208 THE FLAX SUPPLY ASSOCLATION. 



approach the " Joint Flax Committee " in DubHn. The sum of ;£"2,ooo 

 having been placed at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant in 1864 by the 

 Government for promoting the cultivation of flax in the South and West, 

 the Royal Dublin Society and the Royal Agricultural Society were con- 

 sulted, each appointed a committee, the two were amalgamated, forming a 

 " Joint Flax Committee," authorized to look after the arrangements for 

 giving effect to the wishes of the Government. At the time under review 

 this committee had benefited by three or four years' experience, and co- 

 operation with the Northern association, could not be otherwise than bene- 

 ficial to both. A deputation from Belfast waited upon the " Joint Flax 

 Committee," and received a favourable hearing, and as a result the opera- 

 tions carried on by the Flax Extension Association were calculated to in- 

 crease the usefulness of what was being done, and supply the links needed 

 to make flax-growing a complete industry. 



The reports of the Joint Flax Committee show that the movement carried 

 on by them did not go beyond sending into certain districts a class of men 

 termed instructors ; they were drawn principally from the North of Ireland, 

 where flax cultivation was widely pursued and well understood ; they were 

 adapted for the work entrusted to their care, and were described at the 

 time as " able, intelligent, and well-informed." 



In the first year (1864) twenty-nine were employed, but only for some 

 three months, and their sphere of action was limited to Munster and Con- 

 naught. In the second year (1865) fifty- four were appointed, and remained 

 at their posts for a term of six months. During the third year (1866) forty- 

 two instructors were selected for employment ; they arrived at the Poor 

 Law Unions to which they were allotted on the ist March, and being only 

 engaged for eleven weeks, retired on the 15th May, but returned to their dis- 

 tricts on the 15th July and carried out another spell of duty, also for eleven 

 weeks. 



In the fourth year (1867) twenty-eight were sent out in spring and thirty- 

 nine in the autumn, and it is at this time that the Flax Extension Associa- 

 tion comes on the scene, and prepares to supplement the work of the Com- 

 mittee by providing scutch mills, markets, etc., the want of which was much 

 felt from the first. 



Before entering into particulars respecting the operations carried on by 

 the Association, it may be inquired what were the results of the four years' 

 labours of the instructors. It must be confessed they were not encouraging. 

 In 1 864, when the work was commenced, the area under flax in Munster and 

 Connaught amounted to 16,162 acres; in 1867 it had fallen to 10,569 acres 

 —a decrease of 36.6 per cent. 



To turn now to the details of the work which engaged the attention of 

 the Association. In a report prepared by a special committee and presented 

 at a general meeting held in January, 1868, the following passages occur, 

 and give a pretty accurate indication of the scheme recommended to the 

 Association : — 



"We now approach the more irrimediate sphere of the Association. The 

 scutching in Ireland, as a rule, is not at all what it should be ; and this Asso- 

 ciation should satisfy itself with the supply of machinery to new mills. It 

 should endeavour also to effect a reform, where needed, in the old. 



" Attempts have been made by your Committee to encourage monthly flax 

 markets in outlying districts ; and some of the leading spinners and merchants 

 in Belfast have sent their buyers to these markets, and even attended them 



