TILE BOOM IN FLAX.

Evening Post, Volume LV, Issue 137, 11 June 1898, Page 2

TILE BOOM IN FLAX.

* A WELLINGTON EXPEET'S VIEWS. The demand for Kew Zealand flax, consequent upon the supplies of Manila and sisal fibres having ceased as a result of tho outbreak of hostilities between the Uuiled i States and Spain, sull continues, and unless tho war ceases at an early date a further advance in tho price of the colonial article may be expected. A representative of tho Post had an interesting chat yesterday with. Mr. L. M. Harris, the Wellington manager of Messrs. A. S. Patersou & Co., in reference to the present position of the flax trade. Messrs. A. S. Patersou & Co. are the largest dealers in New Zealand flux in the colony, aud in proof of the statement Mr. Harris informed our reporter that the firm has purchased no fewer than 2000 tons of the fibre during the past two months. Millers are now receiving £19 a ton delivered in town, aud as tho cost of production, railage, &c, does not amount on an average to more than £11, they eire making a profit of about £8 on every ton which they send for ward. The fibre is at present salable in London at £28 a ton, and if the war continues Mr. Harris says there is uo knowing what price the article will eventually reach. Tho manufacturers in Great Britain, America, and the Continent have extensive contracts with the producers of Manila and sisal fibres, but now that America and Spain are at war the supplies have entirely ceased, and manufacturers are in consequence entirely dependent upon New Zealand hemp. Mr. Harris says that a great improvement in the method of dressing our flax has taken place during the past few years, and on the whole he has no fault to find with the quality of the fibre which is now passing through liis hands. A great demand for the New Zealand article has sprung up in Australia, and rope and twine-makers there appear to be well pleased with what is supplied to them. Several large firms in that part of the world have of late expressed great anxiety lest the demand at Home should be so great that a sufficient supply should not be available for the adjoining colonies. Mr. Harris considers that the New Zealand Government is making a great mistake in not offering a really liberal inducement to men of the highest scientific knowledge to make an effort to discover an improved process of dressing the green leaf. No really first-class expert will, he says, go to the trouble and expense of experimenting with the object of obtaining the miserable bonus of £2000 offered by our Government for the discovery of a niethod of cheapening the cost of production. Sisal is grown in America on such an extensive scale and so cheaply that New Zealand flaxmillers can never hope to find a large outlet for their fibre, except in times of peace, unless a better system of dressing the green flax which passes through their hands is discovered. New Zealand hemp is preferred to sisal because it is longer and stronger, making it particularly suitable for manufacturing into binder twine, but as the American fibre is cheaper it is in much greater demand than the colonial article. Mr. Harris says he knows for a fact that two of the largest manufacturers in the world have offered to take all the" fibre which New Zealand can produce if it can be supplied as cheaply as fiisal. " The advance in prices has induced a resumption of operations at many mills that had shut down « hen the slump occurred a few years ago, and new concerns are being started in all parts of the colony where llax is growing in abundance. One gratifying feature of the revival of the industry is that hundreds of men who had been expecting hard times during the winter are now finding steady and remunerative employment at the various mills. The wages paid every month throughout the colony amount to several thousands of pounds, and the railways are also benefiting considerably through the increased output of fibre.