158 



DICKSON ON THE 



FLAX GROWING IN ENGLAND. 



As I have had the pleasure of visiting Mr. Druce, and 

 walked over his superiorly cultivated farm, and could not but 

 admire the beautifully cultivated fields of Flax, which was 

 the object of my "visit to Oxfordshire; I have also equal 

 pleasure in giving his account of the expense and profit in 

 growing Flax on 5 A. 2r. 6 p. 



The Right Hon. Sir James Graham, in his speech on this 

 subject in Cumberland, stated that we wanted the produce of 

 200,000 acres for home consumption alone, and that our 

 present growth in the United Kingdom did not exceed 

 150,000 acres annually, and that he would have the plant 

 extensively cultivated in the coming season. The right hon. 

 gentleman mentioned the difficulties of finding a market 

 for the Flax-straw, but this obstacle would be entirely 

 removed by the adoption of my processes. The growers 

 may, upon the formation of a company, receive the average 

 rate or price of £4 per ton for their sound Flax-straw when 

 deprived of the seed, roots, and weeds. 



Mr. Samuel Druce, of Ensham, stated to the council of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society of England, on the 26th 

 of February, 1851, the result of his experience in the 

 growth of Flax in Oxfordshire, and particularly the result 

 of his last year's crop, which he had drawn out for the 

 information of the members, into a balance-sheet of expendi- 

 ture in cultivation and realization by sale of produce ; he 

 thought this statement would satisfactorily show to them 

 the value of the Flax crop, and the attention which, under 

 present circumstances, it appeared to deserve. His property 

 lay on the Oxford clay formation, and the piece of ground on 

 which the trial of cultivation, to which[he referred, was made, 



