102 MANAGEMENT OF FLAX. 



Royal Agricultural Society's highest premium, at the recent 

 Belfast meeting his flax beating all Ireland. (A sample of 

 the prize flax was produced, and for colour and texture was 

 certainly very beautiful.) 



" The first valuable information on flax obtained here was 

 front a Dutchman, Mr. Boss, brought here by the late Irish 

 Linen Board. Mr. Boss was correct in all his principles, while 

 he was evidently not quite an adept in practice ; for in all the 

 lots of which he undertook the management he totally failed : 

 he not only failed to produce superior flax, but he destroyed 

 all he treated. This ill success arose from applying the Dutch 

 system, in every particular, in a soil and climate materially 

 different; whilst the same system, with such modifications as 

 those differences suggest, has proved useful to all who have 

 attended to it. I will state more clearly by taking each part 

 under a separate head. 



" Land. I have ever observed the best flax to be grown on 

 crofting ground, sound, dry (but not gravelly), and deep, on a 

 clay subsoil. Loam and helming lands produce a splendid 

 appearance whilst growing, but the yield is rarely equal to the 

 appearance, and still more rarely do such lands give the fine 

 fibre now so much valued. On lands saturated with either 

 underground or surface water good flax cannot be expected. 

 There cannot be a doubt that thorough-draining and subsoil- 

 ing will enable this country to produce largely such flax as can 

 now be procured only in small samples and isolated instances. 

 I have no doubt that nine in ten of the failures of this crop 

 arise from the filtration of water too near the surface, and 

 that of the numerous other reasons for missed crops usually 

 assigned, almost every one is imaginary. 



" Rotation. Without method there cannot be success. Dif- 

 ferent soils require difference in rotation, and suit different 

 crops. I will speak only of that I use. My farm is a strong 

 and pretty deep clay croft, and has proved well suited to flax ; 

 therefore, I use that crop more frequently (say twice in the 

 course) than will be generally found advisable. First, potatoes 

 or turnips drilled, well cleaned, manured, and limed ; second. 



