RESTORATIVE, NOT AN EXHAUSTING CROP. 117 



call, and judge for himself whether he or I know most of 

 practical agriculture. Should he refuse to do either, then I 

 must protest against his presumption in publicly criticising, in 

 a rude manner, the works of a writer he has never read. 

 Before concluding, it is necessary that I correct a typogra- 

 phical error which appears in my book. In mentioning the 

 price of dressed Flax the error consisted in saying 6 per 

 ton, whereas the price should have been 6 per cwt., or 120 

 per ton, the highest price usually given for Flax. This error 

 is very obvious, for only a short way above I had stated the 

 ordinary price of good Flax at 90 per ton. I should also 

 mention that the facts adduced by me are "all derived from 

 Scottish practice, and the amounts of produce derived are all 

 given in imperial measures ; but I presume that the quantities 

 referred to by the Irish gentlemen are by the Irish acre, or 

 perhaps by the Cunningham acre. 



"HENRY STEPHEN. 

 " Redbrae Cottage, Edinburgh, 

 Nov. 25th, 1845." 



LETTER V. 



DISCUSSION ON FLAX-CULTUKE AT BALLINASLOE. 



Having had occasion to visit Leeds in December, I could 

 not, from press of business, reply to Mr. Stephen's charge of 

 misrepresentation as early as I could wish, but when time 

 permitted I made public the following reply : 



To the Editor of the " Gardener's Chronicle and Agricultural 

 Gazette." 



" DEAR SIR, I regret not having with me the number of 

 your journal in which my article on the above subject 

 appeared, in order to refer to it, and answer Mr. Stephen's 

 remarks as to my having misrepresented any portion of his 

 Book of the Farm. If by mistake I had done so, I should at 



