EMPLOYMENT CAUSED BY THE PREPARATION OF FLAX. 25 



elegant material. In Belgium it is called the " Golden Crop ;" 

 in Ireland, the (i Rent-paying Crop." Flax sown thin pro- 

 duces more seid and a less valuable fibre ; if thick, less seed 

 and a superior fibre. v 



As an 'agriculturist, I should say, that the first in import- 

 ance is the seed, because of its properties, when made into 

 compound, to fatten my cattle ; of the value of the manure for 

 my land, and of the employment which it affords to my la- 

 bourers, As a manufacturer I should undoubtedly say the 

 first in importance is the fibre, because of the high price that 

 1 pay for it in a foreign country ; the great and increasing- 

 demand for all linen goods ; and the fund of employment that 

 a large supply of home-grown flax would afford the manufac- 

 turing population. 



" If," as the Rev. F. Blakely observed at the Belfast Flax- , 

 Meeting, "gentlemen would calculate from the time the 

 ploughman turned up the soil, in preparation for the flax- 

 seed, until the period at which the lapper decorated his webs 

 with golden leaf, it would be found that about thirty different * 

 classes of society earned a livelihood in the cultivation and 

 management of flax. And when it was considered that of 

 these several might be aged men and women, or might be 

 even children, many arguments might be adduced to prove 

 the great importance of the growing of flax to the country. 

 Whatever gave employment lowered the poor-rate, and what- 

 ever lowered the poor-rate was of advantage to all ranks of 

 the community." Mr. Ross, M.P., also remarked, that 

 " mouths increase faster than markets, and that it was their 

 duty to make use of such means as were within their reach, 

 to provide employment for the population. The time was 

 arrived when all who live by agriculture were called upon to 

 pay particular attention to it ; and if there was one branch 

 more than another that should engage their attention, flax 

 was that branch. 



To no party are we more indebted than to the Flax Im- 

 provement Society of Ireland ; because from no other quarter 

 could we have derived such a fund of information in so short a 



