Flax in Ireland. 



357 



kainit, when used in conjunction with superphosphate, 

 sulphate of ammonia, and farmyard manure. The applica- 

 tion of 4 cwt. of kainit, along with i cwt. of sulphate 

 of ammonia and 3 cwt. of superphosphate, gave a 

 profit of 5s. 3d, par acre ; by substituting 2 cwt. of sulphate 

 of potash tor the kainit, a profit of £^ 9s. 3d. per acre was 

 obtained ; whilst i cwt. of muriate of potash, with the same 

 quantity of sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate, gave a 

 profit of ;£8 1 6s. id. per acre. 



Flax in Ireland. 



The thirtieth annual report of the Flax Supply Association 

 for the improvement of the culture of flax in Ireland gives 

 the following information as to the results of the flax harvest 

 of 1897. 



The area under the flax crop of 1 897 was the smallest on 

 record. The earliest existing account of the acreage is 

 that prepared by the Inspector of the Irish Linen Board, 

 which commences with 181 2 and covers a period of fourteen 

 years. The smallest sowing in these years was 84,885 

 acres in 18 13, and the average for the whole period 

 amounted to 132,423 acres. After this there are ap- 

 parently no statistics relating to flax in Ireland till 1847, 

 when the first returns were collected by the Irish Con- 

 stabulary, and during the half-century which has elapsed since 

 that time the smallest area was in 1848, when there were only 

 53,863 acres under flax. 



The difference between 1896 and 1897 is 26fijj acres, or a 

 decrease in the latter year of 36*9 per cent. All the counties 

 in Ulster contribute to this decrease, but in a different 

 degree ; in Donegal the decrease is only 2'6 per cent. ; in 

 Monaghan it is 56*4 per cent. In Donegal, flax occupies 2*9 

 per cent, of total land under crops, in Monaghan it is 2*7 per 

 cent., and for the whole of Ulster the area under flax is 2*8 

 per cent, of the total area under all crops. The area outside 

 Ulster was only 347 acres. Ten years ago the position of 

 flax in Ulster was very different : the acreage under the 

 crop then representing 7*30 per cent, of the total cultivated 



