FLAX PRODUCT OF NEW ZEALAND WORTH 3,750,000d0l A YEAR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 8

FLAX PRODUCT OF NEW ZEALAND WORTH 3,750,000d0l A YEAR.

(American paper.)

San Francisco, February 16 (Special). — Manila hemp is confronting a rival which it will not be wise to ignore in the flax hemp produced in the island of New Zealand, the ancient home of the picturesque Maoris. As far back as the beginning of the last century sailing vessels from Australia went to what was then a cannibal country, seeking the fibre of the harakeke plant, scientifically known as the Phormium tenax, and called flax by the early traders. This flex is really a great lily, with broad, pointed leaves, which are often 10ft in length. It coveis large areas of swampland, particularly in the North Island, and is one of the most abundant and characteristic plants of Maoriland. Its strong fibre makes a cordage equal to the best hemp, and is extensively used for rope and twine making. In the colony now are about 100 flax scutching- and dressing mills, with an annual outnut ,of product worth about 3,750,000d01. Cultivation improves the Phormium tenax wonderfully. In many Maori settlements large clumps of the finest kinds of harakeke are now growing, and European millers are beginning to take an interest in the cultivation of the flax and the manufacture of hemp. It was at one time tho staple material from v/hich the aboriginal people of New Zealand mado their clothing, and it is still much used by them for tho making of cloaks, mats, and baskets.

For freeing the hemp from extraneous vegetable matter, the ole 1 Maori methods of stone pounding and sun bleaching have been but little improved on by the European colonists. The fibre is still hung out on fences or spread over paddocks to bleach in the sun. It is said that the bleaching can bo done more cheaply by t!io use of chloride of lime, but by this method the fibre is in danger <.f deteriorating. The methods of stripping and dressing the Manila fibre are, however, much more antiquated than thoaz in vogue in New Zealand.

In addition to its use for the manufacture of binder, twine, there are many ways in which New Zealand flax may be utilised, and it will in the /uturo become as jmportant to manufacturers in many branches of industry as it now is to the bushman and surveyor and the settler, who goes to a flax bu=h for everything, from a shoelace to a belt for his waist, a stockwhip, a rope, or a fishing net. Recent experiments *eem to indicate that •excellent paper can ba made from the fibre, and it i* used 1o a considerable extent .in the United States in place of hair in the manufacture of plaster. The Japanese have produced imitation silk from the Ncxv Zealand flax. In view of these facts, a movement is now on foot looking to the planting of large areas with flax a.nd the extending of the industry to a great extent. Even the waste of the process of producing the hemp from the flax is now regarded as a valuable by-product. This waste is now being exported to London in large quantities, and in addition a process has been discovered by which it can be made to take the place of cotton waste, thousands of pounds of which have to be imported to New Zealand every year for use on the railways, in factories, and on steamers. The New Zealand Government is taking steps -to assist in the development of this new industry. A proposal recently made by Premier Seddon was to drain and plant with flax some of the large areas of mused swamp-land owned by the Crown, so that the State may become its own flaxgrower jind fiax-imller.