WITH MR. TAYLOR. 



259 



which also appeared in the Farmers Journal. From Mr. Haynes 

 I received a polite acknowledgment of his error respecting the 

 use of the seed to fatten cattle^ and the stalks to obtain flax. 

 Struck, however, with the extraordinary fecundity of the plant, 

 and supposing that it might be profitably cultivated for other 

 purposes, I determined to give it a fair trial. Accordingly 

 I had two plots of ground, separated merely by the drill, 

 sowed with the seed in question; some of which was taken 

 from amongst my own flax, and some from that of my 

 neighbour. 



" When arrived at maturity, one sort proved to be the 

 dwarf Camelina, but was certainly not superior to the other in 

 produce. I inclose a sample for your inspection. Some time 

 since, I, in company with an eminent botanist, searched the 

 Public Library and the booksellers' shops at Norwich for in- 

 formation. I have now before me one of Mr. Haynes's printed 

 circulars; also all the correspondence that appeared in the 

 newspapers, with private letters on the subject. Some of the 

 seed has been substituted for linseed, and placed before two 

 bullocks on my premises, which they totally reject. I have 

 examined the stalks, in which I cannot discover a particle of 

 flax ; nor was there any in those that I saw at the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society's Rooms, Hanover Square, althou^ they were 

 represented as containing it. 



" You acknowledge that ' the Gold of Pleasure is an annual 

 plant that grows spontaneously over all Europe, and is culti- 

 vated in some countries for forage and manure ;' also, through 

 Messrs. Hind and Son, that it can be purchased at 865. per 

 quarter, which, at 56 lbs. per bushel, is less than a penny per 

 pound ; but I can obtain it at 325. per quarter. 



^' Under all these circumstances, I cannot withdraw my state- 

 ments as to the price of the seed known by the name of ' Gold 

 of Pleasure,' its applicability to fatten cattle as a substitute 

 for linseed, or its superiority to the flax-plant. But I cordially 

 agree with you as to the productiveness of the seed, and the oil 

 for lamps, &c. The refuse, I consider, might be used with 

 advantage, instead of rape cake, for manure, but not as a sub- 

 stitute for linseed-cake. A moment's reflection will, I think, 

 convince you of this fact ; for rape-cake is never given to cattle. 



s 2 



