439 



in machinery for the dressing and preparing flax, and of 

 scientific men to a more economical and expeditious method 

 of bleaching and promoting the separation of the fibre from 

 the woody matter of the stem, and I have no doubt such 

 discoveries will be made as will very materially reduce the 

 cost of flax in England. The expense and trouble attendant 

 upon the preparation of flax have been supposed to render 

 its cultivation by the farmer little desirable; but should 

 an increased production take place, the demand for better 

 machines and for regular district flax-dressing establishments, 

 would be immediately answered by their production, as in 

 this country the demand for the exertion of talent and energy 

 in any particular direction is always followed by the supply. 

 And if the same or equal talent and ingenuity had been 

 exercised upon the production of machinery for preparing 

 flax for the manufacturer, which have been displayed in the 

 after processes of spinning, the advantage to the country 

 would have been immense. The energetic and indefatigable 

 firm of Messrs. Marshall and Co., of Leeds, to whom the 

 linen manufacture of England is so much indebted, I am 

 happy to say are turning their attention to the preparatory 

 processes of flax-dressing, having purchased an extensive 

 tract of land in Holderness, chiefly with the view of growing 

 and preparing flax, and are erecting an establishment on 

 a large scale, for the purpose of steeping, bleaching, and 

 scutching the stem. When parties so eminently qualified, 

 and so well acquainted with the requirements in connection 

 with the raw material, undertake its production, we may 

 augur well for the proper accomplishment of the desired 

 end. 



The dampness of the climate of Great Britain and Ireland 

 is often complained of, and, if a disadvantage in some respects, 

 it ought to be turned to account in those instances where it is 

 favourable to peculiar vegetation, this moisture being highly 



