PREPARING FLAX BY HIS PATENTS. 



205 



LETTER XIII. 

 IMPOKTAKT TO FAKMERS. 



A BEADY MARKET FOE FLAX-STEAW OE STALKS. THE LONG FIEEE 



PREPARED FOE FLAX SPINNERS, AND THE SHORTS OR TOW FOR 

 SPINNERS OF SHEEP'S WOOL. 



To the Editor of il BelVs Weelly Messenger?* 



"Sir, — It is now universally admitted, that the only objec- 

 tion to a more extended cultivation of Flax, is the difficulty 

 which fanners experience in getting rid of the straw or stalks, 

 as no regular market for the sale of the article in its unmani- 

 pulated state has ever been established in this country. As 

 the seed will average eighteen bushels per acr e, and must be 

 equal in value to a crop of oats, it is a matter of importance 

 to farmers to know that a market for the article is no longer to 

 be wished for, and that by good tillage and careful harvesting 

 of their crop, they are certain of a market in London, at 

 prices that will induce them to cultivate Flax extensively, 

 without the troublesome and expensive, and what is of more 

 importance, very uncertain process of steeping or retting. 



Being in early life well acquainted with farming operations, 

 Flax-culture in particular, and the profits arising therefrom, I 

 have been watching with deep interest for the last seven years 

 the decline in price of farm produce, because of my conviction 

 that nothing but the introduction and practical working of 

 machinery in farming pursuits could bring profits up to what 

 they were previous to 1845, when the staple industry of this 

 country had protection. The objection to Flax-culture is the 

 great expense of the skilled manual labour which must be 

 incurred in preparing and making Flax marketable, and 

 therefore, I confined my ideas entirely to the construction of 



