8 INTRODUCTION. 



in this cart-before-the-horse method of pro- 

 cedure would, to borrow the quaint phrase 

 of Adam Smith, "diminish the number of 

 those who are capable of paying for it, 

 surely a most unpromising expedient for 

 encouraging the cultivation. It is like the 

 policy which would promote agriculture by 

 discouraging manufactures." 



Probably our agricultural friends may be 

 safely left to decide for themselves what 

 crops it will best pay them to cultivate ; 

 they have shown their grasp of the situa- 

 tion, no less than the fertility of the land, 

 by a gross annual product of their farms of 

 two or three thousand millions of dollars 

 worth, leaving far behind every nation which 

 gives statistics of its growth, and supplying 

 us all with greater variety and abundance 

 of food than was ever known in any country 

 or any era. 



The advocates of a duty upon flax fail 

 to perceive the littleness of the interest 

 under review. What is this demand, for 

 the supply whereof farmers are advised to 

 make such elaborate preparation ? The 

 value of flax imports may be taken as an 

 approximate measure of actual consump- 



