres; by 1902 the acreage was 
reduced to 824 ; in 1905, 437 acres were sown and a year later the 
crop was returned at only 263 acres. 
Ireland has always grown more flax than Great Britain but her 
acreage indicates a similar shrinkage. In 1870 flax occupied 
194,910 acres. By 1879 it was only grown upon 128,004 acres; 
1880 witnessed an increase to 157,534 acres ; by 1882 the acreage 
was down to 113,502. In 1895, 95,000 acres were sown; by 
the area under flax is said to have shrunk to 34,469 acres ; by 1902 
the acreage had risen to 49,742 and a somewhat similar acreage was 
recorded in 1910, but in 1909 the return showed only 38,116 acres 
under flax cultivation. . 
The area under cultivation cannot, however, be accepted as an 
accurate guide to the quantity of fibre produced as that is apt to 
vary considerably from year to year. Thus, in 1854, when Ireland 
grew 151,403 acres of flax she produced 35,606 tons of fibre, but in 
1867 when 253,257 acres were placed under the crop, the yield of 
of fibre only amounted to 35,397 tons. Again in Ireland’s record 
year of 1864 when the crop covered 301,693 acres, the yield of fibre 
was 64,506 tons, but the following year when the area under flax was 
reduced by about 50,000 acres, the yield was down to 39,561 tons. 
The greatest difference, however, is noticeable between the acreage 
and yield of the years 1855 and 1868. In the former year flax 
quantity is rarely reached. 
Although the production of fibre has diminished in Ireland to 
such a serious extent during the last 40 years, the linen industry has 
increased enormously during the same period. According to an 
article which appeared in the “Journal of the Society of Arts,” 
- March 4th, 1910, p. 424, there were 650,774 spinning spindles in 
Ireland in 1864, but in 1908 the number was 913,423 and of 
doubling spindles, 18,254. Power looms are said to have been 
introduced in 1850. In 1864 there were 8187 in Ireland, whilst in 
1908 the number had risen to 35,386. 
The weak condition of the flax industry in the United Kingdom 
has occupied the attention of Parliament and leading agriculturists 
during late years. In December, 1909, a Departmental Committee 
was appointed to enquire into the present state of the flax-growing 
nstructor. Apprenticeship will extend over a period of about 
twelve months. 
