Vlll PREFACE. 



with economy had failed. Oil-cake, the refuse of lin- 

 seed, stood first in the farmer's estimation. He main- 

 tained that it was superior to the pure seed itself; nor 

 could his deep-rooted prejudice be removed till a chain 

 of successful experiments rendered conviction irresistible. 



My attempt to grow the seed of which this favourite 

 oil-cake was composed, arose from the desire of substi- 

 tuting native for foreign produce to fatten cattle, and 

 originated the present movement towards the growth of 

 flax. An insignificant commencement ! but destined, like 

 many similar dispensations of Providence, to produce 

 benefits to which no limits can be assigned. 



Box-feeding and summer-grazing next engaged my 

 attention; which, in combination with flax-culture, form 

 the foundation of the following pages; and I am con- 

 fident that the advantages therein portrayed will be fully 

 realized by all who rightly apply them. It would be 

 folly to dispute their solidity without the test of practical 

 inquiry. Nor do I intend again to enter the lists of con- 

 troversy with parties guided only by empty theories and 

 idle prejudices. 



The opposition of the Anti-Corn-Law League forms 

 a remarkable feature in the history of the present move- 

 ment to extend the cultivation of flax. I refer to it with 

 pain : for though no inconsiderable portion of the free- 

 trade party were favourable to the culture, and many 

 flax-spinners promoted it by subscriptions and premiums, 

 yet, in their collective capacity, they greatly retarded 

 the cause. Their sweeping condemnation of landowners, 

 for the supposed attempt "to substitute flax for wheat, 

 and to lessen the means of subsistence," was inconsistent 

 and unjust. Nor can ignorance of the Flax Society's 



