54 



sixpenny-worth of flax, the importance of introducing such a 

 branch of business into the above establishments will readily 

 be perceived. 



N.B. The National Association will be supported by 

 annual subscriptions, donations, and guarantee sums — that is 

 to say, subscriptions and donations will be immediately re- 

 quired to set the machine in motion. But the guarantee sup- 

 port will only be resorted to in case of a deficiency in the 

 Society's funds, and then only in such proportions as may be 

 found necessary. 



John Warnes, Jun., 



Hon. Sec. 

 Trimingham, near North Walsham, Norfolk. 



A few acres of linseed should be sown in different parts of 

 a district or county, and on different soils, in order to ascertain 

 those most congenial to the growth of the plant. The seed 

 will abundantly pay for the experiment ; and although the 

 straw will probably be ordinary the first year and the intrinsic 

 value small, yet for the purpose of teaching young persons the 

 art of steeping, scutching, and preparing for market, &c. &c., 

 its value would be great. The flax might be concentrated in 

 some convenient place for water and for house-room ; where 

 an instructor could be stationed to teach active and intelligent 

 youths. And thus a number of experienced hands would soon 

 be distributed, at a little expense, through the country. In- 

 formation and instruction would also be circulated from one 

 society to another, and in the course of three or four years we 

 should be rendered independent of foreigners for a supply of 

 flax from our mills and oil-cake for our cattle. 



What a mine of wealth is here placed before the British 

 agriculturist ! What a field is open for the exercise of his 

 industry and skill ! Can he any longer suffer this mine to be 

 worked, and this field to be tilled by foreign labourers, while 

 his own call upon him for work in vain ? The population 

 daily increases to an amazing and alarming extent -, for if we 

 cannot provide employment for the present, where can we find 

 it for the future labourers ? The education of children is pro- 



