igii.] Flax-Growing in Ireland. 



997 



with a similar decline in other countries, A decrease, in 

 some cases a very serious one, has occurred in Austria, 

 Belgium, France, and Germany; in Holland, Hungary, and 

 Russia the area seems to be stationary, while in Great Britain 

 cultivation has practically ceased. High prices for fibre now 

 prevail, and it is anticipated that the world's acreage will 

 increase. One reason which is given is that the production 

 of cotton is not keeping pace with increasing requirements, 

 and the price of cotton is likely to be maintained at a higher 

 level. This is likely to create a greater demand for linen 

 goods and to result in an improved demand for flax-fibre. 



Various causes were assigned by witnesses who appeared 

 before the Committee for the decline in Irish flax-growing,, 

 but the farmers were almost unanimous in pointing to low 

 prices as the main cause. Many of them asserted that if they 

 had a reasonable hope of obtaining an average price of 

 js. 6d. per stone for their flax, and a yield of about thirty- 

 five stones per statute acre, i.e., a gross return of about £13 

 per acre, they would continue to grow the crop, and that 

 many of their neighbours who had given up the industry 

 would be induced to resume. 



The price is obviously dependent on causes over which 

 the farmer has no control, but the monetary return from the 

 crop is influenced as much by yield as by price, and it is 

 suggested that farmers should endeavour to obtain a better 

 return by improving the yield and quality of their fibre. The 

 successful cultivation of flax depends, however, much more 

 upon the suitability of the soil, seasons, and seed, and less 

 upon the application of manures, than is the case with other 

 crops. Moreover, flax is liable to serious depreciation in the 

 course of the highly technical processes to which it must be 

 subjected in its preparation for market. The cost, too/ of 

 growing and handling the crop is comparatively high — a 

 circumstance which, of course, greatly increases the loss to 

 the farmer when it is a partial or an entire failure. It is in 

 great measure to this uncertainty of yield and risk of loss 

 that the reluctance of farmers to undertake flax-growing is 

 to be ascribed. Some of the causes of this uncertainty, such as 

 those relating to the quality of the soil, are obscure and re- 

 quire investigation. For those such as unsuitable seasons 



