On flax, and the practicability of extending its cultivation in Ireland : together with directions for the proper management of that crop / by Edmund W. Davy.

  • Davy, Edmund William, 1826-
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On flax, and the practicability of extending its cultivation in Ireland : together with directions for the proper management of that crop / by Edmund W. Davy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    AND THE PRACTICABILITY OP EXTENDING ITS CULTIVATION IN IRELAND; TOGETHER WITH DIRECTIONS FOR THE PROPER MANAGEMENT OF THAT CROP. BY EDMUND W. DAVY, M. B., M. B. I. A., &c., FROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY TO THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY. [Read before the Royal Dublin Society, February 15, 1864.] Notwithstanding that the extension of the cultivation of Plax in this country has from time to time been strongly advocated, it is much to be regretted that till recently its culture has been almost entirely con- fined to the North of Ireland, where, as is well known, that plant has been successfully cultivated for a long period. Several circumstances, however, occurring recently—such as the failure in the supply of cotton, owing to the protracted war in America; the low prices and unremunerative returns from our cereal and other usual farm crops, consequent in a great measure on a succession of bad seasons; and the great emigration which has recently taken place from our shores—have united in a remarkable manner to force on us the importance of extending the growth of a crop like Plax, which is a plant that is not injured to the same extent by excessive rains, and different atmospheric influences as our cereal and other ordinary crops; gives much agricultural and industrial employment; and, above all, the cultivation of which, and the subsequent manufacture of its fibre, have conduced so much to the prosperity of the North of Ireland, and of those districts in other countries where it has been extensively grown and manufactured. Consequently, were this plant in more extensive culti- vation in all parts of our island, we might reasonably hope in some de- gree to arrest the tide of emigration now taking place from this country, A