FLAX STATISTICS. 289 



to console the family and other relations, who have to deplore 

 the loss of so worthy a member of society. Mr. Seed, in his 

 article on the Flax question, said : 



" The serious decline in the cultivation of the Flax plant in 

 Ireland, adds increased interest to this question, the fibre of 

 that plant being the raw material of the staple trade of Ulster* 

 The following figures show the continuous decline : 



No. of acres sown in Ireland. Produce per acre. 



1851140,536 - - - 33,861 



1852137,008 - 35,462 



1853174,579 - 43,863 



1854151,404 - - 35,606 



1855 97,075 - - 23,428 

 1856106,311 - - - 18,791 



1857 97,821 - 14,475 



Here we find that since 1854, the decline in weight reaches 

 no less than 67 per cent., during a period, too, that the linen- 

 trade has been rapidly extending, as indicated by the following 

 statistics of value, extracted from the Board of Trade returns : 



Exported from the United Kingdom. 



Linen manufactures. Linen yarns. 



1851 4,107,395 - 951,426 



1852 4,231,786 1,140,565 



1853 4,758,432 1,154,977 



1854 4.108,458 944,502 



1855 4,118,924 916,429 



1856 4,888,780 1,365,980 



1857 4,511,454 1,647,879 



The consequence of this unnatural state of things has been, 

 and must continue to be, an increased price for the raw 

 material, the result of which, as a matter of course, will be the 

 transference to a great extent of the consumption from linen 



