462 
Flax for Paper-making. 
realising the amount at which I have put that crop, than there 
would be of obtaining the 10/. 75. for barley. In fact, the great 
drawback to the barlej-crop is the utter uncertainty as to what 
it may produce : it may be 25s. per quarter, it may be 45s. 
The yield may be 3 quarters, or it may be 6. The straw may 
be worth \s. 6c/. per cwt., or 9(/., all depending on the weather ; 
and the same remark applies to wheat. In the case of flax there 
is, I believe, no such uncertainty. No doubt the finer the 
season, the better all round will be the crop ; but however wet 
the weather may be, the fibre is uninjured, the straw makes the 
same price to the paper-maker ; and, notwithstanding six weeks 
of incessant wet, last harvest my seed was uninjured in any way, 
excepting in the case of a small quantity that was tied in the 
wet, or left untied on the ground. This freedom from risk is an 
advantage of the utmost importance, but impossible to estimate 
at a money value with any degree of accuracy. It should be 
particularly borne in mind that my experience has been gained 
in 1880 and 1881, two seasons by no means favourable for corn- 
crops, and probably no more favourable for flax. 
In putting 30 cwt. per acre as an average weight of flax- 
straw, I am not only taking the result of my own short experi- 
ence, but am confirmed in my estimate by Mr. Goulton, also by 
Mr. Thomson (Ligoniel House, Belfast, who is bringing out a 
book on ' Flax and Flax-spinning,' and to whom I am indebted 
for much interesting information), who says : " The produce of 
dry — or what is called xoin-slraw — varies with the culture, 
quality of seed, season, &c., from 20 to 50 cwt. per English 
acre, recognised average or standard of fair crops being 30 ta 
40 cwt." 
I also find in the 'Agricultural Magazine' of 1815, that 
30 cwt. was considered an average crop in those days. I think 
therefore I cannot be far wrong in estimating an average crop 
to produce 30 cwt. of straw per acre. 
To form a correct estimate of the probable average yield of 
seed is not so easy, as there are so few seed-growers in this 
country or in Ireland. I can only therefore judge from my own 
limited experience, which is supported by that of Mr. Goulton 
and Mr. Hulbert, who, as before stated, obtained 20 bushels of 
seed from 1 ton of straw. 
The questions will be asked, what is the most suitable soil for 
flax ? and what crop should it follow ? With regard to the first 
of these questions, from all the information I can obtain, flax 
may be grown successfully on almost any soil, and in any 
climate. Every country of the civilised world appears to pro- 
duce it. It is more extensively grown in Russia than in any 
other country, though it is largely grown in India, ligypt, and 
