174 EXPERIMENTAL FLAX COMPANY. 
siderable extent. These samples far surpass the Russian Flax,” and he 
regretted that “the Government of India have not responded to the recom- 
mendatior of the Horticultural Society in granting a bonus to the Experi- 
mental Society of 10,000 rupees, to further its objects.” 
“The seed received from England, Mr. Woollaston further remarks, has 
been distributed freely to all applicants who were desirous of trying the cul- 
tivation. The models of implements were sent out from Belgium, and fac- 
similes made for any person requiring them at the bond fide cost of the 
materials. Private profit or gain has never been allowed to interfere. Every 
kind of information, as far as possessed, has been freely imparted to all in- 
quirers, and every endeavour made to excite an interest in the experiment. 
“Tts importance in a national point of view is incalculable. Both as de- 
veloping the resources of India, in enabling England to supply herself from 
her own possessions in a most important raw material, and in no longer 
making her dependent, for what may well be considered necessaries, 
upon a foreign and rival power. These observations, Mr. Woollaston con- 
siders, will apply in a great measure to Hemp also, in the cultivation and 
manufacture of which, the Experimental Society are deeply interested. The 
successful introduction of these two staples into England, from this country, 
will not only prove a blessing of the largest degree to India generally, but 
be a severer blow to Russian aggrandisement and encroachment than the 
destruction of her fleets, or the annihilation of her armies.” 
The Agri.-Horticultural Society having recommended that 
the bonus of 10,000 rupees should be given for the furtherance 
of the objects of the Flax Society, Lord Auckland, who 
was at that time Governor-General of India and _ was 
as warmly interested as any one in the improvement of its 
resources, was also a political economist: the Secretary to 
Government was directed to reply : 
“His Lordship cannot but regard with interest the public-spirited pro- 
ceedings of the gentlemen who have come forward to promote the improve- 
ment of the cultivation of Flax in India, but it is only in very rare instances, 
and with the view of exciting a direct and general competition, that he would 
attempt by encouragement or bounty to influence the course of commercial 
and agricultural enterprise, and he does not feel that the case before him is 
one which would justify the special interference of the Government. 
“Fort William, July 29, 1840." 
Mr. Deneef, the Belgian farmer, and Mr. Bernard, the pre- 
parer of Flax who had been sent to India by the Society, were 
of great use in examining the soil and giving directions on the 
mode of culture best adapted to the country, as well as in re- 
porting on the different samples of Flax which were grown in 
the country. Mr. Deneef’s directions for the cultivation of 
Flax, drawn up after he had had practical experience in the 
country, remain as a valuable document for the guidance of 
others. These we, therefore, reprint from the ‘ Journal of the 
Agri-Horticultural Society’ for the year 1812, p. 393. 
