THE GENESEE FARMER. 



341 



flax to select from, of qualities peculiarly suited to 

 the description of fabrics which form the bulk of the 

 Irish manufacture, while Dundee, on the contrary, 

 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 liueu munufacture has 

 been outstripping the production of flax, and that 

 spindles and looms have been increasing in a more 

 rapid i-atio than fields of this valuable plant. If we 

 refer to the statistics of British and Irish exports, we 

 find that, in 184:3, there was shipped 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 lin- 

 en and yarn exported in the former year being £3,- 

 702,052, and in the latter, £5,910,355. The increase 

 during this decennial period was, therefore, in quanti- 

 ty about 43 per cent., and in value nearly 60 percent. 

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

 tons, and in 1853, 9 4.000 tons, or an increase of less 

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

 flax ill Ireland had more than doubled in the interim; 

 but this increase has tended rather to the advantage 

 of certain departments of the British and Irish manu- 

 facture, than to that of the trade as a whole. 



lu fact, what is not merely, under present circum- 

 stances, urgently required, but which has for some 

 time been greatly wanted, is a liberal su])ply 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 16,000 tons annually— yet 

 these, instead of taking the place of coarse liax, have 

 rather opened out new means of consumption, just 

 as the introduction of alapaca has originated a sepa- 

 rate branch of trade, without afliectiug the use of 

 sheep's wool. So that the Dundee manufacturers are 

 as anxiously looking for new sources of supply as 

 the Manchester cotton spinners have lately been do- 

 ing; and as a curious continuation of the parallel, 

 both point to the same country — our great possess- 

 ion in the East Indies. 



It is known that hot climates are not capable of 

 yielding flax fibers of fine quality, as is instanced in 

 the ca-e of Egypt, whose flax is the lowest priced 

 that appears in the British markets. On the other 

 hand, the heat of the suu in these regions is peculiar- 

 ly favorable to the production of seed. 



Flax is already grown in India to considerable ex- 

 tent, but solely for the seed, of which about 100,000 

 quarters, value £300,000, are shipped anuually to 

 the United Iviugdom, while the fiber, which would at 

 least be worth half a miiliou sterling, is converted to 

 uo use whatever. Surely, with the patent systems of 

 steeping, and the improved 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 difficul- 

 ty exists, except the insufficient means of transport 

 from the interior. But the immense seaboard of the 

 peuiusula of Hiadostan offers an abundant area for 



the production of flax, which could be readily ship- 

 ped thence to Europe. We have shown that this 

 (piestion is of more vital con.sequcnce to Dundee 

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

 coarse flax every j-ear, it is a matter of some moment 

 to us also, while it would in no way interfere 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 Chamber of Conmierce 

 has followed the example of Dundee, and is about to 

 forward a memorial to Government, pointing out the 

 importance, both to the British manufacturer and to 

 the Hindoo ryot, of developing this latent source of 

 profit. 



Turning from this topic, we are naturally attracted 

 by another, which the llu.ssian difficulty has also sug- 

 gested. At the late meeting of the Royal Flax So- 

 ciety, reference was made to the possibility, if not the 

 great probability, of an insufficient supjjly of foreign 

 flax seed for next year's sowing in Ireland. A great- 

 er calamity could scarcely occur to our staple manu- 

 facture than a sudden decrease in the area of flax 

 cultivation at home. It is the very foundation of its 

 prosperity, and the trade has increased pan passu 

 with the extent of home production of its material 

 On the other hand, the Ulster farmer would \-iew 

 with dismay an eventuality which would suddenly de- 

 25rive him of a certain source of profit. Fortunate- 

 ly, if our farmers have sense and foresight, they pos- 

 sess 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 with the quantity they re- 

 quire for next spring. And even if by that period 

 the war be terminated, and abundance of Riga flax- 

 seed be available, they will finl a ready market at 

 the oil mills for what they have saved. It is of im- 

 portance also for them to consider whether it may 

 not be advisable to save all the seed of this year's 

 crop by rippling. The same circumstances which 

 have caused a scarcity and dearness of flax fibre have 

 produced a scarcity and dearness of flaxseed. Rus- 

 sia furnishes 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 wide- 

 ly 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 now think better of it 

 when they can m^ke £5 to £6 per acre by so doing. 

 I It is ce'rtainly a curious contrast which is presented 

 I bv the two Doi'nts we have been discussing. On one 

 side, British India is exporting £300,000 worth of 

 flaxseed, and throwing away £500,000 of fibre ; on 

 I the other, Ireland is raising to the value of the 2,000,- 

 ! 000 of flax fibre, and rotting in the steep-pools £500,- 

 000 worth of seed ! It is Ru.ssia alone that has been 

 benefiting by the ignorance of the Hindoo ryot and 

 the prejudices and "carelessness of the Irish farmer. 

 No particle of the valuable plant is allowed by her 

 nobles to wiiste. She sells us to the value of £3,- 

 000.000 of fibre, and £900,000 of seed each year, 

 and does not even take our manufactures in return. 

 The Hindoo burns the fibre, and the Ulstcrman rots 

 the seed, which, turned into money, would buy our 



