FLAX—ITS VARIETIES.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXV, Issue 3716, 16 June 1869, Page 5

FLAX— ITS VARIETIES.

We extract the following from an artiole in the Wanganui Chronicle ;— I The phormiuim tenax, harakeke or korari of the Maoris, and flax of the settlers, raries very greatly in character and quality. It may be found of all heights, from one foot to eight or over ten feet, and the proportion of fibre raries from little more than nil to fully 25 per cent. of the weight of the leaf. Great difference is also found as regards the tenacity with which the fibres adhere to the woody matter of the leaf, it being next to impossible in the case of some leaves to get rid of the wood without bruising and breaking the fibre, so as to render it nearly worthless ; while from others nearly every particle of the fibre can be torn out by j hand, in so clean a state as to be completely freed from refuse by means of a few strokes of a stiff brush. The colour of the fibre itself also varies from a dirty brown to a brilliant silky white. The Maoris diride the flax into sixteen varieties, but as in the wild state, of course, nearly every bash is a seedling, the different sorts are §o blended together that scarcely any two plants are precisely alike. Of the 16 sorts, however, the natives only regard three as being of auy value. Th» torts cultivated by the natives are the Wharariki, Eaukawa, and Tihore. The first is a long-l«aved flax of a bluish colour, with nearly black edges, and a purply-red flower. The fibre, which is dark>coloured, adheres very tenaciously to the woody matter, and the latter is in itself very tough, and comparatively little liable to rot from exposure to damp, &c. This sort is used for plaiting into ropes, floor mats, and good baskets, as well as for the manufacture of nets, and tying the thatch which covers native whare*. The Paukawa ia a shorter flax than the last, with lighter coloured edges, and yellowish red flowers. The general colour of the leaf is a bluish-green, but it is far thinner and apparently harder than the preceding variety. The leaf curls very little in drying, and the fibre, which is dark»coloured, oan be readily torn out in lengths of from eight to ten inches. It is these last points which give it value, as it was used in the manufacture of the rough mats for outdoor wear, and a perfectly rainproof garment of this flax was far lighter than a similar article would have been if constructed of other varieties. Thi» sort is but little grown now, and ia chiefly found in old cultivations. The Tihore (which signifies to •crape) is the sort which was used by the Maoris in manufacturing their finest clothing mati. It has a short thick and broad leaf, of a dark yellowish green colour, with reddish brown edges and centre stripe. It rarely exoeeds five feet in height, and seldom if •ver flowers : in fact its blossoming ia an indication that the plant is crossed with some other sort, and the fibre will on examination be found inferior in quality. The fibre is extremely strong, beautifully white, and appears to be enclosed in the wood, but hardly connected with it. Thb woody portion of the leaf and its »km i» so brittle that, when the fibre is torn out, the little extraneous matter which comes with it can readily be removed by scraping with a shell, or in the best samples with a brush. When first extracted from the leaf, the fibre appears too coarse to be useful for anything but ropes, but after a few hours' soaking, and being beaten between smooth stones, it subdivides into an immense number of silky filaments, and is then ready for use. As the value of flax as an article of cultivation must depend on the colour and strength of the fibre, and the ease and completeness with which it can be separated from the wood and skin of the leaf, the following .direction for testing it will be found useful by persons intending to plant it. Split the leaf into halves, rejecting the centre and edges ; then cut each half just through the ikin of the underside or back of the leaf at nboat its middle : double the ends together (the face touching the face), and grasping and squeezing the cut firmly with the left hand, lay the folded leaf round the" left thigh, and with the right hand pulling, and the left thrusting so as to keep the portiou of the leaf from which the fibre is being torn pressed tightly on the thigh, try what length and amount of fibre will come away. Then turn the leaf orer, and, grasping the ends of the extracted fibre with the right hand, tear it in the same way from the other end. It will soon be found how greatly the length and thickness of fibre obtainable by this means varies; and any bush whose leaves will not give strong fibre the whole width of the half-leaf, and at least a foot long, ■hould be rejected as not worth propagating, as the force necessary to separate the wood from the fibre will bruise and damage th« latter so as to materially lessen its market value. A leaf of the best Tihore thus treated will yield two ribbons of fibre each two inches broad, about a sixteenth of an inch thick, and the whole length of the leaf, which varies from three to four feed according to soil ; and all the extraneous matter adhering to it will be a little skin broken up like fine bran, which can be brushed off when dry. Everyone, therefore, cultivating flax should endeavour to gefc a few bushes of Tihore, and propagate them carefully, with a view to future planting.

A correspondent, writing to the ffatuke't Bay Serald, says :•— "The flax should be cut in the winter months, when the top of the leaf droops, : and feeli soft to the touch. If cut in the summer, or when in flower, the fibre will hare » red tinge and be liable to become brittle, which ii also the case if the flax be left long after being cut before the fibre it separated from the leaf. The root of the flax is said to bo a go*d flubititnte for aaraaparilla."