On ClausscRS Flax-Cotton. 



237 



In our linen nnanufactures a somewhat analogous state of things 

 is found to exist. Like the cotton manufactures thej too are 

 dependent for their supply of flax — notwithstanding that the 

 article can be profitably produced at home — upon foreign coun- 

 tries. The linen trade, like that of its rival, cotton, has during 

 the last twenty years made most rapid strides, having more than 

 doubled its production within that period. Recently, however, 

 and more especially during the past and present years, its pro- 

 gress has been retarded by insufficient supplies of the raw mate- 

 rial from Russia, Belgium, and the other continental flax-pro- 

 ducing states. 



In the face of these deficiencies of supply, and the constantly 

 increasing demands for employment on the part of our working 

 population, it becomes a matter of most serious consideration 

 how far the recurrence of such evils may be prevented by the ex- 

 tended cultivation of flax at home. We are aware that among 

 agriculturists there exists very generally a strong prejudice 

 against the cultivation of the crop, founded mainly upon the opi- 

 nion of its exhaustive character, and the great difficulty which 

 has hitherto existed in bringing the flax into a suitable condition 

 for the market, and of obtaining for it even when so prepared an 

 adequate return for the risk and trouble of its preparation. 

 These objections have not been altogether unfounded, and their 

 origin is to be sought in the general want of knowledge of the true 

 character of the flax-plant and in the prevalence of wasteful and 

 injurious systems of cultivation and preparation of the fibre. The 

 progress of science, however, the attention which has been be- 

 stowed upon the subject by enlightened agriculturists both of 

 England and Ireland, the exertions of the Royal Flax Society in 

 disseminating useful information on the subject, and, above all, 

 the recent discoveries of the Chevalier Claussen, and the pub- 

 licity which has been given to them through the medium of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society of England and *The Morning Chro- 

 nicle,' which first brought the subject under public notice, have 

 done much towards placing the question of flax culture upon an 

 entirely different footing. These altered circumstances require 

 but to be made fully known, in order to obtain a more extended 

 cultivation of flax in this country. 



It is scarcely necessary to enter into any arguments, or adduce 

 any facts, to prove that both the soil and climate of the United 

 Kingdom are well adapted for the cultivation of flax. It may 

 be sufficient to state that it has been grown to some extent in 

 almost every part of the country, that it has been cultivated with 

 success upon a newly reclaimed Irish bog ; in the fen districts of 

 England ; on the summit of the Wicklow mountains ; by Mr. 

 Warnes upon the Beacon Hill of Norfolk; in the Highlands of 



