I 



71 



made into buckram, at 7d. per yard, yields 16/. 16s.; and 

 these three articles thrown together make 317/. IO5. as the 

 produce of an acre of flax ; and this, or near to this, without 

 straining the argument, may be supposed to be the medium 

 that an acre of British flax Avill produce. For though it should 

 be argued, that linen at 45. 6c?. per yard is above the medium 

 that British flax could be manufactured to, yet when it is con- 

 sidered that, though 3s. or 3.?. 6</. should be rather said to be 

 the medium, yet as the increase of the number of yards would 

 in that case be in proportion to the decrease of the value of the 

 yards, it would make but a trifling variation in the account. 



But to conclude, as it is a certain truth, that every acre of 

 flax in Flanders, taking one acre with another at a medium, 

 does not produce good 300Z. in manufactured goods to that 

 country, and that Great Britain does naturally produce as rich 

 crops, and of as good a quality, not to say better, than Flan-' 

 ders ; I see no reason why we may not conclude that an acre of 

 flax, properly cultivated and manufactured, will yield the same 

 advantage to Great Britain that it does at present to Flan- 

 ,ders ; and that it is in our power, by suitable encouragements, 

 to snatch that manufacture out of the hands of the Flemish, 

 as we have formerly done the woollens. 



I am. Sir, yours, &c. 

 1742. Samuel Homespun. 



Agriculture in the County of Perth. — By James Roheiison, D.D. 



The culture of flax is universal in this part of the kingdom, 

 but is not carried to such an extent in any other place as in the 

 districts of Stormont, the west end of Strathmore, and Athol. 

 The farmers in other places generally grow some for their own 

 use ; and where the land is more favourable for that plant, 

 they are able to supply those whose soil does not raise it to 

 advantage. The clay land seems to be of too close a texture 

 for its tender roots, and binds too much to allow the fibres to 

 expand themselves in quest of nourishment. The light sandy 

 soil, on the other hand, is too weak to carry a heavy crop, and 

 is too much exhausted by it to render the lint crop a suflicient 



