172 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE 



Park, on a site of ground within the Royal domain, 

 most graciously accorded by her Majesty for the use ot 

 the Society for that purpose. They .also stated to the 

 deputation, that the Monthly Council could receive any 

 statement on the subject, which however the Weekly 

 Council had not the power to do ; they would, however, 

 report the occasion of their mission to the Duke of 

 Richmond, who had the power, as President of the 

 Society, to call a special Council at his pleasure. 



Flax.— Mr. Rowlandson, a member of the Society, 

 well knownto its members by his numerous Prize-Essays 

 in their Journal, favoured the Council with the follow- 



acre of Flax to be pu'led for white or virgin Flax, and dew 

 retted, the other acre to stand for seed ; this would show a fair 

 comparison of the relative advantages and disadvantages ot 

 sowing Flax in the place of Barley, after Tun ip*. On light 

 Turnip linds, I have great confidence of 'he success ot such 

 an experiment. (Sigred) Tbomas Bowlandson* '.H^"""* 



Mr. Fuller, M P., then laid before the Council the 

 following balance-sheet of his trial of Flax-cultivation on 

 one acre of land : — 



Expenses of CoLTiviTioy. 



£ s. d. 



* • • 



■ • • 



t * t 



• • • 



recommendation wnicn my experience may suggest 

 ire guidance of the aifricultutal body generally on 

 nnrsubjec*, I wi=»h to say a few words respecting 



ing coram 



March 10, 18*1. 

 In order to contribute my mite of information respecting the 

 <FJax crop, I forward thif communication ; prior, however, to 

 giving any recommendation which my experience may suggest 



ft»r the futu 



this iroion.mr suhjec% I wisn to hay a lew woras respecting 

 A matter which ha* of late created much noise, viz , the in 

 fluence wbii h cer ain alleged discoveries respecting the con- 

 version of ordinary Flax into Flax Cotton may exercise upon 



the growth of this crop. 



The conversion of fine Flax into cotton is about as sensible 

 •as though it were proposed to transmute gold into silver or 

 stiver into copper. The difference in cost between articles 

 manufactured from cotten «>r Flax, does not so much exist in 

 the cost of the raw material as in the more expensive manu- 

 facture of one over the other, particularly in the bleaching 

 process ; cotton fabrics can be bleached rapidly and, compara- 

 tively speaking, inexpensively, whilst the finer kinds of linen 

 can only be what is termed Grass bleached. If Flax fabrics 

 cou'd be as inexpensively bleached as cotton ones, the lower 

 price of the raw material of the former would fully com pen* 

 i ate for the more expensive spanning process. The following 

 comparative tables of the commercial values of the raw mate- 

 *r'al will show this : 



Cotton. 

 Surats, 4<I. per lb. or ... 

 Upland*, fid. per lb., or 

 "Sea Islands, 1#. per lb , or 

 Ditto, to If. 8d. per lb., or 



Rent... 

 Taxes 



Ploughing 



Sowing and harrow- 



inar 



Weeding 



Pulling 



Carting to barn 



2 bushels of seed, at 



105. 



Threshing 

 Cleaning 

 Balance in favour of 

 cultivation... 



• • • 



• - • 



• • • 



• • • 



• 1 1 



• • « 



■ . 





 

 











12 



4 

 8 



6 

 3 



14 



2 



• • • 



• t • 



• ■t 



• • • 



1 

 1 

 





 

 2 





 

 





 

















 



Proceeds of Sale. 



£. 

 24 bushels of seed, at 



85. 



5. d. 



t • • 



. • • 



Straw 

 Chaff 



• • • 



• it 



• • t 



9 

 3 

 



12 





 5 





 

 



• i • 



8 6 



*i 



Selby, Jan. 15.— The annual „ 

 poultry, the ploughing matches, and the'd 



idth ' ***** 



nection with "the above Society/took puL^?,* ** 



were attended with, if anything, more S** 1 ^*! 

 success. Lord Beaumont presided W 



dinner 



m Success to 



said — There 



the 

 have 



and 



proposed the toast of the ev 



Sc 



rather well-written and clever letters asto^tlT 



at ^ 



Selby Agricultural S25u **» 

 been lately in the 



agriculture throughout England. 



state* 



hi s observati 



H 



generally, I must say that I cannot refrain from 

 : ~~ ""**• h™. So far as I know from recent m.* 8 ** 



think that his rW^;_ :_ r n \ 0, *m. 



ing with him. 

 tion, I 

 perfectly 

 alludes 



description is, i n the 



iy true ; and there is one particular to whiS 

 and with which I completely agree, viz., Zt 

 some districts there is a vast difference bet we 



soil. 



een 

 larity 



£12 17 £12 17 



The field on which this Flax was grown, after Oats, 

 at Rose Hill, in Sussex, in 1849, contained 9 acres, 

 namely, 1 acre Flax, 1 acre Mangold, 6 acres Swedes. 

 The Flax was manured in the April of that year, with 

 2J cwt. of guano, the Mangold and Swedes receiving 



He says truly that in one case the farmin* i s *wj 

 and in the other bad ; and then he goes on to show Am 

 a good farmer, in bad times, is making as much or mm!! 

 profit than the bad farmer was making in good ti* 

 The inference is that the bad farmer must "g toth* 

 wall f* there is no chance for him under any circm! 

 stances. I think it is shown in these letters and thit 

 the experience of everybody who has paid attention to 

 the circumstances will show the truth of this propositi*. 

 viz., that bad farming at the present day has no chance 



. . - 



• ■ * 



• • • 



• • ■ 



£37 



56 



112 



186 



Jute,* Hemp, and Flax. 



Gs. Sd. per ton. 

 

 

 13 



» 



• • ' 



« ■ • 



V • ■ 



Jute, 2d per lb., or 

 Hemp, Ityi per lb, or... 

 Common Flax, 4$d. per lb., or 

 Middling Flax, 6<i. per lb., or 

 JFine Flax, 9d. per lb , or ... 



Extra fine ditto, 1*. per lb., or 

 Super extra ditto 



• t • 



» * • 



...£23 

 32 



... m 



120 to 150 



0*. Qd. per ton. 

 13 



• • • 



• • a 



- - . 





 

 

 



(J 





 

 

 

 



M 



tt 



It may be laid down aa an axiom «hat it will not pay the 



tBriiish farmer to grow Flax of a quality whtn Pressed worth 



less than Cd. per lb., or 7$. per stone of 14 lb*., which at 60 



stones per acre would produce 311. This quantity, however, is 



much more than is usually obtained. A crop of 40 stones of 



iine Flax, at 9<j., would, however, return the same amount of 



money at less co»t in manipulation, less exhausting to the 



land, and consequently less expensive iu the cost of manure, 



and requiring only an inferior soil for its growth, whilst on the 



•other hand an extraordinary heavy crop on very fertile land, 



highly manured, could not be expected to yield more thau 



80 stoues per acre, worth only 4}i. per pound or bs. 3c/. per 



•tone, or '2\L per acre ; B uch a crop would be very distressing 



to the land. Now there Is not the slightest prospect of the 



recently propounded discoveries converting such a coarse Flax 



*as last described, from one worth A\d. per lb. into one worth 



Od. f in fact the process can only couvert fine Plax into a 



textile capable of making a coarse fabric ; if the process can 



"be applied a' all, it can only be profit* bly done with Jute and 



Hemp,neither of which can be advantageously grown in England. 



It is a very erroneous opinion that Flax requires either rich 



land or high manuring, light lands in fair condition are the 



toils most suitable ; in England the green sands are par 



4xcelUncc Flax soils, but Flax may be grown profitably on the 



Bagthot Sands. The finest crop of Flax for quality of fibre 



which I ever saw grown was some sown on poor giavelly 



moor incumbent en the gritty or conglomerate lower 



^edi of the old red sandstone in Irelaud, I aee no 



good reason why this crop might not be cultivated on the 



thinnest chalk soils, and certainly is well a lapted for growth 



■on the red toUfl which form to large a portion of the Downs of 



the South of England. Forciajs and stiff lands generally Flax 



is wholly unsuitable. The best F'ax is grown upon freshly 



broken-up lea ; as, howev* r, it will be almost too late to prepare 



lea this year, it may b- stated that iny light land in good 



heart mav be safely sown with Flax from the present time to 



the 10th of April, premising that the land should be harrowed 



very fine previous to towing. 



Riga sted should always be sown at the rate of from 10 to 14 



pecks of seed per acre 10 pecks only if intended to stand for 



-eeed ; oa week land the Flax should be sown thicker than on 



strong land, very fine Flax should not grow above 18 inches 



*-*.•«?* 7* ,lch hei K^, under favourable circumducts, from 

 45 to o0 stores per acre will be obtained. Ame.ican se d is the 

 •best of the seed crop, and i* most sought by the farmer 



The best course for new Flax growers to pursue is to grow a 



small quantity on land of medium quality, but on wnich no 



labour has been spared to get it into a fine tilth ; seed as arove 



and pull it for the white or virgin Flax, as it is sometimes 



-called, that is, as soon as the most tYrward of the seed bol s are 



.fully mrmed-if a wet season, a little later, if a dry one, a little 



< *rlier. Another advantage derivable from pulling the Flax 



for white, is, that it can be off the ground; and a cron of 



Turnips be safely sown by the middle of July ; by this means the 



new Flax grower can scarcely suffer any losi by his expert 



ment, whdst to the old grower the crop of Turnips will c oS 



pensateforacropofs.ed. On favourable soils, such as the 



green sand, Flax and Carrots might be sown ai in Belgium 



Weeding must be cart full, attended to until the Flax ha/um- 



.grounthem. *"»*uaso>ei 



The pr o e>s of retting is the one most difficult for the farmer 

 to learr, It mil therefore be better for the novice at Flax trow 



^H^rf^.^ PU J ! *' 'he white. Dew retting £ acrom 

 pl.shed by ajing the Flax on Grass-land exposed to ' he rS?s" 

 ai.d r ew, often for a period of four or five weeks ; this forms f 

 good top-dresung to Grass-land. It is by no mem, desiab'e 

 that any process should be discovered that would take away 

 Ibe retting and preparatory processes from the hands ofThl 

 farmer ; it such is the case, Flax must inevitably beco ,?e t ,1! 

 extent an emanating crop, and will al>o deprive farm »h ,! f 

 -of a source of ample menr at the m,st pinchm^sea'on of tint! 



I may conclude thie letter by staUng thi rT.l ?* r< 

 -mis-aketo suppose .hat our manufactured ^ ?tan??„ P * 

 venience for a supply of coarse Flax this Af o y mc T 

 -obtained from cot ntries where labour and land is h^L be 

 •that employed by the British farmer and if n, »1nJ P . 8rthan 

 -discovered to increase that dVnvKf * ,nTeQU °n was 



always amply supply \ ^ and heat ^e British ^ trieS WOuld 

 the field ; what is real y wanted 1 hv thl ™l r f f ruier ° ut of 

 which there is an imrealin" demand £ fil' p fr^ aad of 

 ..upply of ehuh has tasked the i-S^ 

 to the utmost, in order to makS « ,»/ our mi.nutacturera | 

 fAhrin • r l0 matie a c> oarse fabre iuto a hne 



•25 loads of farm-yard manure. In October, the whole of struggling with the difficulties of the times It 



a ~ lA — — U1, A — l: — WK: ^ W1 — * — J «~ ] vain to say merely that landlords must come down 5j 



their rents. I feel that I am occupying a peculiar 

 position. I know that I am speaking to those who are 

 tenant-farmers, and I myself am speaking as a landlori 

 Very well, then, I say, although the observation may not 

 be agreeable to all, that it is absurd to say " the landlori 

 must come down in his rent, and then all will be right" 

 No ; I say you will not get me to do that. But I also a? 

 this, viz., that if my farms are let beyond a fair valua- 

 tion, taking the existing and probable value of corn, I'D 

 have a readjustment. But I will make no return. And, 

 moreover, I will say this, for it is only fair, although I 

 am sorry to say there is cause for it, that if I find I have 

 a farm which, with proper treatment, can pay a fair 

 rent, and the farmer who is upon it does not choose to 

 exert himself up to that point, I shall be ready to give 

 such tenant notice to quit. Now I say that this is 



If I were a tenant 1 should never 



field was sown with Australian White Wheat, and the 

 crop was quite as good on the acre where the Flax had 

 been grown as on the other part of the field where the 

 root crops had been grown. 



The Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P., presented to the Council 

 a sample of Flax grown, and afterwards prepared, by 

 himself. He had for the last 5 years grown about 2 

 acres of this crop, the produce of the seed, employed by 

 him for feeding his stock, having varied from 16 to 

 24 bushels. 



Mr. Donlan addressed a letter to the Council, stating 

 that a complete set of the machinery, alluded to by him 

 on a former occasion, and intended to enable farmers 

 to bring their Flax crops into a condition for ready sale 

 in British markets, was at that time open to the inspec- 

 tion of the members, at his temporary premises, at 

 the Canal Basin, Warwick-road, Kensington. Mr. 

 Garrett kindly undertook to inspect this machinery, and 

 report upon it to the Council at their next meeting. 



Mr. Edward Davy, of Crediton, also addressed aletter 

 to the Council, informing them, that having read M. 

 Claussen's specifications of patent, he found nothing 



speaking plainly. 



be alarmed about rent. The rent of land will always 



adjust itself— the rent of land is always what you can 



get for it. (Cries of " No, no.") You misunderstand 



. A me. I mean to say that you can't get an unfair price 



whatever in them that interfered with the plans he had for land, because if you do your land gets ruined. I 



matured, previously to that gentleman's coming forward repeat, then, that the land will adjust itself. I know it 



with his new processes for an altered and simple mode ' «-.... 



of preparing Flax, to render it cheaper, more gnerally 



useful, and an advantageous substitute, to a consi- 

 derable extent, for foreign cotton. He hoped soon to be 



in a position to lay before the gociety drawings or 



models of his machinery for the use of farmers, with 



full particulars of cost of erection and working, quan- 

 tity of Flax prepared per day, and other details ; in the 



meantime, his machinery was about to be tried by an I ready to bid beyond the market price. 



intelligent tenant-farmer, on 60 tons of Flax straw on ' ' " •' * ' " ' * ' ° 



his hands, in the state in which it was pulled from the 



ground. He hoped to succeed in preparing the Flax 



suitably, and finding for the farmer a market for it, at 



a remunerating price ; as he had already, he stated, 



produced Flax in a state pronounced, by an eminent 



cotton-spinnner, to be capable of being spun precisely 



in the same way, and with the same facility as cotton. 

 Mr. Hill Dickson also favoured the Council with 



numerous details connected with his own experience in 

 the cultivation and management of Flax. 



The Secretary then called the attention of the Council 

 to the spirited manner in which the Royal Agricultural 

 Improvement Society of Ireland, as it appeared by a 

 report of their proceedings, then laid on the table, were 

 endeavouring, by their premiums and arrangements, to 

 promote inquiry connected with the practical manage- 

 ment of Flax ; and to the following remarks made by 

 the Editor of the Irish Farmers' Gazette in reference to 

 the ensuing Dublin meeting of that Society :— 



We look forward to the meeting, therefore, which will h* r a- * *• 



held early m the month of August, with the greyest i^teret ?, CHSe ^r re-adjustment 



l h iU t h V l ill K ViS l t - L0nd0nduririgthe *P Hn * antl ^mmer month; 

 will be breaking up, and spreading themselves like Ha 



swarm 





repeat > , 



as the trustee of some property, and also as the holder 

 of other property. A fair and honest tenant will always 

 give what is a just and fair rent, and rent will alwayi 

 adjust itself. If you attempt to overlet your lands, you 

 cut your own throats. (Applause.) If you do so you 

 will not get the right kind of men. There are plenty 

 of men who will scramble at land, but who know nothing 

 of farming, and have no capital. Such men are always 



the man 



farmer. If you do 



not take him some one else will. He is known to be a 

 good farmer, and every landlord wants to get such a 

 man, and his terms are the fair market price. (Applause.) 

 If a landlord seeks more than that, he will easily find a 

 person to bid more, but when the rent-day comes suck 

 a tenant is in arrear, to a dead certainty. The land is 

 neglected, and then what is the case ? Why, the land is 

 in such a state that you are glad to get rid of such a 

 tenant at any rate. You can hardly get a decent man 

 to take it, and for the first year or two God knows what 

 allowances vou are obliged to make. This is exactly 

 the position landlords are in. Therefore I say, under 

 all circumstances, rent will adjust itself; and if tne 

 landlord looks to his own interest, as well as to that ot 

 the tenant, he will always find that at last he must come 

 to a fair market price. I can give you a very prac"e* 

 instance. When land was valued a certain time ago- 

 certainly when corn was higher— say 7s. a busne l, 

 valuations ruled much higher than that. Now nere 



At present the tenan Us no 

 likely to get such a price. Therefore, the standard oi 

 valuation at that time will not apply to the time pww, 

 and I say that the landlord, in such cases, mus t nu 

 come to a re-adjustment. I won't talk of an a^ 

 return of so much, and then you, the tenant, mu*t cu 



up again. No 



rmanent abatement, 



for 

 ave 



saw *SasM£a5=b Sssyys 



I say here is a pel— — 

 and likely to be ; and then we shall not see uw ^ 

 sense in the newspapers that my lord this or Jft -^ 



cent, out of 



It is a matter of fair barter 



• ■ * -'- capital to 



his 



We shall re- 



caF«£? e «*iec%«d ia the meantim^ ,w Tlose So time' n 

 il as effective and as rruly national aa possible. rena ermg 



fabric. 





■* Jute is a coarse kind of hemp from the E 



ast Indies. 



An interesting discussion on the use of common salt 

 as a manure for land and crops, and as an adjunct to 



e food of stock then took place. In order to give 

 thi a discussion at length, we reserve the report of it for 

 o r next publication. 



Dr. Calvert's paper on the direct disposal of a-ricul- 

 tura produce from the farmer to the consumerfwHh- 

 out the intervention of middlemen, was, at his request 

 referred to the Journal Committee! request, 



has returned so much per 

 (Laughter and applause ) 



and bargain. The tenant comes with »■- - ^ 

 convert that capital into profit, by employing « 

 land. The first instrument, then, that the termer ^ 

 is the land. lie therefore hires the land JJT^. 

 same way as in any other trade he would hire tn ^ 

 sary machinery or buildings, or any other manw ^ 

 is necessary for his profession. He lures it, a ^^ 

 mere question of barter between us. ( Applause ; ^ 

 are other relations, I must own, after this, ot ^ 

 agreeable sort, which arise between the Jana 

 tenant, and those relations are likely to be dcti 

 tained, if there be a fair adjustment of rent, '» ^ 

 place, and no returns and no boasting in the m -t ^ 

 afterwards that you have given s^f^^henrf 



tena" 1 " 

 pleasure, aa existing between^ l«J™?Jf ^leasutfS <* 



stren 



auerwaras mat you nave gi»«« 



would be much better, for then would be - - _ ; 



all those ^meeting links to which ] io f \ te >t. 



" ■ between landlord^ , . 



(Applause.) I think that one 



