1 64 A R M A G H. 



beft flax, and the greateft quantity, is by Tow- 

 ing their pooreft lands that have been ran out 

 by oats, upon 3 ploughings, and the reafon 

 they do it not more is for want of ability to 

 give the 3 ploughings. They weed it very 

 carefully. They generally pull it the latter 

 end of July and the beginning of Auguft, and 

 immediately ripple it to get the feeds off, and 

 then lay it into water from 6 or 7 to 1 2 days, 

 according to the foftnefs of the water, trying 

 it before they take it out : the fofter the water 

 the fhorter the time, generally bogs or pools, 

 the bog the beft. They lay it fo thick as to 

 fill the pool. When they take it out, they 

 fpread it on meadow ground from 10 to 15 

 days, according to weather; if that is very 

 bad, much of it is loft. Upon taking it up, 

 they dry by laying it in heaps on a hurdle 

 fixed upon pofts, and making a fire of turf 

 under it. As faft as it dries, they beat it on 

 ftones with a beetle, then they fcutch it to 

 feparate the heart or the Jhoves from the reft. 

 Mills are invented for this, which if they ufe, 

 they pay is. id. a ftone for it, which is cheaper 

 than what their own labour amounts to. 

 They next fend it to a flax-hackler, which is 

 a fort of combing it, and feparates into two 

 or three forts ; here generally two, tow and 

 flax. In this ftate it is faleable. The crop 

 is frdm i3 to 48 ftones per acre of flax rough 

 after fcutching. The medium is 30 ftone, 

 and it fells from 6s. 8d. to 9s. Much Dutch 

 flax is imported, alfo from Riga, Koningfberg 

 and Petersburg, which generally regulates the 



price 



