THE LETTER OF THE HON. W. R. ROUS. 



199 



To the Editor of the Norwich Mercury. 



^^Dear Sir^ — In matters of business practical men prefer 

 figures of arithmetic to figures of rhetoric — plain facts to idle 

 visions ; I have, therefore, taken up my pen for the purpose of 

 undeceiving the public, by a simple statement of the probable 

 future cost of growing and preparing an acre of flax ready for 

 spinning into yarn ; also to state the proved value of an acre 

 of very superior flax grown by myself and worked at North 

 Walsham. The soil was a first-rate flax soil^ rich light loam 

 — in good heart, sowed 2nd April. 



£. s. d. 



Rent, tithe, and rates . . . . . .200 



Two winter ploughings . . . . . . 12 



Spring harrowing down, ploughing, sowing, and bushing . Oil 

 One thousand gallons of liquid manure . . . . 15 



Three bushels of seed . . . . . .10 



Weeding and pulling crop . . . . , .12 



Steeping, drying, re-tying, etc. . . . ..100 



Scutching 54 stone of flax, at 3*. per stone . . .820 



15 2 



Value of crop : 



54 stone of flax, at 9*. per stone . . . . . 24 6 



Balance . . . . .940 



An ample profit ; but 54 stone of flax is vastly beyond an 

 average crop, and 9^. a stone can only be obtained for a supe- 

 rior fibre ; besides, land in general would require an outlay of 

 3/. in manure per acre. To be concise, I am perfectly sure, 

 that unless the manufacturers can afford to give Ss. a stone for 

 the flax after being scutched, the farmer cannot afford to grow 

 it. When this last fact is ascertained, as it will be, before the 

 general meeting of the Flax Society held in February, the 

 problem will be solved, whether the culture of flax can be 



