CULTURE IN ENGLAND. 5 



rnen and weavers from Bruges, they soon rendered Laval 

 as celebrated as their own country itself for the excel- 

 lence of its linen fabrics. In a short while, Maine, 

 Anjou, and La Vendee, gathered abundant crops of flax ; 

 but its culture spread exceedingly slowly into other 

 provinces of France, in many of which it is still scarcely 

 known. At the present day, the departments du Nor*d 

 and Pas de Calais are deservedly famous for their very 

 considerable and well-managed growth and manufacture 

 of flax, which are productive of great benefit to a large 

 class of the inhabitants, while other departments and 

 localities are anxiously striving to follow their example. 



It is natural to inquire whether the flax first cultivated 

 in France was really indigenous, or whether it sprang 

 from seed originally brought from Bruges, which after- 

 wards degenerated for want of proper changing and 

 management. The exact truth can never be known ; the 

 latter hypothesis is the more probable one. In that age, 

 pious frauds were so common, that the well-intentioned 

 lady of Laval might secretly sow in way-side corners a 

 few handfuls of flax-seed which she had brought from 

 home, simply to excite the curiosity and industry of the 

 uninstructed people whom she desired to benefit. One 

 thing at least is certain, that the flax, of whatever sort, 

 was not productive, and that the culture, then in its in- 

 fancy, with regard to the best practical methods, passed 

 for being extremely difficult. It will appear hereafter 

 from the processes we are about to describe, that the case 

 could scarcely be otherwise. The culture and subsequent 

 manipulation of flax is a long series of agricultural and 

 manufacturing details, the rules for which have been 

 at last precisely laid down, only 'in consequence of num- 

 berless repeated experiments, as to which method is on 

 the whole the best. 



PAST AND EXISTING IMPEDIMENTS TO THE CULTURE OP 

 FLAX IN ENGLAND. 



"Without occupying our space by tracing the progress 

 of linen fabrics in various parts of the British empire, we 



