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cultivation of flax, and its manufacture into linen. A trade which 
finds employment for so large a portion of the population of the 
country, is of great importance; and, therefore, any cause which 
seriously interferes with its freedom, is felt to be a great national 
calamity.* 
As to the artistic skill displayed in the linen industries, I do 
not exaggerate when I state that art manufacture has not in any 
department attained to greater perfection than it has in the pictorial 
designs of our high-class figured damasks. Ona plain ground of 
highly bleached linen cloth, white as snow, figures of fruits, 
flowers, animals, and birds are formed,—not in mere outline, but 
they stand out as perfect in form, feature, and detail, as a piece of 
finely executed statuary in bas-relief, by a first-class artist. The 
Jacquard Loom, on which those fine damasks are woven, is 
perhaps the most complicated and perfect piece of machinery ever 
invented. By a simple arrangement of the thread, the most minute 
details in the form and plumage of a bird can be produced. 
Great improvement has of late been made in the manufacture 
of Jute Hemp, which is the lowest in value and durability of all the 
hemp and flax fibres. In the low, swampy grounds of Southern 
India, jute is indigenous, and grows to the height of from ten to 
fourteen feet. Jute is now imported into this country in great 
. quantities. The coarsest descriptions are chiefly used for common 
bags. It is even currently reported that sail-cloth is also made from 
it ;—I hope that this is only idle gossip. The safety of many a 
ship depends upon the sails consisting of a much better and 
stronger material than jute cloth. The finer portions of jute have 
such a bright glossy appearance, that they can be made to 
resemble silk. I have seen a good imitation of a silk hat said to 
have been made from jute; the cost was only four shillings. I 
could see very little difference between the silk hat I was wearing 
and the hat made from jute fibre. It is also well known that silks 
in the web are sometimes wefted with jute yarn. A lady in Liver- 
* Tn addition to the flax grown in the country, about 80,000 tons of flax 
are imported annually. The export trade amounts to 410,000,000 annually. 
The value of the whole trade is estimated at upwards of 440,000,000 annually. 
