198 THE AUTHOR'S REPLY TO 



profitable crop of seed might be obtained also, and the objec- 

 tions to its culture removed. 



Hitherto I have only been able clearly to show that the 

 cultivation of flax, primarily for the seed, would fully repay. 

 Peculiar circumstances have prevented me from satisfying 

 public curiosity relative to the intrinsic value of the stalks ; 

 but the following accounts will assist me, in some measure, to 

 " solve this problem," and be acceptable, till full proof can be 

 made of my own extensive crops, as well as of those of my 

 neighbours, correspondents, and others, in this and distant 

 counties, amounting to several hundred acres, of which many 

 specimens are in my own possession, and will be exhibited 

 shortly at Norwich and other places. 



I subjoin a letter of the Hon. W. R. Rous, published in the 

 ' Norwich Mercury ' on the 30th December, as a document 

 offered to me in common with the rest of the community, for 

 the purpose of being turned to the best account. All who 

 peruse it will, of course, be at liberty to form their own 

 opinion, and to act accordingly. But the responsible position 

 in which my publications have placed me, renders it necessary 

 that I should point out the mistakes which Mr. Rous has made, 

 and the erroneous conclusions to which he has arrived, lest it 

 should be thought that I have been employing "figures of 

 rhetoric" and indulging in "idle visions" to "deceive the 

 public;" and, what is of far greater consequence, lest this 

 great cause be retarded, in which the interest of the farmer, 

 the security of the landowner, the prosperity of the manu- 

 facturer, and the welfare of the poor are involved. 



That this great undertaking should be opposed by the Hon. 

 Gentleman just at the time when the fruits of my labours 

 become apparent, is a mystery that shall, at some future 

 opportunity, be unravelled. My present explanation will 

 counteract, I trust, the baneful tendency of his letter ; a letter 

 that has been hailed by many Anti-Corn-Law papers, and joy- 

 fully disseminated by them throughout the kingdom. And 

 why ? Because they hope it will contribute to retard a cause 

 which, if successful, must inevitably defeat the mad schemes of 

 that revolutionary party. 



