306 DICKSON ON 



own requirements. This is all very excellent, in the way of 

 "live horse and you'll get grass" philosophy; but, for the 

 time, the consequences were very disastrous in every depart- 

 ment of the linen manufacture. Flax-seed, which had been 

 disposed of a short time previously at 40s. to 60s. per quarter, 

 arose to 20 and 22 per quarter, or upwards of 50s. per 

 bushel. Before the close of the season, some parcels were 

 sold in Belfast at twelve to eighteen guineas per hogshead. 



It was well observed by the gentleman who presided at the 

 Armagh meeting, that any great dearth or scarcity of Flax- 

 seed in Ireland affected all ranks of society, from the landlord 

 to the quill-boy. 



As soon as the alarm about the deficient supplies of seed 

 had found its way through the country, Flax fibre rose fifty 

 per cent. Qualities which previously sold at 9s. per stone 

 could not be had under 13s. Many dealers bought largely in 

 the local markets, and stored the lots away in secret places, 

 expecting rates to advance to two guineas a stone. 



In the meantime, hundreds of spinners were thrown idle, 

 wheels were reluctantly cast aside, and the click of the reel 

 was rarely heard at the cottager's ingle nook. Linens, 

 whether in a finished or in a brown state, were for a few weeks 

 eagerly bought up by speculative purchasers ; but the value 

 thus given to goods had a very backward influence on sales. 

 Consumers became alarmed at the extreme range of prices7 

 refusing to purchase the usual quantities, and thus business 

 fell off considerably. Like all other excitements, however, 

 the fever at last lulled itself to comparative calmness, and 

 before the middle of that summer, affairs to a great extent 

 resumed the ordinary course. The government aroused itself 

 to action by the strenuous representations made to ministers ; 

 and a bounty of 40s. per quarter, or 5s. per bushel, was offered 

 to the importers of the first 50,000 bushels of Flax-seed 

 brought into Ireland, "such importations to be landed before 

 the 1st of April." 



