The third great textile manufacture of the United Kingdom is that of
LINENS. This is the one manufacture in which Ireland surpasses her
sister kingdoms, England and Scotland. The cultivation of flax and the
spinning of linen yarn have been domestic industries throughout all
Ireland from time immemorial. But at the present time the
linen-manufacturing industry of Ireland is almost wholly concentrated
in BELFAST. In Scotland, which now almost rivals Ireland in the extent
and perfection of her linen manufactures, the industry is principally
located in Fifeshire and Forfarshire, especially in the towns of
DUNDEE and DUNFERMLINE, the latter town being greatly famed for its
napery and table linens. Linen, like cotton, requires a peculiar
atmospheric condition of temperature and moisture for its manufacture,
and only in few localities has the linen industry been successfully
established. The total value of the annual linen manufacture of the
United Kingdom is $100,000,000.