THE FLAX SUPPLY ASSOCIATION. 211 



The markets established at Cork, Ballineen, etc., were attended by the 

 usual buyers, and rather more flax was on sale than on previous occasions. 



The year 1871 was a more eventful one. There was a falling off in the 

 acreage in flax in Munster, Leinster, and Connaught — from 14,477 acres in 

 1870, to 9,578 acres — a decrease of 33.7 per cent. The "Joint Flax Com- 

 mittee " attribute this to several causes — the want of scutch-mills and 

 markets, sufficiently numerous and convenient, bad seed, and the low price 

 of flax in the end of the previous season. Whether the general results 

 appeared unsatisfactory to the Government or not is unknown ; but, at all 

 events, no further grant was made, and the operations of this Committee 

 ceased with this year. 



The executive of the Flax Extension Association were also somewhat 

 disheartened, but they resolved to continue their efforts for some time 

 longer. The loans for scutch-mills were still large, as the following shows : 



For a mill at Mountcharles, Co. Donegal, i^ioo 



The prizes this year were given in the districts already enumerated, and 

 amounted to £i4g. 



With respect to the markets, the small supply was beginning to be felt 

 disadvantageously, and a practice referred to in an extract from the Annual 

 Report, as follows, had also a tendency to injure them : — 



" It IS with reg^ret that allusion must be made to a practice which has 

 recently prevailed, and which, if persevered in, will preclude this Association, 

 through their Secretary, incurring- the responsibility of inducing spinners to 

 send buyers. The practice alluded to is selling the choice samples of flax at 

 the scutch-mills, and at the farmers' homes ; spinners cannot be expected to 

 send buyers, at a cost of both time and money, and find little but low-class 

 flax in the markets, the bulk of the better quality having been bought up in 

 the interval between each monthly market." 



Change of Title. — " Extension " having proved impracticable, and the 

 Association having become extremely useful in various ways for the benefit 

 of the spinning and manufacturing industry generally, the title was changed 

 to " Flax Supply Association," as analogous to the " Cotton Supply Asso- 

 ciation." 



No new departure having taken place in the succeeding years, it is un- 

 necessary to dwell on them at any length. In 1872 the loans were : — 



For a mill at Mallow, Co. Cork, £100 

 „ Kilworth, „ 20 



The grants were larger in 1873, amounting to ^^"470: — 



For a mill at Rosscarbery, Co. Cork, £40 



„ Leap, „ 100 



„ Castletownroche, „ 160 



„ Kilworth, „ 140 



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