AS INFLUENCED BY LEGISLATION. 73 



complaint is made in the Federal States 

 of America, where the production has fallen 

 off enormously." This reads much like 

 the quotations from our own agricultural 

 reports. Of Scotland Mr. Warden says, 1 

 " At one period a very large quantity of 

 flax was raised in Scotland ; but the culti- 

 vation has gradually decreased, until it is 

 now all but extinct in many counties. In 

 1812 about 5,000 acres were grown, worth, 

 at 20 an acre, ,100,000. In 1834 great 

 complaints were made about the growth 

 of flax at home having ceased." He adds 

 the following statement of the decrease in 

 acreage of flax in Scotland : 



ACRES 

 YEAR. IN FLAX. 



1854 . . . 6,670 



1855 . . . 3,461 



ACRES 

 YEAR. IN FLAX. 



1856 . . . 2,723 



1857 . . . 1,534 



Like American writers, Mr. Warden de- 

 plores this decrease in flax-growing, proves 

 the profitableness of the crop, and urges 

 the farmer to an increased production of 

 flax. 



This brief review of the history of flax- 



1 P- 439- 



