PKEFACE. V 



produce not an atom of coal for herself, we may, if we 

 chose, grow our own hemp to quite an indefinite extent, 

 and hold ourselves independent of foreign supply. The 

 soil of Ireland alone is capable of sending forth an 

 enormous export. 



" British Husbandry " justly remarks, " It has excited 

 the surprise of many writers upon agriculture, that the 

 culture of flax and hemp has not been further extended 

 in this county, and calculations have been brought 

 forward showing the vast advantage which would accrue 

 to the nation by the saving of the immense sum paid to 

 foreigners for their importation. But putting aside the 

 question regarding the supposed national gain, with the 

 discussion of which we have no concern, and looking 

 solely to the farmer's profit, it may yet be justly doubted 

 whether they can ever be here made an object of general 

 culture ; for they not only require land of a peculiar 

 nature, but the crops demand more minute attention 

 than farmers generally choose to bestow on them, and, 

 independently of the opinion that they are exhausting, 

 they return nothing in the shape of manure to benefit 

 the ground." 



All this is perfectly true. It is an Englishman's 

 privilege to entertain reasonable doubts, and to see his 

 way a little before taking an important step. It is also 

 true that farmers on a large scale require no addition to 

 the details which they already have to attend to ; we 

 will only observe that, where there's a will, there's a 

 way. But men's minds are more difficult to cultivate 

 than land. Stubborn fields can be made to bear flax and 

 hemp more easily than an indifferent, prejudiced, and 

 routine-led neighbourhood can be taught to appreciate 

 their value when grown. But the writer has no wish to 

 appear as an advocate ; it is merely his duty to describe 



