RESTORATIVE, NOT AN EXHAUSTING CROP. 



113 



according to the circumstances of the locality, it is subjected 

 to the process termed retting, or watering. In the stem of 

 the Flax there may be recognised three structures ; the 

 outer skin, or epidermis, covering a close net-work of fibres, 

 which encloses the plant as in a sheath, and in the centre 

 a stem of dense pithy material, nearly as hard as wood. 

 The fibrous net-work is connected together by a glutinous 

 matter, which must be decomposed before the fibres can be 

 separated from the stem ; and it is to soften and rot this 

 substance that the plant is steeped. If the steeping be 

 continued too long the fibre itself may rot, and be weakened 

 and injured in quality ; if the steeping be not continued long 

 enough, the fibres are not thoroughly separated from each 

 other, and the quality of the Flax is coarser than it might be. 

 The general tendency is not to rot the Flax enough, but it is a 

 process -requiring very careful management and attention, to 

 conduct it with the greatest advantage. 



" Having already carried our notice this week beyond its 

 due limits, we must reserve our concluding remarks on the 

 Industrial Resources of Ireland for another occasion." 



Now, if experiments, corroborated by the opinions of such 

 a man as Professor Kane, will not remove prejudices created 

 by theoretical delusion, I am at a loss to know what will have 

 the desired effect. If Mr. Stephen be right (and that I 

 altogether deny) in saying that Flax is more exhausting than 

 a wheat or barley crop, the question is, what will be the addi- 

 tional amount that the farmer can gain by Flax-culture, to enable 

 him to restore his land ? Is there any crop, BUT Flax, that will 

 leave the farmer from £15 to £20 per acre clear profit ? I 

 say THERE IS NOT ; and I need not bring another proof, after 

 Mr. Walker and Mr. Hazlett's remarks, to corroborate my 

 statements. Mr Stephen asserts that from six to twelve bushels 

 of seed per acre is the most that can be had, and he values it 

 at £3, whilst Mr. Hazlett values the seed of one acre at £8, a 



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