SBWEW 







108 



AGRICULTURALGAZETTE. 





roads for the conveyance of the material P^° C J" f &n ex . 

 « altera •J.to'jo far. then, •■ *• W^f **** the ' 

 tended growth of Flax In thia *> a f^,£ are concerned. 

 mnipoiUi n of our COtlon « M ? ft *^,jS supply and 

 PrW ^itarbt. have to consider *£ $»£^VE^\- 



prica of cotton ; the difficulty of oWJinms^ # ^ ^ # 



ting. 



ass 

 the 



me districts in which a mon . r „_ , fJ , . 



under the patent system. Possessed of this monopoly ^2?» 



large tract of country, such an individual has the whole of V 



itmwpnwe. -- no " t calculated growers entirely at his mercy, and can offer them whatever ,£ 



inconveniences, i« not ^ cu f * leaBeg for their produce, knowing full ?e U that no (fi 



advance -lable market exists ior many miles. Indeed, to such! 



„.„. or allowiDK the Flax to rem. in e *«£ d t0 

 ;,d for a considerable number <*J*Ve£n, however. 

 £tioo of the rain, dews, and etmo*ph ere. T " P . .... 

 U one which, from it. obviou. »?co»v«weo 

 ,o meet with general approval in the P"""^ 9 

 .^emture. and i, indeed ve^rareW adored. ^ 



treams, according 



agriculture 



Stebpino l* 8tre*ms. -----. •,„_._- streams, accui""-* 

 the Flax i. that of placing it in runn Jn« str e ^ • dacing 

 Z the mode adopted i° Courtra. tbe prmci^ t la P ^.^ 

 district of Belgium. The Flax '° ^re^J ^ 



a much higher price than ^.P^ia the water of the 

 There are, however, certain P?*™ 1 "". 1 "^ for steeping pur- 



river L,. which make. V™«K any other streams in 

 po.es, and which are not pw«~d "V «J tle8 of the water, 

 this country. Independent of the P«£ t be made gene- 



the keeping of . ^^"^'KS^L.tl, «» rapid in 



B round. Hut so many »™ u ""' V^e. to be avoided, in the 

 obtained, and so many un _ favour f b !^ the supply of the water 

 .election of the site for the P^w^'K perfect steep 

 required, that it is probable that a to«w ° V The 



pool could not be formed in any P«* « » will hare an in- 

 Soil forming the bottom and 'ides of the pit u „ lBl and 



fluence on the colour of the fibre clay, gra , mate . 



„eat T soil, will each impart some P«»' lar T a > e water u8ed in 



Ijcmj »«■■. 'jr.-., :, a value ID* W»« r """ '" 



rial, which more or less affects its value, i 



the pit or pool must not be spring water ana » 



haveflowed over any soil co»t.«w« metalUc depos t a 



water is not well calculated for the JW": ^* J he requ isite 

 to all tbeee difficulties a^endnnt upon obtain ^ ^ 



means, the grower of Flax has ^ c m»m a, hu 



uncertaintie. and risks of either oye or under ste P ^ 



• One sultrv night • says one of the re P or " ot e ' ffl _ 



ci.tr. " while it is in the^teep^ud "J*™* fa 



Flax. 4 

 Flax Society, 



•if ioppliie from »*« couotriej >; " d £* ^totlm* "a\bo*e 

 Fh« can be advantageously employed at 

 tawufacturee in which cottoc ,|i ' «*."«£■„, to W e position of ( 

 D» teuacT or fiax.-lf .gain w«m ^ ^^ ^ ^ , ^^ aTai , ab i e m 



oar linen manufactures, it win oe rt.flri.ncv in the supply | their character. , „„ nf « u ;table streams, re- 



that branch also a moet extraordinary defl a «<* » ™ pu/^ steefino .» Pirs.-In the absence of ««»" thg 



of the raw material. In Ireland *• ^ r a J d on w ? th 1Mi| by cour,e is had to a mode of steepm in P its orp '<" 8 iredtobe 

 fallen offdoriog the p.st J«r. ^X^e we derive our B round. But so many favourable <»«*«». ".^ to ,„, 



rSfc rf ST ?£ "Uest houses in St. Fete^burgh. in 



wtU notb^blelL lay it d-.wn here, to cost les. aboard than te 

 U now MlllnVfcr on your side j .o that we ar- not likely to have 

 M,Aln?dnT"«o«tr.e- for . long time, if .t .11 thi. winter | 

 "nfM. the relative st.teof the two market, experience mutual 



tli« cultivation of Flax U considerably leu than on the average 



of former y tart. _. _ . , „„«^ 



It is under these circumstanced, with an Increasing demand 



OH the part of the manufr orers, and a diminished supply on 

 thaptrt of th. foreign producer, that I venture to submit to the 

 Britiiih a«ricolturiiit the taking tome steps ealcolated to meet 

 the axUUnic state of ttdnin, to diminish our HepandfJJJ up-m 

 fotalifn oonntHns, and by to doinj? confer lasting benelits. botn 



upon himt'lf and upon hi* country. Thera Is a happy oorjunc 



tura with this state of things and the time at which the 



present daxnand arisr*. Formerly, when our laws imjKMed re- 



etrictiout upon the ImportadMtr grain for human food, our 



•jtriculturtsU mUhr have conceited that there existed some 



kind of moral Impediment In the way of Increasing our homo 



srrowth of articles for any purpose not of equal primary neces- 

 sity. That Impediment, whether rightly or wrongly I pronounce 



no opinion, has. however, passed away, and there is now no 

 reason wbattTrr why their fields should not henceforth be used 



for the production of aoy article that promises an adequate 



profit to the grower. 



•* It is." says Mr. Porter, of the Board of Trade, espe- 

 cially desirable so to apply the productive power of the soil 

 for the supply of articles cm indi$p€n**!>U to the support of 

 miliums of our people us corn itself ; and an additional imiuce- 

 *nt to the growth of Flax beyond that offered by other articles, 

 may be found In the fact that, to bring it to the same comiHon 

 ae that In which It is Imported from foreign countries, calls for 

 the employment of a considerable amount of human labour.' 

 Objections to Gsowth or Flax : Aaaicd/rcai— But, If 

 satisfied that ample markets exist for the sale of his produce, 

 and that this sort of moral impediment to its growth has 

 bean removed, the agriculturist may still point totht- objection* 

 entertained against ti> growth of Flax, both on account of it* 



c.ently, is enough to carry the fermenta «;>" -f m ost all Flax 

 point/ So much is this feared by fa ™ e n 7',^ ftt X™ w "d, man- 

 U underwatered ; and although ™f °2>Vtlo £ brought to 

 nered on the Grass, yet the great proportion is or •> 

 market with the shores still un-eparated in bite on the hDre 



it is also obvious that during — _ ..p-ninn must 



little farm labour is carried on, the proceM^of iteoping_mn. 



Sch.nck Ststem -A fourth process has, 



within the last 



Royal Flax 



in hot 



little farm lahour is carrieu on, w l " „. f the temoerature. 

 be discontinued altogether, i" consequence of the temperatur 



Sch.ncc System -A fourth process lias, within 

 few year., been very strenuously advocated by the ft 

 8o,-iety in Ireland, which consists in iW^ » — 

 water. This mode, although doubtless an jmproT"™ 60 ' "P°" 

 .ny or the exi.ting plans, still doe. not afford the mean 

 obtainiDK that complete separation of the h°re. «ln. n it i » 

 sirable to obtain. The Belfast Society do ^.P'^J^eH 

 is a mode generally applicable to t hense, of *e prodoc erot 

 Flax, for under what they term a "division of Ubou., they 

 pr<,po.e that the whole prot-«M ot preparation ^ w th the prouu 

 [attendant upon it, and the additionallabour required shall be 

 taken out of the hands of the erowers, whom it desigi ate. as 

 •• a class of persons ignorant of the commr nest chemical [princi- 

 ples," and banded over to capitalists or specula £" *bo *ou Id 



erect the required machinery In districts wh . ere *• ^^"^ 

 certain quantity of Flax would be P r «viously guaran^ teed. 

 According to the reports of the Society, it appears that the 

 profits upon the preparation of an Irish acre of Flax, would be 

 Something like 2.M> per cent, upon the amount .pa d to the 



*__ tI j T ne farmer is pdid ior his tux a 



extent has this system of extortion been practised, «,.. 

 many of the growers have been compelled, after keep^T 

 Flax in stack for the last two or three year., to aelfWsT 

 De r ton that for which he would have received, but f 0P 2 

 monopoly, from 31. to 41 .The gentleman to whom I C 

 referred has now about 700 tons of Flax in stack, whichW 

 will not sell at the ruinous price offered by the « steeps** Z 

 further states that he will not sow a single acre of Flax in al 

 present year, unless some fresh mode of disposing f 2 

 nroduce is created. 



Joint Stock Associations.— The mode in which I worii 

 venture to surest this system may be prevented, and % 

 Growers be enabled to derive the full benefit of the perfect*! 



fthe Flax would be by the establishment in different ioc^ 

 tips throughout the country, by means of joint subscription! 

 among the Flax growers in such district, at which the pr^ 

 ration of the material could be carried on, and the profo 

 arrived from the proce? s distributed at stated periods am* 

 th« shareholders in proportion to the amount of shareMf 

 interest which they beld in the undertaking. This system u 

 ftnp which has been found to work well among the cultivator! 

 of the sugar cane in the West Indies— and there is nodofc 

 but that it would work equally well among the producers 



F'ax in this country. u-., ^ 



Local Societies.— A second mode bv which this object could 

 he attained would be by the erection of suitable premises and 

 • nnaratus bv each ot the various local asricultural associate 

 nr farmers' clubs in the country, the buildings and plant beuf 

 thP nrooerty of the club or association, and the use of the* 

 Keh£ allowed to members or subscribers, upon payment erf 

 JuclTsums per ton or per acre as might be agreed upon by the 



Pa T rt 4NDL0RD3,— There is also a third mode which mi^ht be 

 made available in the case of the failure of either of taepnv 

 ceding Plans, which is, that of the erection or the required 

 accommodation by the landlords for the use or their tunn, 

 nnon the payment of such sums as would be calculated tocorer 

 the interest of the capital invested, and the cost of keeping fo 

 buildings and apparatus in an efficient state of repair. 



PaoFiT— There remains yet one very important point tj 

 which I have at present only incidentally aUuded-I mean ti« 

 profit to the farmer upon the cultivation of Flax Ifl hare 

 succeeded in convincing you of the extent and certainty ^ U, 

 market which exists for the produce, and of the absolute 

 neceisitv which exUts for your endeavouring to ob am posies. 

 sion of those markets, I have no doubt that I shal be enabled 

 most satisfactorily to prove that you can do so with consider. 

 able profit and advantage to yourselves. 



Seed and FinmB.-It will be found in the first placed 

 the profit derived from Flax under the present modes* 

 steering, combined with the saving of the seed, s con^. 

 ably greater than can be obtained from the cuUivaUonJ 

 Wheal at present prices. Mr. Warnes states .that he pr* 

 upon 14 acres of Flax, grown and prepared by hini iUrt je^ 



" Gl. per acre over that of his Wheat, m 





grower for his produce, 

 price ra 



•opposed exhaustive character, and the trouble, risk, and principl 

 •xpenae attendant upon its preparation tor markets, as reasons 

 why he should not enter upon the cultivation of the plant. 

 With respect to the exhaustive character of the plant, and it* 

 consequent injurious effects upon the; soil, there appears to 

 be no reason for supposing that, under a proper and mdicious 

 mode of treatment, it is mow exhaustive or injurious than any 

 Other seed-producing cr »p. Au examination ot thesten of the 

 plant shows that those portions of It which are required for the 

 purpose of manufacture, are derived almost exclusively from 

 the atmosphere. Indeed to so small an extent do the inorganic 

 properties of the soil enter into the hbre, that it has been 



found upon analyiis that 100 lbs. does not contain upon an 



average more than 3 lbs. of minrr.il matters, including modes of steeping the Flax in the straw. 



was upwards of 

 figures are 



Prepared Flax sold at Leeds 

 Value of seed 



t • • 



• •e 



• « n 



• ■ a 



• •• 



• •S 



« •• 



nging from 61. to 82. per acre, the steeper upon this 

 „r>uv. F .e of "division of labour," receiving a net proht I 

 take the fibres of the advocates of the plan) of upwards ot 20*. 

 With such imZtaCsmentfl as these offered by the Flax Society, 

 I doubt much whether the agriculturists of this country will 

 feel very much disposed to enter upon the growth of r lax to 

 the extent which the circumstances of the case require ; and 

 in Ireland I hare no doubt but that the whole scheme, traught 

 with so many of the abuses of the middlemen system, will 

 soon be found alike intolerable to producer and consumer. 

 The whole of these dimculties may I believe be easily over- 

 come, by the adoption of a system more in accordance with the 

 present advanced state of practical science and knowledge, and 

 which involves the entire abolition of the whole of the existing 



Deduct cost of preparing Flax 



a ie 



33 



Ume, inaznetla, oxide of iron, carbonic, phosphoric, sul- 

 phuric acid, and silica. It Is the woody pans of the 

 plant, the resinous matter of the seed, with its capsules 

 and husks, which abeorb from the soil the phosphoric 

 acid and other fertilising ingredients. If the Flax, unlike 

 other crops, be not allowed to rejurn anything to the 

 soil ; if the seed be thrown into the iteep pit or " ret. 

 tery " with the stem of the plant, and there destroyed ; if 

 instead of being employed as food for cattle, the straw or 

 woody parts be rendered perfectly useless for ail the purposes 

 of manure, or mixing with cattle food, then undoubtedly Flax, 

 like every other crop, would be in itself an exhausting crop. 

 But practical experience, however, has fully proved that 

 under a judicious mode of treatment, so far from being 

 an exhaustive, Flax is actually a renovating crop. Numerous 

 instances might be cited upon this subject. Mr. Edmonds, of 

 Stouehouse, near Ply month, stated, in 1843, *• It is a mistaken 

 opinion that Hemp and Flax impoverish the land j from long 

 experience I have found the contrary ; these are crops that make 

 a greater return as to ma nure than any corn crop J' 



Sir Richard O'Donnell, who is one of the largest cultivators 

 of Flax in Ireland, and who has grown to the extent of 700 

 acres in one year, states in the Morning Chronicle, M As the 

 results of many years' experience, that when grown in its 

 regular rotation, Flax is so far from being exhaustive, that it 

 tends greatly to improve the soil and the character of the 

 Other crops in the rotation. It ie above all most valuable for 

 laying down land after Wheat or Oats, as the process of pulling 

 the Flax, by loosening the earth around the xoots, improves 

 greatly the quality of the Grass crop." 



Mr. Warnes, whose exertions as a practical agriculturist, to 

 promote the extension of Flax culture, are deserving of all 

 praise, and whose system of agriculture rests upon the growth 

 of Flax, and the fattening of cattle in boxes, upon the seed, 

 incorporated with other produce of the farm, both summer and 

 winter, has introduced the Flax plant into every rotation upon 

 his farm , and, judging from the results of his own experience, 

 he states that no rational assertion can now be urged against 

 the growth of Flax, at the improved systems of cultivation and 

 preparation have rendered obsolete the clauses in old leases, 

 prohibiting the culture of the plant, and the antiquated notion 

 that fibre and seed cannot be secured at the same time. So 

 far, therefore, as the exhaustive character of the plaut is con- 

 cerned, there appears to be no sufficient ground for entertaining 

 acch an opinion. 



PEiramaTioif rom Maikxt.—A further objection to the 

 growth of Fax is, however, to be found in the nature of the 

 process hitherto required to be employed previous to its prepa- 

 ration for the market So long as it shall continue to be con- 

 eidered necessary for the grower to embark in the present 

 troublesome and uncertain process of steeping the Flax in the 

 •traw, it will be in vain to expect any very general or extensive 

 growth of the plant. Although considerable advance has no 

 doubt been made in the preparation of the fibre during the last 

 few years, still the present mode is far from being suitable to 

 the great body of the farmers of the United Kingdom. 



Diw Retting.— Under the system of preparing the Flax, 

 hitherto four modes of steeping or retting the plant are 

 retorted to. The first consisU of the plan of ••dew ret. 



Gross profit 



Value of produce of 14 acres of Wheat, at 

 bushels to the acre, at 40#. per quarter 



Total balance in favour of Flax over Wheat, 

 not including 6 tons 6 cwt. of husks equal to 

 Hay. 26 cwt. of tow, and many loads ot re- 

 fuse for litter"' ng cattle ... 



Seed Alone.— The above is an i 

 and the fibre were saved and prepared. 



£ * a 

 238 16 



126 • 



364 16 

 140 



22*18 

 133 



mis 



• - • 



in which both the 8* 

 There are cases, ho» 



ot seed; 



Steeping Injurious.— Not only is the present process of 

 steeping inconvenient and unnecessary, but it is highly inju- 

 rious, as it imparte its injurious dyes to the fibre, deteriorates, 

 and gives to it an inequality of strength, which, in the subse- 

 quent stages of manufacture, are exceedinglv difficult to be 

 overcome. I bave found this to be more particularly the case 

 in the preparation of the Flax into a material capable of being 

 spun alone or in combination with wool and cotton upon the 

 existing machinery, I am anxious that the grower should not 

 resort to any of the existing modes in the preparation of his 

 Flax, for any one step taken in that direction entails subse- 

 quently the necessity of much additional trouble and expense, 

 in addition to most materially affecting the strength and quality 

 of the yarns and thread produced from it. 



Purchase in the STaaw. — The mode in which I should 

 most prefer to purchase the Flax would be in the straw, pre- 

 cisely as it is left after the removal of the seed. In this state 

 it can be dealt with, with a far greater degree of certainty than 

 in any other, and may be, within four-and-twenty hours from 

 the time of its being pulled ripe from the held, placed in a con- 

 dition fit tor preparation for spinning upon any of the Flax, 

 cotton, wool, or silk machinery of the couutry. 



Facility of Transit.— As there would be obviously many 

 inconveniences connected with the transit and carriage to a 

 large distance of a material so bulky as that of Flax in the 

 •traw, the grower might in certain cases, by the use of a 

 common breaker and a pair of toothed cylinders, remove a 

 great portion of the more bulky part of the plant, and thus 

 send the fibre in a par ially cleaned state to the market. The 

 charr obtained from this partial separation of the straw from 

 the fibre, which contains a very large proportion of the inor- 

 ganic matter from the soil, and which, not having been 

 destroyed by the process of steeping, will form a most valuable 

 material for mixing with cake, crushed seed, the mucilage 

 formed from it, or other articles of cattle food. 



Further Process.— I am anxious, however, to see the 

 growers of Flax deriving the full amount of benefit which is to 

 be obtained from the complete preparation of the material into 

 a substance suitable at once for the markets or Belfast, Dun- 

 dee, Manchester, and the woollen districts. I am aware that 

 in the hands of individual growers the process, although not a 

 complicated one, but which still requires some larger amount 

 of acquaintance with the higher branches of chemistry than 

 generally exists among the agricultural classes, must not be 

 considered as generally available. I believe, however, that a 

 plan might be very easily devised by which the Flax- 

 grower might secure for himself these benefits, which, 

 according to the recommendation of the Royal Flax Society' 

 | are to b« exclusively engrossed by speculator* and capitalist?! 

 Indeed, several applications have a ready been made by parties, 

 requesting me to grant them monopolies under my patent, for 

 the perfection of Flax, within an area of a certain number of 

 miles in various parts of the country. I beiitve that such a 

 course is one eminently calculated to rob the grower of his legi- 

 timate profits, and to retard that extensi n of the growth of 

 Flax which I conceive to he indispensably necessary fur the 

 welfare of the country. Within the last few days, I have been 

 informed of a case in which a gentleman in Ireland, who ha« — *.. *.— *. «_ .*— ...— . 



for several years grown Flax to a ,ery great extend?, SLT2 fi£r tt??«S * <- wW? W * 



ever, in which the Flax is grown solely for the pur£ w^ ^ 

 and others in which the seed is wasted or destroyed, t M£ 

 object in such case being to obtain the fibre, in 



case there is a greater profit to the ff° w « r * a ^J 

 tainedfrom almost any other crop. Mr. Bear^ba^ 



of the best farmers in the county of Norfolk grow i e ern 

 one or two acres of Flax after Wheat, »nd wahou^ nfij 

 for the seed only. His crop last year yielded iow ^ 

 which, at 10s. per bushel, would be worth lot. , 

 Wheat crop did not exceed five quarters, wntcn, *™ ^ 

 would yield but 101., leaving a profit in favour J>t '* 

 alone (the straw being used as litter for cattle) o r *: J^ 

 I may state upon this point, as a general rule, un ^ e F j x F ^ii 

 system, that, when grown for its seed alone, taeii i ,, 

 coarse, and is not considered of so much value as 



finer description. •^c^ncesnri^ 



Fibre alone,— Seed destroted.— Numerous instant ^ 



be adduced, from the reports of the Royal £ laX t ? r0f aitf 

 show that even in cases where the seed has beenj 

 the steep pits and destroyed, the profit upon the sa ie ^ 

 ration of the fibre was still greater than that ot » au ^ ) 

 the crops. As the example thus set is one, ^°^/, 1 L00 

 not likely to be generally followed by enlightened W^|* 

 in this country, it is unnecessary for me to trouoie , 

 aov figures upon that point. Kfdnedo^ 



New Process.— These, however, are returns oDtaia ^ 

 the present mode of steeping and preparing the * ia ' a8 w& 

 ing to the plan which I venture to submit, the re 

 anticipate, be even more favourable to the grower. ^ 



Sold in Straw.— In the case in which be n i ay ei* # 

 pose of his Flax in the straw, the farmer would ^ 

 full value of his crop of seed, and the straw wouw . 

 to him 41. per ton, the produce being about l ^"y^Il* 

 He will not be required, as is the case at presen , , p 

 Flax before it is perfectly ripe, or before the 8e y^a^ 

 fully and completely formed. Indeed the ^yL^ 

 developed is the stem of the plant, the more vft,u ^ JwatB* 

 for the purpose of adapta'iou to the woollen an< \ duC edfr* 

 chinery, and the fine gossamer threads can be p ro "^ Ja * 



it with greater certainty and precision than when pj ^j, 



earlier stage of its growth. The grower, the . r f^ay^ 



under no fear as to the fineness of his crop, and n« ^j, 



from it as large an amount of seed as his land wu v^ 9 



Partial CLEANiNG.-If the difficulty ot traD8 i7 r itfl^ 

 flax in the straw to any great distance should reu ^ 

 sary for the grower to reduce its bulk, by the ren»JV -&** 

 the woody part of the plant, he will obtain by so ao ^ ? 

 tion to the seed, a valuable article of food for nw ^9 

 the enhanced value of the fibre will more tn» 

 amount of labour bestowed upon it. t ^ fl pr#2 



Complete Preparation.— If disposed to carry 

 tion of the flax to its final stage of adapt itiou to* ^ m 

 of the manufacturer, whether cotton, linen , woo ,^ jm 

 will derive a profit 1 .rger and more certain tna ^w 

 he can obtain under the present process ; *° ♦ pr«K 

 refuse straw impregnated with the salts used in ftft fljss 

 tion, he will obtuiu a manure of toe richest and ruv 

 character. - a | ia^ 



Social Advantages —One word upon the » .^^ 

 tages whxh must result from an extende a pr otr*J 

 Flax, and my remarks (already. I fear, ^ r ^m 

 will hare been brought to a close. Upon Am ^ 



