436 
Flax. 
argument  for  manuring,  was  never  put  upon  paper  ; for,  instead 
of  intricate  and  interminable  calculations  of  the  cost  of  breeding 
or  fatting  stock  to  produce  manure,  the  whole  question  is  put  in 
a nutshell  : Will  you  or  will  you  not  venture  one  pound  at  seed- 
time, to  get  back  two  pounds  at  harvest  ? If  a bad  farmer  were 
told  that  he  could  treble  his  turnip  crop,  he  might  dislike  buying 
more  sheep  for  feeding  it  off ; but  here  is  a clear  statement  of 
expense  which  requires  no  companion  outlay — a simple  outlay 
which  begins  and  ends  with  itself.  A bad  farmer  may  go  on 
with  his  no  crop  of  turnips  still — the  whole  routine  of  his  farm 
may  remain  undisturbed  ; but  I really  cannot  see  how  the  worst 
of  farmers  will  escape  these  extra  bushels  of  wheat.  Mr. 
Lawes,  I see,  recommends  that  the  guano  should  be  broadcast 
rather  than  drilled  with  the  seed.  As  he  has  doubtless  good 
reasons  for  this  advice,  I may  mention  that  either  the  sowers  of 
guano  should  keep  a smock-frock  on  purpose,  since  it  injures 
the  workmen’s  clothes,  or,  better  still,  that  a dry-manure  dis- 
tributor* should  be  bought  for  four  pounds.  I need  scarcely 
add  that  the  dose  of  guano  must  be  suited  to  the  condition  and 
strength  of  each  field.  The  principle  alone  is  fully  established. 
Such  is  the  improved  four-course  or  rather  five-course  system. 
There  is  one  other  crop — flax — which  must  not  be  passed  over 
before  I conclude. 
Flax. 
Its  value,  as  now  grown  in  Ireland,  is  rated  by  Mr.  Macadam 
at  19f. ; the  outgoings  at  91.  ; the  clear  profit  at  ten  pounds  per 
acre.  His  prize  report.f  published  by  our  Society,  being  most 
complete,  and  of  the  highest  authority,  must  be  consulted  by 
those  who  would  embark  in  this  branch  of  husbandry.  The 
obstacle  to  the  wider  growth  of  flax  has  hitherto  been  the  number 
of  new  processes  which  its  preparation  involves.  The  cultivation, 
indeed,  is  somewhat  peculiar,  as  in  Belgium  one  may  see  it 
weeded  by  women  creeping  on  their  hands  and  knees;  but  the 
fitting  it  for  market  requires  many  unwonted  and  delicate  modes 
of  handling,  as  rippling  to  rend  off  the  seed,  steeping  to  rot  the 
stalk,  spreading  and  turning  to  dry  and  clean  it,  bruising  to 
loosen  it,  and  scutching  to  separate  the  fibre.  Upon  these  its 
market  value  greatly  depends.  It  is  only  by  skilled  hands  they 
can  be  well  done  ; and  skilled  hands  will  be  found  only  in  a 
district  where  flax  is  already  grown,  or  must  be  introduced  by  a 
combined  effort  of  neighbouring  landowners.  Steeping,  indeed, 
is  now  performed  by  a hotwater  apparatus,  and  scutching  by  a 
* See  implement  Report  for  account  of  Dr.  Newington’s  dry-manure  distributor. 
f Macadam  on  the  Growth  of  Flax,  Journal,  viii.  361.  Also  Nicholls  on  Flax, 
viii.  43o. 
