FLAX CULTIVATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 90, 18 April 1927, Page 4

FLAX CULTIVATION.

MONEY IN IT. £60 PER ACRE. A WAIRARAPA EXPERIMENT. With lowered prices for dairy produce as well as for meat supplies, it is not surprising that increased attention is being given to other sources of revenue. In this connection the cultivation of liax is being taken up i" a much more systematic manner than was formerly the case. The oid days oi reliance upon swampy areas and native flax for supplies appear to be passing, and scientific planting and definite cultivation is being proceeded with. In this connection some interesting particulars were obtained by a "Dominion'' reporter last week from Mr. H. T. Greedy, manager of "Mahaki," in the \\ airarapa, who conducted a party through the estate. A Flax Nursery. The first section inspected was the nursery, an area of acres devoted to the raising of flax plants from seed, and the testing of various varieties. Here were seen rows of vigorous seedlings which had given 7J per cent germination from seed sown in March, 192 G. The seedlings were remarkably healthy in appearance and were well advanced for subdivision and planting out, every plant having "stooled out' , a number of "fans.' . There are 40 to 50 well-known varieties of phormium tenax. and at "Mahaki" experiments are being made to select those giving the highest quality and quantity of fibre. Of 23 varieties numbered consecutively, five have been selected at "Mahaki" as possessing these requirements, these beiug numbered I, 7. 21, "22, and '23. One section of the nursery is devoted to the growing of '23 varieties selected from native growths on the estate. There are several specimens. transplanted from Ohineirmtu. of Pare tanawha, which the Maoris claim gives the best fibre. Over an acre of the nursery is filled with rows of the chosen varieties, numbering between 50,000 and 60,000 two-year-old plants, which will yield sufficient stock to plant over 35 acres. These plants, set out less than a year ago. have developed remarkably, and will be ready for cutting in another two years, or even less. The nursery experiments have shown that the plants under cultivation grow faster and come to maturity much sooner than the "wild" or native plants. The quality of "Mahaki" flax is well known, and the selected varieties give an average yield of one ton of hemp from six tons of green leaf, as against BVf: tons in the Manawatu and other districts. Intensive Cultivation. A visit was next paid to an area of 33 acres, which was planted out last August. This was a remarkable sight, the plants having made wonderful growth in less than eight months. The plants were taken from old stock, and of the 38,000 planted out there had been only 360 "misses," most of these having been washed out by a flood. Mr. Greedy said that, apart from taking "fans" for further planting, the area would be ready for cutting in twelve months, and would yield several tons of good fibre per acre. All these plants had developed from single "fans." and in live years the whole area would be a sea of flax. The fans had been placed in rows sfx feet apart, with a similar space between each plant. Much of the leaf was already of a length that would be considered ready for milling in Southland. The area was systematically worked with cultivators, and not a single weed was to be seen in the whole 33 acres. Another area of similar size was being ploughed and got ready for planting, and later a further 40 acres would be dealt with. This would connect the cultivated flax with the 200 acres of swamp-grown flax, and the whole area of over 300 acres when in full bearing would yield sufficient "leaf" to keep the stripping plant going all the year round and giving constant employment to 40 odd men. A Big Return.

Mr. Greedy said that £60 per acre would be taken off the cultivated area for flax every year, representing two tons of fibre to the acre, and giving £20 an acre clear profit. This was off £80 an acre land, which, he maintained, would give a better return from flax than for grazing, although it was the best grazing land in the Wairarapa.

Another remarkable sight was a large area of flax which had been planted in the turf about eight or nine years ago. Although a full crop of from 15 to 18 tons an acre had been taken off this area last October by "side-leafing," there was, a dense growth of six feet or more of new leaf. The plants were originally placed six feet apart, but the development was such that the area was an almost impenetrable forest of flax in which a group of men were lost to sight. There can be no branch of farming in which so many blades can be made t§ grow where one grew before as in flax cultivation. On the return journey to Wellington the party visited Mangaroa Valley, where an area of 1000 acres of swamp land has been acquired by the Wellington Flax Growers' Corporation, and is being prepared for the intensive cultivation of flax. Already an area of 70 acres has been got ready, and this will be planted out within the next fortnight with plants taken from stock of a good variety growing on the property.