THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY 37 



and consequently advantage to those countries which 

 are most generally engaged in them. Of this kind is 

 linen, the staple manufacture of Ireland. Wool is the 

 genuine English staple. Every lover of his country 

 should be engaged to promote the linen trade. 



26th Feb. Instructions as to linen, choice of soil 

 for flax. 



Subsequent letters dealt with the dressing and till- 

 ing of the ground, choice and quality of seed for 

 flax, and as to its stacking. In April appeared 

 letters on flooding in places bordering the sea or on 

 rivers ; high tides ; trenching and embanking ; and on 

 flooding of low flat lands. In May, the raising of 

 hops in bogs claimed attention ; then came road- 

 making, and the manufacture of cider. In October, 

 appeared a letter on the importance of letting land 

 to husbandmen, and tenements to manufacturers, 

 showing that a landed manufacturer suffers as a bad 

 farmer. In November, the subject of flax-dressing 

 was returned to, and throughout January and February 

 1738, breaking, scutching, cleansing, fining, and hack- 

 ling were dealt with, some of the machines used being 

 figured. Next came malt and brewing, and on the 28th 

 of October a series of articles on tillage was begun. They 

 bore on the culture of rye grass and clover, on hay and 

 seed, and one letter sought to remove certain prejudices 

 against tillage. In January 1739, the linen manu- 

 facture was again brought forward. It was declared 

 not to be flourishing in this country, and it was said 

 that different measures would have to be pursued 

 to keep it alive. 



Richard Reilly, Cork hill, printer to the Society, 

 announced an edition of the Weekly Observations? at 



1 See Dublin Society 's Weekly Observations, 1736-1737 : Dublin, 

 1763 (in the National Library). 



