PREFACE. 



Vix EA NOSTRA TOCO, " They hardly belong to us," is 

 a motto doubly applicable to the book now in the 

 reader's hand. In the first place, its subject, Elax and 

 Hemp, in consequence of gradual neglect, can scarcely be 

 admitted, except by courtesy, to enter the list of English 

 agricultural produce. When they do appear upon the 

 land, they are looked upon as. curiosities rather than as 

 crops. And secondly, its matter, derived from various 

 sources of information, from practical men as well as 

 from theoretical treatises, is therefore not to be claimed 

 by the writer as the virgin produce of his own creation. 

 He acts the part of a sober historian, in only pretending 

 to relate and arrange existing facts and authorities, 

 rather than that of a speculative politician, who imagines 

 new events and combinations. Still, almost all the 

 details described have been repeatedly performed before 

 his eyes ; while those with which he is less familiar have 

 been verified by consulting competent persons. The 

 implements for the preparation of flax, as here described 

 and figured, are probably published for the first time. 

 Of their utility, no more need be said than that they are 

 the only ones which a good Trench workman will look 

 at; and that they differ widely from those known at 

 home. 



That flax and hemp are not our own, is a deficiency in 

 our yearly harvest, which is even less lamentable than to 

 to be wondered at. If it were a question of producing 



