84 



PRODUCE OF AN ACRE OF FLAX. 



whichj when whitened, and made into buckram, is worth 7d. 

 per yard, and amounts to 67/. 45. 



But as this supposition consists merely in speculation, and 

 cannot be so low in fact, because the worst flax that grows in 

 Great Britain is of infinitely a finer quality than the Riga and 

 Petersburg jflax, and that the refuse or tow of the worst 

 British flax is of a sufficient quality for the fabric of Dundee 

 linens, I shall proceed to show what sum the produce of an 

 acre of flax may be supposed, at a medium, to save or yield to 

 these kingdoms. 



But, before I go farther, I must inform my reader of a cir- 

 cumstance, which, though but very little known, he may rely 

 upon as an absolute certaint}^, and that is, that though the 

 quantity of flax an acre will produce depends entirely on the 

 quality of the soil and cultivation of it, yet the fineness of the 

 flax depends almost solely on the conduct of reaping, watering, 

 and grassing of it : and if all these parts are conducted with 

 the same judgment and discretion that a British farmer usually 

 bestows on his other branches of husbandry, he may lay his 

 account with 50 stone of flax on an acre one year with another ; 

 and that his dressed flax will spin to two spindles in the pound ; 

 and if that shall be the case, the computation will be as fol- 

 lows : — 



The 50 stone of flax will yield 25 stone of dressed flax, fit 

 for linen at 4^. per yard ; 12 stone and a half of second flax, 

 fit for linen at \s. 8d. per yard ; and 12 stone and a half of the 

 coarsest flax, fit for buckram, at 7d. per yard. 



The 25 stone of dressed flax will yield 800 spindles of yarn, 

 two spindles in the pound. These 800 spindles of yarn, 

 wrought in a 2100 reed, will yield 1238 yards of linen, and 

 computing each of these yards at 45. 6d., a very moderate 

 price, the amount will be 278Z. 1 Is. 



The 12 stone and a half of second flax will produce 100 

 spindles, at 40 cuts to the pound; the 100 spindles, wrought 

 in a 1200 reed, will produce 266 yards of linen, and each yard 

 at Is. 8d. amounts to 22/. 3s. 



The 12 stone and a half of coarsest flax will produce 60 

 spindles, at two pounds of flax to the spindle ; the 60 spindles, 

 wrought in a 400 reed, will produce 576 yards of linen, which 



