PROFITS OF FLAX CULTIVATION*. 85 



LETTER I. 



A PROOF FROM MR. SPROULE's ESSAY ON FLAX, THAT A NET PROFIT 

 OF FROM 20 TO 30 PER ACRE CAN BE MADE BY CULTIVATING 



THE PLANT. 



Not having heard from Mr. Sproule, I answered his letter 

 in the Gardener's Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, on the 

 15th of March. On learning from some gentlemen, friends 

 of mine in the country, that he had published an Essay on 

 Flax Cultivation, for which he obtained a medal from the 

 Royal Dublin Society, I had the curiosity to purchase a copy, 

 and having perused it with much cafe, I considered myself called 

 upon to notice two paragraphs in his work, as it appears to me 

 his attempt to contradict my letter was inconsistent, if not 

 unfair, when he had at the same moment a work on the 

 subject for sale in the market, which asserts that 30 per acre, 

 clear profit, can be obtained from Flax-growing, although he 

 condemned my statement of 20 per acre profit as being 

 erroneous ; however, as it is truly said, that whatever promotes 

 discussion is always advantageous to the cause of truth, I 

 have thought proper to bring before the readers of the Gar- 

 dener s Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, Mr. Sproule' a ideas 

 on Flax culture in 1844, when writing a pamphlet for sale ; 

 and his ideas in 1845, when he found that British farmers 

 were likely to be informed by me, through the public press, of 

 the advantages to be gained by the growth of the plant. 



As Mr. Sproule styles himself editor of the Irish Farmers 

 Journal, he has very likely had a better opportunity than most 

 people (as his Essay will prove) of collecting from the reports 

 of the Irish Linen Board, the Belfast Flax Improvement 

 Society, and RJiam's Flemish Husbandry, matter sufficient 

 to form an interesting work on the subject. However, 

 what I have to submit for perusal is the result of PRACTICAL 



