82 FLAX. 



remove his children from their occupation, to attempt 

 the acquirement of the art himself. He readily assented, 

 and, much to the surprise of the whole parish, the 

 earnings of the three quickly amounted to about 20s. per 

 week. This man, when not employed at his own trade, 

 regularly fills up the intervals of time by working at flax; 

 and, with his family, is thereby not only kept from the 

 rates, but rendered a more contented and creditable 

 member of society. The attempt to introduce the 

 scutching of flax in work-houses has been unsuccessful 

 in this part of the kingdom. It will doubtless prove 

 equally so in Ireland, and wherever labour is not 

 sweetened by reward." 



THE FLAX- GROWER'S BALAKCE-SHEET. 



Any statement respecting the expenses and profits of 

 flax-growing in England must, at present, be merely ap- 

 proximate, and no guide to what may be done by and 

 by, when the management of the crop is settled upon 

 a steady footing. It will be found most advantageous 

 and satisfactory to all parties to adopt the French system 

 of paying by piece-work, wherever possible, instead of 

 by daily or weekly wages. Flax-weeders (women and 

 children, and sometimes men) are paid from twelve to 

 fourteen sous, or half-pence, a day, though the work is 

 occasionally put out by the piece. In either case it is 

 executed under strict supervision by the master. Elax- 

 pullers, generally women, are paid by the mesure, or local 

 acre ; they can earn from twenty-five to forty sous a day. 

 Seed thrashers are paid one sou the lotte, or small sheaf; 

 they can earn from thirty-five to fifty sous a day. We 

 have mentioned how scutchers are paid, by the Jcilo. 

 These earnings are doubtless low, and are even insufficient 

 when bread is dear ; but they are made to go further 

 than we would at first imagine in a cheap country, and 

 in the hands of a frugal and contented peasantry ; and 

 when we remember that such earnings are attainable, 

 almost without fail, by every able-bodied willing person, 



