FLAX CULTURE AS INFLUENCED 

 BY LEGISLATION. 



IT has been said that the present pros- 

 perous condition of the flax and linen 

 industries in Great Britain is due to the 

 careful legislative protection granted to 

 those industries a hundred years ago when 

 they were in their infancy ; and that the 

 maintenance of the duty on flax will have 

 a similar tendency to build up the linen 

 industry in America. The foregoing pages 

 of this volume are a sufficient answer to 

 this assertion ; but it will be of value to 

 sketch more in detail the legislative pro- 

 tection and encouragement that has been 

 given flax growing in Great Britain, and 

 contrast with it the very similar measures 

 that have from time to time been adopted 

 in the various Colonies in America. Vari- 

 ous statutes are cited at length in order 

 to show the extent of legislative care, and 



