STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 157 



the factors would be likely to give for the flax, provided it 

 were growing in Belgium ; he replied 257. per acre. 



The expenses of harvesting the crop and preparing it for 

 sale through all its stages, must, to us, who have everything to 

 learn, be much greater than if we were all thoroughly ac- 

 quainted with the business. I, therefore, after taking all cir- 

 cumstances into consideration, feel warranted in offering an 

 opinion, that where flax is about three feet long, fine in the 

 stalk and thick in the ground, the grower ought not to take 

 less than about 16/. per acre for it, the purchaser being at all 

 expenses connected with pulling, &c. 



The seed on no account ought to be sold ; for, in my state- 

 ments respecting the indirect advantages of growing flax, 

 I shall be able to show that its value to the farmer is in- 

 estimable. 



My remarks upon the indirect value of the flax crop I shall 

 defer, and allow the subject of box-feeding cattle next to en- 

 gage our attention, being of more consequence at the present 

 time. I intend next week, if you can afford me space, to offer 

 to the public a sketch, ground-plan, and elevation of my boxes 

 as an illustration of the letter that will accompany them. 



JOHN WARNES. 



August 2nd, 1843. 



No. III. 



SIR, 



A DESIRE to seek at a distance for comforts and benefits 

 that may be had close at hand, is a strong propensity in human 

 nature, more easy to discover than to account for. 



The present state of our country powerfully illustrates the 

 above remark ; for we find that the time, talents, and learning 

 of Great Britain are almost exclusively devoted to the search 

 after a remedy for our national difficulties in far distant lands. 



Strange infatuation ! paralyzing at once the efforts of native 

 industry, and closing the only avenue through which we can 

 obtain relief. 



