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4|8 THE LEADER. [Si^t&BA*;
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ON THE CULTIVATION OF FLAX. I- . ¦ . ' '...
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MAXMJCBJUUIiY B ALLIES. Malmebbuby, our ...
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ternCnttntil.
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[IK THIS DEPARTMENT, AS AM. OPIWldlTS, H...
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There la no learned man but will confess...
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MAZZINI AND THE FEENCH SOCIALISTS. (To t...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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4|8 The Leader. [Si^T&Ba*;
4 | 8 THE LEADER . [ Si ^ t & BA *;
On The Cultivation Of Flax. I- . ¦ . ' '...
ON THE CULTIVATION OF FLAX . I- . ¦ . ' ' ¦ . ¦ . ' HOW TO GEOT . WHEAT 1 ENT JEER The impetus which Was given a year ago to the culture of Max in Englaiid , by a few of the more enterprising agriculturists , seems -to have stopped short of new experiments . From many parts of the country we hear of landlords who , in 1850-51 , attempted the growth , who succeeded perfectly so far , but whose energies were crushed by the apparent difficulties in
the preparation and disposal of their crops . This is so much to be regretted by nil who , with us , are persuaded that the fortunes of land depend upon increased production , that we have undertaken ^ to draw the attention of our readers to the vast national importance of the home production of flax , and to the certainty of success to the farmer if he will depend more upon himself and less tipon imaginary markets for disposal of his crop .
The average importations of flax , linseed , and hemp into the United Kingdom , may be stated , in round numbers , to amount to no less a sum than 8 , 500 ; 000 £ . —viz .: Flax , about 100 , 000 tons , at 45 Z . per ton . . £ 4 , 600 ^ Hemp , valued at about . ... . . 1 , 500 , 000 Linseed for crushing , about 650 , 000 quarters , at 66 s . .... ........ 1 , 820 , 000 Ditto for sowing , valued at about . . . . 220 , 000 Oil-cake , about 75 , 000 tons , valued at . . 525 , 000 Total . . £ 8 , 565 , 000 Were we to add the imports of Manilla hemp and jute , substitutes for whicli can be produced by British farmers at cheap rates , this account of the money annually sent out of our country to enrich Russians , Belgians , and Dutchmen , would probably be increased by at least 2 , 000 , 0007 . more . In the single article of flax , it appears , according to the best authorities , that the produce of at least 400 , 000 acres is annually imported into this kingdom for the use of pur manufacturers . It is now an admitted fact that flax will grow on almost any soil , and in almost auy latitude ; and it might certainly appear strange to persons unacquainted with the dense ignorance and prejudice still prevailing among that estimable body of men , that while our farmers were denouncing the " ruination" of free trade in corn , they should have remained totally blind to the fact that the flax trade has been " free" for years past- —that they have never complained of the absence of " protection , " and that this is a commodity in the production of which they could most successfully compete with foreign countries . Flax has generally beon supposed to be a great exhauster of the fertility of the soil , but late discoveries have shown that such a result can only follow ignorance of the properties of the plant , or very culpable negligence in the prcpai-ation of the fibre , as wo shall now undertake to prove . The flax plant divides itself into three parts—1 st , the fibre ; 2 ndly , the seeds and their husks or capsules ; and 3 rdly , the woody and resinous portions . Of these , the fibre—the only part which ought to leave the farm—is , by a bountiful and wise provision of Nature , composed almost entirely of constituent parts derived toholly from the atmosphere , —100 parts of fibre yielding , on analysis , no greater tlvorngo than two parts of mineral matters derived from the soil , all easily capable of being replaced at an inconsiderable cost . In fact , theso matters are scarcely appreciable . The portions of this beautifully constructed plant whicli have acquired for it tho title of a " scourging" crop , are those only which it is tho direct interest of tho farmer , as it is his bounden duty , to preserve either as a vehicle for manure or as food for his stock—viz ., tho chaff or woody pith and uoino of tho resinous matter , of whicli tho produce is from 1 £ to 2 tons per aero , and tho linseed and its capsules , both abounding in the richest fattening proportion , tho former of which averages from 16 to ' Mi bushels per statute ) acre . In suggesting tho extended growth of flax to our agricultural friends , wo theroforo lay it down ns an axiom to bo implicitly ohsorvod , that no process should 1 ) 0 adopted in its preparation but such an will onablo thorn to preserve on thoir farms tho greatest possible amount of constituent !* derived directly from tho soil . A judicious rotation of crops , and tho great " heal-all , " time and rest , will no doubt rentoro fertility to a flax Ilold , tho produce of which has boon absolutely wanted , and ho llux may bo grown ovary eighth or tenth your on tho Bamo land . But if tho principle * wo have laid down bo , ad wo boliovo it is , Bound and capable of proof , wo aco no reason why flax may not bo grown on tho uamo land at any rato onco every two or thrco yearn , and , undor Bciontiflc management , oven every year , without any deterioration of tho Boil . Indeed , if our proposition bo correct , tho corollary follows as matter of course , although wo are for from urging
anything more than that flax should take its pfoper place in any given rotation of crops . Wanting present space to enter into the details of preparation With which , at a later period of the year , it Will be necessary that the agriculturist should be made acquainted , we content ourselves With publishing a statement made by Mr . John Warms , the eminent flax-grower and cattle-feeder of Trimingham , in Norfolk , of what he considers and has found to be the relative value of a flax and wheat crop , observing that this gentleman , by the introduction of flax culture , is reported to Iiave entirely extinguished pauperism in a parish , the condition of which a few years since lias been described as " most deplorable . "
In the year 1850 , Mr . Warnes sowed 14 acres of flax as part of his regular rotation , and gives the following figures in proof Of its superiority over wheat : —> " Prepared flax sold at Leeds . £ 23816 0 Value of seed .. ...... 126 00 : — . £ 364 16 0 Deduct cost of preparing flax . . 140 0 0 Gross profit . . . . , ¦ , ' . £ 224 16 0 Value of produce of 14 acres of wheat , at 38 bushels to the acre , at 40 s . per quarter 133 0 0 Total balance in favour of flax over wheat , not including 6 tons 6 cwt . of husks equal to hay , 26 cwt . of tow , and many loads of refuse for littering cattle . . . . . . £ 91 16 0 " Other markets are about to be established for flax , oonsequent upon recent discoveries , to which we may hereafter allude ; but no one can deny the existence of an ample market for flax in a fit condition at Leeds and other large manufacturing towns , nor can it be controverted that a gross profit of 16 ^ per acre ( the only further deductions being the cost of carriage and factor ' s charges ) forms a strong temptation to the fanner , and 'Justifies our leading him into the temptation . Supposing Mr . Warnes * nett profits to have amounted to only 10 £ . per acre , it follows that , if only one-tenth of his farm / be annually under flax , and that he pays 20 s . per acre rent , lie produces 9-10 ths of all Ms other crops rent-free . The introduction of the growth of . flax has already worked wonders in certain districts of Ireland ; and there was a time when the English legislature , fully alive to the vast national importance of this crop , compelled every person " occupying land , apt for tillage , to sow , for every GO acres , one rood at least with flax /* Never was strong government more beneficially applied . We do not recommend the tenant-farmer to engage largely in this branch of agriculture without due consideration of " ways and means ; " but we do urgo him to make the attempt upon , say , an acre or two of any well drained land*—the most suitable being a sound loam on a clay subsoil—assured of the fact , that the seed and refuse alone will pay a handsome profit over and above all expenses whatever . For tho moment , we dismiss tho subject with tho suggestion that not less than two-and-a-half bushels of clean English or Riga seed should bo sown broadcast per statute aero ; that there should bo a " tilth" similar to what i 3 required for turnip sowing ( the land , howoyer , being laid perfectly even ); tho seed lightly harrowed and rolled in ; and that the host crops of flax usually follow wheat or oats , and Bliould never be preceded by turnips or Swedes .
On The Cultivation Of Flax. I- . ¦ . ' '...
* l ? Uvx may bo BOwn any tiino durintg' tho next fortnight with tho certainty of itu boiiijj lit for " pulling" tho middlo or oud of August .
Maxmjcbjuuiiy B Allies. Malmebbuby, Our ...
MAXMJCBJUUIiY B ALLIES . Malmebbuby , our jaunty , Philo-Austrian , Philo-Napoloonio occupant of tho Foreign Offico , is becoming visiblo in . many parts of Europe at onco . "Wo read that the " now arrangomonts" respecting English travellers in Austria havo juat come into effect . Moanwliilo , our pleasant ambassador at Vionna is said to bo conducting masses for tho roposo of the bouI of—Schworzenborg . Again : tho Paris correspondence of tho Inddpendanco Beige contains tho following etatomont i —•
" Somo days ago tho English ministry was informed tJuit Kossuth won on tho point of quitting tho United States to return to England . Comprehending how much alarm tho presence of tlio groat Hungarian ugitator would occasion to tho Austrian Govornmont , tho British cabinofc hiiHtoticd to givo , proprio inotu , to M . do Buol Sohauenfltoin frosh pacific asaurancos , mid communicated to him tho onorgotio measures it intended to take , remaining , howovor , within tho limitu of Btricfc legality , in case Koawith nought to ronew hia revolutionary plots upon tlio Continent , "
Whilst a latter from Malta , ' in tho llisoryhnanto of Turin , of tho 21 st , states that Hignor Oatturi , a barytone singer , now at La Vnlotto , having sung tho following voraos of Motastftflio t Al valoro d ' un lioinuno TuUti Italia norgorit—( All Italy will rise on witnessing tho valour of a Roman ) , Homo political refugees , applying theno versos to tho ' pro-Hpnt timofl , throw him un Italian tyj-colourod coclcarto .
Catturi pjtokecLit up , fixedit to Jttia preafit , ftftdjeofltuiuea to sing in the midst of the most enthusiastic applause . But on the following : dat the eupermtehdent of pon < 5 e Bent fox him , and told him that if he repeated tho offence * ho must expect to be expelled the island . And when the Foreign Minister i 3 called up in the House of Lords ; about the outrages on British subjects in Tuscany , he \ apologises for Austria bya story of " my French cook , an individual with whom , many of your lordships are indirectly acquainted , " being arrested analogously at Glasgow , and roughly handled by the police . Such are the first fruits of our Tory Foreign Minister } —his acts and his languige . Travelling British subjects will not be slow to find out the blessings of his " good understanding" with Austria .
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[Ik This Department, As Am. Opiwldlts, H...
[ IK THIS DEPARTMENT , AS AM . OPIWldlTS , HOWEVEB BXTBKMB , ABEALLOWED AIT EXPEESSiOlf , THE EDITOK JTECESSABItX HOLDS BEIMSELB EESPOHSIBIjE FOE UOITK . ]
There La No Learned Man But Will Confess...
There la no learned man but will confess he hatlimuch ¦ profited , tiy reading controversies , liis ; senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . ; It , then , it be profitable for him to . read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Mimok . -,
Mazzini And The Feench Socialists. (To T...
MAZZINI AND THE FEENCH SOCIALISTS . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Mt deab Sib , — -I find myself compelled to defer to a future number of your paper the article I had proposed as a sequel to my letters . It was intended to consist principally of quotations from books , which I have not yet been able to procure , and which I am expecting from Paris . But , in the meantime , I have to request you to find a place for a few remarks suggested td roe by an article , reproduced from the Reasoner , in your columns . The Editor of that journal is free to entertain an opinion of certain personages and of their worth , whether as thinkers or as men of action , totally opposed to that which we hold , who claim to have somo acquaintance with the affairs and tho men of Italy .
It is not on that score that it becomes us , at the present moment , to express our dissent . Nor do we raisoany objection to his recommending moderation of language in every intellectual debate : like him , wo think that reason should epeak with calmness when , it addresses itself to reason . But tho editor of the Reasoner will permit us to tell him frankly , that ho fails himself in that duty of high impartiality which ho preaches ; and he forgets to be just , when , in alluding to a recent discussion of which wo wore distinction
the first to deplore tho scandal , ho establishes no between aggression and self-defence , and confounds both in the earno blame . His words aro :- ^ " If we would listen to a libol without perturbation , and givo battlo to a lio with as little diacomposuro as wo moot any other enemy , how much more dispassionately should wo analyze tho oritioism of ono , howevor severely ho spoke , who spoko for our profit ?" In this passage—wo nay it with rogrot—there ( iro almost as many errors oh words . , UUUUUU Uib ) JH 4 + UV U 1 AV / JLQ Ul ] | f v * »* MI | 1 f orcoii
^ Tho documont to which tho French Socialists woro to reply , and which has excited universal disgust among tho democratic party in Franco , is not a criticism ; it w an attack—an attack commencing and continuing Witii this form of words , which is by no moans a formula oi calm reason : "I accusej" an attack full of violence and venom , in which tho doctrines of tho men to whom it is addressed nro odiously parodied ; in which ideas tho reverso of all they havo written are attributed to thom ; in which their maxims aro mutilated for tho service oi calumnies— as I havo proved quite irrofragably in my Jasc lotter to tho Leader ; in which , in a word , they aro denounced to tho hatred of tho ignorant by tho very man stolen ui
who prides himself upon a profession of faitJi , » thoir writings ! In no buiibo , I ropeat , is this ortttetm , it fs calumny ; and I am unablo id seo how calumny could t « m to tlio profit of tho traduced . . . Lot tho Socialists bo opposed by arguments ; thoy aosin ndMiinir baiter , and they aro ready to thank , indeed , iwy t > no who , by criticising thorn Bonounly ftiid fourtcj > uaiy , sliall aid thom in tluur Honroli alter tho iruth . - "" J ~ hoop upon tliom r / ratuitous inHults-to diu-o to P" 1 " 1 ' thom in tho very niimo of tho democracy in whotio ho v co thoy havo incurrod impriHommont and oxilo—tha t is noi / criticism ; it is ( jiiuply a winked act , . ., . i Now , in nnwonco « f a wicked act , thoro is , bcnicio in roaBon tli . it weigho , tho heart that fools ; and to . iobw what is ovil with Indignation , ia more than tho ngnt »•> tho duty , of ovary honost man . , Accopfc my cordial enlutations , ' XjOVW I » Mflv « Loudon , April 28 , lBOa .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1852, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01051852/page/14/
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