200 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF chap. VII. 



where a greater quantity is raised in proportion 

 to its size, and where the management is, in 

 general, now better understood. From the best 

 information that can be got, it is probable, that 

 about 1500 acres of flax may be annually raised 

 in this county. 



1st, Soil and Prepttration.-~-ln the cultivation 

 of flax particular attention is necessarily paid to 

 the quality of the soil. A light, thin, gravelly, 

 or sandy soil, if naturally dry, is unsuitable. 

 Neither will a hard stiff clay, or land that is very 

 spongy and wet, answer. Light loam, friable 

 clay, and in general, any open soil of a tolerable 

 depth, and sufficiently retentive of moisture, is 

 proper. The richest crops are usually produced 

 on haugh land, or ground lying on the banks 

 of rivers, which have been deepened and en- 

 riched by the fine mould, carried down from the 

 neighbouring hills, by the rain, or with the se- 

 diment occasionally deposited by the overflow 

 of water in the time of a flood. 



Pasture-ground, that has been laid down clean 

 and in good order, after carrying one crop of 

 oats, will seldom fail to yield a good crop of flax. 

 Potatoes, likewise, is an excellent preparation ; 

 and grass seeds sown along with the flax will 

 thrive as well, perhaps better, than after most 

 other crops. The potatoe ground is either not 

 ploughed at all, or ploughed immediately after 

 the potatoes are taken up. Clay land, when 

 designed for flax, is ploughed before winter, to 

 expose it to the action of the frost, and thereby 

 to pulverise it more completely. Indeed any 

 kind of land, that is intended for this plant, 

 ought to be tilled, two or three months before 



