§ MR. JOSEPH DEVLINI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will state the acreage under flax in Ulster at the time of the establishment of the Board of Agriculture in Ireland and the acreage now; and whether he will consider the question of issuing a special Report on the subject.
§ MR. WALTER LONGThe Department was established in 1900. The area under flax in Ulster in 1899 was 34,596 acres, and in 1904,44,027 acres. Articles on the flax-growing industry, and on the 384 results of the Department's annual experiments, have appeared from time to time in the Department's Journal, and have also been largely distributed in leaflet form. I am considering the question of the necessity of issuing a special Report.