146 DICKSON'S REPLY TO PROFESS OS LOWE'S 



as Professor Lowe's Appeal to the Common Sense of the 

 Country, and many may imagine the learned gentleman 

 skilled in practice, as well as being Homo prudentissimus 

 ingino, I have thought proper to notice his remarks, as 

 I am inclined to think that I am one of the class aimed 

 at by the fire discharged from the learned Professor's 

 battery, which, no doubt, he calculates will tell like 

 thunder on the feelings, if not on 'the common sense of 

 the country 1 — he writes with fiumen ingenii. I have read, 

 more than once, Professor Lowe's remarks on the Flax 

 subject, in the hope and expectation that time and research 

 would so improve his ideas that he would, ere this, be 

 enabled to explain to us how we might grow or produce 

 the finer and more costly description of the plant, and 

 thereby dispense with the Belgian, or the well-known fine 

 and expensive article that we are obliged to import from 

 Courtray, to make our cambrics and LAWNS, and I am 

 disappointed to find that he has uot improved, nor is he 

 likely to improve, so long as he imputes unworthy motives 

 to those who would stimulate farmers to grow it, and 

 prevent foreign farmers drawing from us (as I shall show 

 by last year's returns, taken from the Board of Trade 

 accounts now before me, per favour of the President) 

 a sum such as I bring out as an average. I find the 

 imports of the last two years are as follows : — 

 1848. 1849. 



"Flax 65,779 83,825 tons £5,029,500 



(average cost, say £60 per ton.) 



Oil-cake 67,360 50,179 tons £401,432 



(average cost, say £8 per ton.) 



Flax-seed . . . 683,506 469,603 qrs. £1,643,610 

 (average cost, say £3 10s. per qr.) 



Importation of 1849, value ... £7,074,542 



