THE society's WANT OF FUNDS. 



345 



" The public are much indebted to Mr. Postle for the great care 

 with which this experiment has been carried through, and for the 

 pains taken to procure an accurate and satisfactory statement of the 

 result." 



From the above experiment some idea may be formed of the direct 

 advantages to be derived from the use of linseed. But no calcula- 

 tion can be made of the indirect advantages arising from fattening 

 cattle upon native produce, nor from the diffusion of manure thus ob- 

 tained, as every description of farm produce yields a heavier crop where 

 manure from compound-fed cattle has been applied. 



Finances. 



The want of funds may be considered the only real cause of com- 

 plaint ; for, while the advancement in every other department has ex- 

 'ceeded the anticipations of the most sanguine advocates, and astonished 

 every attentive observer, the subscriptions have not been adequate to 

 the expenditure of the year. The usefulness of the Society has, con- 

 sequently, been greatly retarded. Much of the present and past years' 

 crops of flg-x could not be prepared for the want of proper local es- 

 tablishments and instructors, and thus many hundreds of the poor were 

 prevented from earning wages through that source of employment. For 

 the correctness of this statement, your Committee need only refer to 

 the present holders of flax, and to the numbers of persons employed in 

 those parishes where the preparation of the fibre has been carried on. 

 That a cause so truly patriotic should languish for want of funds, be 

 subjected to cold neglect, and inconsiderate opposition, is deeply to be 

 regretted ; a cause that involves employment for the redundant popula- 

 tion, and a remedy for the distresses of the people. At a time, too, 

 when the unemployed poor are reduced to a state of wretchedness un- 

 paralleled in the history of this country ; to alleviate which, expres- 

 sions of the deepest anxiety pervade not only the Councils of the State, 

 but the discussions of Agricultural Meetings from one end of the king- 

 dom to the other. The legislature avow their inability to meet the 

 difficulty; and every proposition to remove the prevailing distress, 

 though emanating from the most influential and talented quarters, 

 proves ineffectual. 



Conclusion. 



From the abundant materials placed before him, your Secretary 

 drew up this report. It is submitted to the ordeal of the strictest 

 scrutiny. The inquirer will discover that every attempt at exaggera- 

 tion has been carefully avoided, and that many corroborative instances 

 might have been added. 



But, if the linseed and flax exhibited at the present meeting, with 



