FLAX 407 



aroused ag to the best mode of turning to good account the immense capabilities of 

 that magnificent appanage of tho British Crown. The House of Commons, as the 

 reflex of popular feeling outside, took up the subject, and a Select Committee was 

 appointed to inquire into and ' take evidence on the Colonisation and Settlement of 

 India.' 



In course of that inquiry Mr. James Dewar, of the house of D. Dewar, Son, and 

 Sons, Cheapsido, London, stated, that of all Britain's possessions none equalled tho 

 land beyond tho Ganges in the variety and value of its fibrous products. He said 

 that in 1854 the Indian Government, at .the suggestion of the Punjaub Agricultural 

 Society, had induced the native farmers to cultivate 60,000 acres of land in flax ; and 

 so well did that crop succeed that in the following year 250,000 acres were sown. In 

 1858 Colonel Burnett brought over large lots of India-grown fibre, part of which, after 

 having been examined and approved of by the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, was 

 sold in that town at 45/. a ton. At a moderate computation of the average yield of 

 the India flax lands, the value of the crop for 1855 was about 2,250,000^. In 1850 

 several of the leading linen merchants on both sides the Channel held conference as to 

 the practical opening up of a field of industry beyond the Ganges, and ultimately Mr. 

 James Dewar and other men in the trade formed ' The India Flax Company.' Ample 

 means were subscribed to start the project of flax culture in the Punjaub on a scale 

 of extended dimensions, and a large tract of land was acquired by the directors on 

 very favourable terms. Practical instructors men well schooled in the art of flax- 

 growing were sent out to watch over the preliminary proceedings, and teach the 

 natives how to prepare the ground, sow the seed, and attend to the crop in every stage 

 of its growth. For a few seasons the work went on favourably. In the south-east 

 transept of the second Industrial Exhibition held at Kensington in 1862, several 

 samples of Indian flax were shown, and these were considered as very hopeful evi- 

 dences of what might be done in that phase of Indian enterprise. But from various 

 causes, probably want of perseverance as the leading one, the India Flax Company 

 was dissatisfied, and the whole affair was given up. There had, some time before, 

 been much attention directed to Canada, where the prospects of abundant supplies 

 were said to be most favourable. Some lots of flax grown in Ontario were sent to 

 Belfast, some to Dundee, and some to Leeds, and in each case mill-owners were well 

 pleased with the article ; but after all the assertions made by sanguine projectors, 

 Canada's flax culture has not done much for the spinning trade. 



We have seen that England and Scotland have all but ceased to supply fibre for 

 flax-spinning ; to Ireland, therefore, and continental Europe, mill-owners must look 

 for raw material. The uncertain nature of the crop and the very unfavourable state 

 of the climate in some seasons cause great diversity of feeling among the Irish 

 farmers as to the flax culture. A small extent of area marked the season of 1857, but 

 in 1861 there were 147,950 acres sown ; in 1862, 150,000 acres ; in 1863, 214,000 

 acres ; and in 1864, 301,942 acres, by far the widest area ever known. Of this last- 

 noted total, Ulster alone had 278.254 acres, while Connaught had cultivated 8,688 

 acres ; Leinstor, 7,383 acres ; and Munster, which for soil and climate could compete 

 with Belgium itself, had only 7,620 acres. We hear much about utilising Ireland's 

 resources, and of the necessity of creating more remunerative fields of enterprise for 

 capitalists and work-people ; but in the most fertile province of that nation, and where 

 there might annually bo produced some 250,000 acres of flax, we find that only a 

 mere fractional part of such breadth had been thus occupied. And if so much had 

 been sown every single pound weight of the entire crop would have been taken up by 

 our mill-owners. 



An unprecedented demand for flaxen products was created by the scarcity and 

 dearth of cotton during the American War. Not only were the spindles of every mill 

 in the kingdom taxed to their extreme power, but vast lots of French yarns were im- 

 ported to meet the requirements of that time of extra activity. Of course there was 

 great demand for flax, and fortunately the yield of 1864 was above the average. From 

 that season, however, the growth of flax in Ireland declined. In 1865 there were 

 251,433 acres sown; in 1867, 253,257 acres ; in 1869, 229,252 acres ; and in 1871, 

 156,764 acres, or little more than one-half the breadth under flax in 1864. The yield 

 of 1870 averaged about 40 stones of fibre to the acre, that of 1871 was less than 20 

 stones to the acre ; but that year is well known as the most unfavourable of any season 

 for the last sixty. 



There were 430,000 spindles in England's flax mills in 1864, and 350,000 in Scot- 

 land ; at the same time Ireland had 750,000 spindles set up in her mills. Very little 

 change has since then taken place in the trade of Great Britain, while that of Ireland 

 has increased to more than 900.000 spindles. . Foreign supplies of raw material have 

 been making up for defective produce in home lands, as will be seen by the annexed 

 figures of imports : 



