FLAX ASSOCIATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1381, 31 July 1872, Page 3

FLAX ASSOCIATION.

The monthly meeting of the committee was held in the Association's rooms at 3 p.m. yesterday ; present — Messrs T. M. Hassal, F. Jenkins, J. B. Sheath, T. Booth, J. P. Jameson, H. H. Deßsurbel, and J. A. Bird, hon. ccc. In the absence of Mr Richardson, Mr Hassal was voted to preside. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. The secretary reported that he had received subscriptions and donations to the extent of J846 ss, exclusive of £i from Mr Hursthouse, of the Opunake Flax Works, New Plymouth, and £2 from Mr Brown, of Mount Thomas. A letter was read from Mr Richardson, who is now in Wellington, stating that before leaving Christchurch he saw Mr Anderson's foreman respecting the Association's machine, and on his suggestion would recommend that when Mr Btonyer had concluded his experiments with it the machine should be stored at Mr Anderson's until such time as the Association received information from home as to the market value of the fibre prepared by it. A discussion ensued respecting the results of Mr Stonyer's experiments, but it did not appear that anyone possessed definite information on the point. Mr Jameson accordingly moved " that Mr Stonyer be requested to furnish the committee with a written report upon the working of the Association's machine, together with fu'l particulars of the experiments made by b'm ■with it." The motion was seconded and agreed to. It was also resolved, on the motion of Mr de Bourbel, seconded by Mr Sheath, " that Mr Stonyer be requested to forward the machine to Mr Anderson's foundry, for the purpose of undergoing a thorough overhaul. Messrs Jenkins and Sheath were then appointed to examine the machine, and decide as to what repairs were required. The Secretary read the following letter re- J ceived from Mr 0. Thome by last mail : — | " 16, Mark Lane, E.C., "London, May 30th, 1872. "J. A. Bird, Esq., Secretary Canterbury Flix Association, Christchurch, N.Z. ft Dear Sir, — Enclosed I hand you duplicate of my letter of May 17th. The packages shipped by you per Nebraska have not yet arrived, and all my inquiries have not enabled me to discover their whereabouts. "Agreeably to my promise, I have this day forwarded to you, addressed by sample post, about one yard sacking, double warp ; one yard do, single warp ; one yard Scotch sheeting. A bolt of each description and a bolt of canvas have been forwarded to the Government, at Wellington, per P. and O. steamer, to leave Bth prox. Mr Forbes, in < his letter to me of 21st May, referring to these cloths, says : — € I think these are all good cloths, and you will find the bleached Bheeting nice and soft, but a little lumpy, caused. by the nap in the tow. - . . . The sacking is all quite easy to weave, and requires no more work than ordinary yarn, but the sheeting is more difficult.' I sent him press copy of my letter to you, dated May 17th, in order' that he might make any comment he thought useful upon what. I .had .stated, .as bis practical

opinion is of much value. He stated as follows : — 'l hardly like to say, as yet, that the fibre can be profitably employed, because the high price of the material puts th's at a discount* I think what you say to Mr Bird, -'i your letter to him (a copy of which you sent me, and which I now return with niDiy thanks) puts it in a light light — that a loss will have to be submiltsd to before it* ?s decidedly introduced into this country for textile fabrics ; as to its adaptability for such, I have no hesitation in saying tbat I have proved its- usefulness for that puvpose. lean give 3 the be3t certificates to the qualities out of which the sacking has been made, as these have required no extra work, and this, I think, is important, as being the article of cloth which the colony is most anxious to introduce ; and I, therefore, hold that the colonists can make all their own puoks, &c, from the New Zealand fibre.' " I cannot yet learn from Mr Forbes what price would be given for fibre shr :i 8? to that from which the sacking is made. I have ■written to ask him, but he ha 3 not yetjrepHeS. Sometime back, he told me .he thought it worth £20 for sacking purposes. It was long tow (or toppetis) taken from fibre prepared for roping, and in this, London, market was then worth only £15 to £16 per ton. • "Some doubts have been expressed by scientific persons as to whether this fibre will stand the action of water, owing to the natural structure of the fibre determined by analytical and microscopical examinations. I Anyhow, my ropes have stood the test of | sea voyages ; and as regards woolpaoks, cornsacks, &c, the object is at all times to keep them as dry a3 possible, so that practically the only questions to be solved are — " Will the fibre, when properly softened and prepared, be readily adapted for the manufacture of textile fabrics ? " Will the manufacturers use the fibre when its adaptability has been proved ? Mr Forbes, from his actual experience, answers, both these questions in the affirmative, and expresses his willingness to work the fibre,' if equal or superior to that on which he has lately been devoting his careful attention. " The piece of sheeting I have sent you is rather dirty, I would therefore advise you to get it hemmed, so as to prevent it from unravelling, and than to put it through the ordinary course of washing ; you will thus test for yourself whether it will stand the action of water. I have soaked and washed some of my canvas, and it comes out capitally. " The 'strikes ' and 'locks out ' in the flax trade at Belfast have thrown my experiments back for the present, as when these terminate there will of necessity be orders in hand which will have to be executed before I can expect any attention to be given to the New Zealand fibre. " Yours faithfully, " C. Thokne." The samples referred to in the letler were laid upon the table and pronounced to be of a highly satisfactory character. The Chairman remarked upon the great zeal which Mr Thome had displayed in forwarding the desires of the committee in England, and said he considered that ho deserved the best thanks of the Association for his labours. The Secretary fully endorsed this remark. Mr Jameson suggested that the General Government should be written to, with a request that they would recognise Mr Thome's services, through the English agent of the colony, Dr Featherston. He thought something of this kind would be more valuable than the mere thanks of the Association, and Mr Thome unquestionably deserved it. He would therefore move, — " That a letter be written to the General Government, calling special attention to the exertions of Mr Thome, London, for the purpose of utilising, the New Zealand phonnium fibre, and suggest that the thanks of the Government be conveyed to that gentleman, and a wish expressed that he would continue his efforts j also, fui> ther, that such material assistance should be offered to him as Dr Featherston might think desirable and acceptable, and that such letter be forwarded to Mr Richardson for presentation to the Government." Mr Jenkins seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to. Mr De Bouibel said he desired to call attention to the new company that was being established in England for the manufacture of phormium fibre. The proposed capital was £100,000, and £50,000 of it had already been subscribed. Mr Buller was to be the manager of the company, and the flax was to be treated by a process the great feature of which appeared to be stamping. They expected to manufacture the fibre at a cost of £10 per ton, but in this they would find themselves mistaken, for the green leaf would cost them nearly that amount. It was proposed to carry on operations in the North Island, and this was the principal point to which he wished to direct the attention of the committee. It would be very desirable to get the company to settle in this Island, and he thought it would be worth while for the committee to consider at an early date how this could be effected. The Secretary said he had sent one of the association's pamphlets to the secretary of the proposed company, and he intended writing again by the next mail, Mr De Bourbeksftid there was another subject to which he desired to direct the attention of the committee. This wa3, tbat a great outcry was being made in this province and Nelson, indeed he might say throughout the whole colony, that the supply of green leaf is failing. It had become a very serious matter, and no thought the difficulty ought to be fairly looked in the face at once. Mr Sheath said there could be no doubt but that the supply wa3 failing, and it was evident that the manufacturers must re:orfc to planting. Mr Deßourbel said, and not only that but' they must get the cockatoos to plant, also. The great mischief was that cattle destroyed a large quantity of the plants ; they appeared to be very fond of the young flax, and ate the

heart out, which completely destroyed the plants. He had spoken to a great many gentlemen, not only ?n this island but from the north, and oil agreed that the supply of leaf was failing. The Secretary read a letter from Mr Richardson requesting that a repoii of the progress of the association's flax plantation and the plantation in the Domain should be forwarded to Dr Hector, for the put pose of being included in the paper on the cultivation of flax, which he is now preparing to lay before the Assembly. The Secretary reported that he had waited upon Mr Armstrong, the Government gardener at the Domain, but that gentleman informed him that ho was so overwhelmed at the present time with Government planting that he could not furnish a full report, bnfc that he would do what he could. He (the secretary) had also waited upon Mr Hawk'tws, who has charge of the association's plantation, and he. had written a reply to the effect that j the plants having only been in the ground since October last, he would not be doing j justice to himself to report at present, and ' thought it would be better to wait a little j longer. During the afternoon Mr Blakiaton hadvleft a note at his (the secretary's) : office, •'. stating that a telegram had been received from his' 'Honor the Superintendent, to the effect! that he wanted a report from Mr Armstrong j of the result of the cultivation of flax ia the Domain, and that he would also- like a report ! of the association's experiment in the- same , direction. j Mr Booth asked if the Planting Committee j appointed some time ago could not undertake to report upon the association's plantation ?. I Mr Deßourbel said all they could do was to state that all the plants had struck root and ' were two feet high. | Mr Booth said to his knowledge some of thorn were upwards of fourfoefc high. | The Secretai-y said that was only the Canterbury flax. Mr Booth said the committee would surely do some good by reporting, and ho would therefore move that they be requested to report upon the growth and present appearance of the flax in the association's plantation; also that they wait upon Mr Armstrong and obtain information as to the flax in the Domain, with a view to forwarding a full account to Dr Hector. Mr Sheath thought such a proceeding would be very advisable, and would therefore second the motion. The motion was agreed to. The following letter from Mr Hursthouse was read : — " New Plymouth, 17th July, 1872. " Dear Sir, — Yours of the 29fch June came duly to hand, for which please accept my best thanks. I am sorry that my means prevent me from subscribing^ so- much towards your association as I should like to give to the furtherance of the flax industry, which, I believe, will some day before long become a, very important trade — and now only requires united action on the-part of the manufacturers, in the shape of an association such as yours, to give it a really firm footing. I enclose a£l note, which is the best I can do at present, bub hope at some future time to be able in some way or other to help, in a more substantial way, an association having such a good end. i». view as yours. "If not encroaching too much on your kindness, will you send me a copy of your rules or articles of association, and also any information, you can as to what amount of assistance,, if any, the association would give in bringing out an improved shipping machine — or would they be able to give a bonus for the best one that could be rnenufa ;tu.red and worked. " Has. it ever been suggested to your association to have a competitive show of machinery for stripping, &c.? I believe that much good would result from it if the prizes were large enough to make it worth while attending, I think a large amount of money could be raised for the purpose. Would not the Provincial Government of every province give something, say £20 to £50 a-piece, and no doubt the General Government would liberally support the movement ? If you think this idea could be got to work, pray mention it t® some of your influential members, and let it be tried. " Hoping you will exouse my forwardness, in making the above request and suggestions, " I remain, dear sir, " Your obedient servant, " C. W. HUBSTHOUSE* " J. A. Bird, Esq., Canterbury Flax Assooiation." Mr Deßourbel considered the idea of holding a colonial exhibition of flax machinery, as suggested in the letter, an exceedingly good one. The Chairman thought it would be a very costly affair. Mr Sheath was of the same opinion. To induce people to attend from a distance, the first prize would have to be at least £100. Mr Deßourbel said he had no doubt but such an exhibition would cost from £300 1* £400, but it would bo well worth the outlay. If an exhibition were held at Wellington he would certainly send a machine, and he thought that every flax-manufacturer in the province would send their manager to look at the machines exhibited, so that the managers might perhaps gain knowledge which would enable them to effect a combination of . machines or certain parts of machines, bo as to form an improved principle of working. Whilst on the subject, he might point out that they also very much required a machine for operating upon small flax leaves, from 2ft 6in to 3ft in length. There was a great deal of this in the colony, and they must have it worked up, which can only be profitably accomplished by operating upon a large quantity at once. Mr Sheath was of opinion that the suggestion for holding an exhibition of machinery ought to be placed in the hands of the Max Commission at Wellington. There could be no doubt that such an exhibition would be one of the finest things they could have.

Mr Deßourbel did no&aee whyi the exhibition should not be held in this proTince. He thought the Association might write to the General Government and to all the Provincial Governments, osk : ng them to contribute towards - the ■ project; and?, then i when they saw what was lately to be subscribed, they could go to work and advertise the matter. In his opinion, if they could get up such an exhibition, it would do more good than the Association had yet effected in any other directior. So fully was he satisfied of this, that he would undertake to relieve the secretary of- the work of writing to the various Governments on, the subject. Mr Jenkins said, even supposing they got £50 from each of the Provincial Governments and £100 from the General Government, he did not think it would pay all the expenses- of prizes and testing the- machines. Mr Deßourbel Mioughfc it would, it they gave each machine say half a ton of leaf toj operate upon. They might have the exhibition on the agricultural show ground, where the I necessary engine and shafting could be placed | at comparatively small cost. | Mr Booth said he- would undertake to lend ■ the necessary shafting to the Association for the occasion. In reply to a question). Sir De Bourboi said that three prizes ought to bo offered— say, £100, £50, and £25. I Mr Jenkins thought they should be at least £}Soi>£Wb f , and £50. I The^pirman thought that, even as- -an exhibition, the project was a good one. Mr De Bourbei certainly thought so, added to which it must bo remembered that all the I inventors and managers in the colony would be brought together, — a proceeding which could not fail to be attended with* good results. After some further conversation of; a desultory nature, it was resolved, on the -motion of Mr Jenkins, seconded by Mr De Bourboi, that a special meeting should be held on the 6th August, for the purpose of f urthers-diacussing the matter. The meetiug then adjourned.