428 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



THE WAR AND THE LINEN TRADE. 



Out of a total import of foreign flax, averaging 

 80,000 tons per annum, Russia furnishes the 

 United Kingdom Avith GO, 000 tons, or two-thirds 

 of the entire quantity; and of the 28,000 tons 

 imported annually into France, about 13,000, or 

 nearly one-half, is derived from the same source. 

 It is not surpising, therefore, that the curtailment 

 and prospective cessation of imports from Russia 

 has materially checked the onward course of the 

 linen trade of the allied nations. Dundee is cer- 

 tainly the most to be pitied, for its manufacture is 

 chiefly of those coarse flaxen fabrics whose low 

 prices will not admit of the substitution of a supe- 

 rior quality of fibre. Of 31,000 tons of flax im- 

 ported into Dundee in 1854, 25,000 came from 

 Russia, while of 8,400 tons landed in Belfast, but 

 4,100 were the produce of the czar's dominions ; 

 and, further, Belfast had 40,000 tons of Irish flax 

 to select from, of qualities peculiarly suited to 

 the description of fabrics which form the bulk of 

 the Irish manufiicture, while Dundee, on the con- 

 trary, could avail itself of but a small portion of 

 our crop, the mass of it being too high price, for 

 the kind of goods there made. 



Looking beyond the present crisis, our attention 

 is arrested by the facts that the linen manufacture 

 has been outstripping the production of flax, and 

 that spindles and looms have been increasing in a 

 more rapid ratio than fields of this valuable plant. 

 If we reft^r to the statistics of British and Irish 

 exports, we find that, in 1843, there were ship- 

 ped from the United Kingdom, in round numbers, 

 91,000,000, yards of linen, and that the export of 

 1853 reached nearly 130,000,000 yards ; the total 

 value of all kinds of linen and yarn exported in 

 the former year being £3,702,052, and in the lat- 

 ter, £5,910,355. The increase during this decen- 

 nial period was, therefore, in quantity about 48 

 per cent., and in value nearly GO per cent. Of the 

 raw material, the import of 1843 was 78,000 tons, 

 and in 1853, 94,000 tons, or an increase of less 

 than 31 per cent. It is true that the production of 

 flax in Ireland had more than doubled in the inte- 

 rim ; but tliis increase has tended rather to the ad- 

 vantage of certain departments of the British and 

 Irish manuftxcture, than to that of the trade as a 

 whole. 



In fact, what is not merely, under present cir- 

 ^cumstances, urgently required, but which has for 

 some time been greatly wanted, is a liberal supply 

 of coarse flax. Although other fibrous materials 

 have been largely introduced of late years, and 

 spun upon flax machinery — such as .jute, which 

 is now consumed in Dundee to the extent of IG,- 

 000 tons annually — yet these, instead of taking the 

 place of coarse flax, have ratiier opened out new 

 means of consumption, just as the introduction of 

 ajapaca lias originated a separate brancli of trade, 

 without afiecting the use of sheep's wool. So that 

 the Dundee manufacturers are as anxiously looking 

 for new sources of sujiply as the Manchester cot- 

 ton spinners have lately l>een doing ; and as a cu- 

 rious continuation of the parallel, both point to 

 the same country — our great possession in the 

 East Indies. 



It is known that hot climates are not capable 

 of yielding flax fillers of fine quality, as is instanced 

 in the case of Egypt, Avhosc flax is the lowest 

 priced that appears in the British markets. On 



the other hand, the heat of the sun in these regions 

 is peculiarly favorable to the production of seed. 



Flax is already grown in India to considerable 

 extent, but solely for the seed, of which about 

 100,000 quarters, value £300,000, are shipped 

 annually to the United Kingdom, while the fiber, 

 which would at least be worth half a million ster- 

 ling, is converted to no use whatever. Surely, 

 with the patent systems of steeping, and the im- 

 proved method of scutching, lately introduced in 

 Ireland, this valuable product might be brought 

 to a marketable state. In other British colonies 

 — such as those of North America and Australia — 

 the high rate of labor is a serious obstacle to the 

 preparation of flax ; but in India it is far cheaper 

 than in Ireland, and therefore no difficulty exists, 

 except the insufficient means of transport from the 

 interior. But the immence seaboard of the penin- 

 sula of Hindostan oSers an abundant area for the 

 production of flax, which could be readily ship- 

 ped thence to Europe. We have shown that this 

 question is of more vital consequence to Dundee 

 than to Belfast ; but still as we import 4,000 tons 

 of coarse flax every year, it is a matter of some mo- 

 ment to us also, while it would in no way inter- 

 fere with the home-grown article, which is of a 

 quality much superior to any India could furnish. 

 We are glad to observe, therefore, that our Cham- 

 ber of Commerce has followed the example of 

 Dundee, and is about to forward a memorial to 

 Government, pointing out the importance, both 

 to the British manuflicturer and to the Hindoo 

 ryot, of developing this latent source of profit. 



Turning from this topic, we are naturally at- 

 tracted by another, which the Russian difficulty 

 has also suggested. At the late meeting of the 

 Royal Flax Society, reference was made to the 

 possibility, if not the great probability, of an in- 

 sufficient supply of ibreign flax seed for next 

 year's sowing in Ireland. A greater calamity 

 could scarcely occur to our staple manufacture 

 than a sudden decrease in the area of flax culti- 

 vation at home. It is the very foundation of its 

 prosperty, and the trade has increased pari passu 

 with the extent of home p oduction of its mate- 

 rial. On the other hand, the Ulster farmer would 

 view with dismay an eventuality which would 

 suddenly deprive him of a certain source of pro- 

 fit. Fortunately, if our farmers have sense and 

 foresight, they possess an easy and simple means 

 of providing against such a serious chance. They 

 have nothing more to do than to save as much of 

 the seed of the growing crop as will furnish them 

 wit'j the quantity they require for next spring. 

 And even if by that period the war be termina- 

 ted, and abundance of Riga flaxseed be available, 

 they will find a ready market at the oil mills for 

 what they have saved. It is of importance also 

 for them to consider whether it may not be advis- 

 able to save all the seed of this year's crop by rip- 

 pling. The same circumstances which have caused 

 a scarcity and dearness of flax fibre have produced 

 a scarcity and dearness of flaxseed. Russia fur- 

 nishes by far the largest proportion of what is 

 converted, in the oil mills of the United Kingdom, 

 into linseed oil and cake, both of which are so 

 widely consumed. Crushing flaxseed is now 50 

 per cent, dearer than it was in the summer of last 

 year ; and if Irish farmers could not be tempted 

 in former times to make an additional profit of 

 £3 or £4 by saving the seed, perhaps they may 



