TRANSITION ILLS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 144, 21 June 1930, Page 14

TRANSITION ILLS

•" PHOKMIUM PKOBLEM

CULTIVATION EXPERIMENTS

From an industrial point of view, phoriunv the wild plant has been losing, ground for years. Phorium the cultivated crop has-not yet come into.its own. There is fear that the wild phorium iadustry may perish before the favourable turn comes. The whole industry is ia a transition. stage needing Government help and Government loans.

The above seems to epitomise the main points of a statement issued by tho president of the Northern Flaxmillers' Association (Mr. E. 11. Broad). It is shown that tho jjroduction of fibre has steadily declined as tho figures of <;he exports from New Zealand over tho iast thirty-two years show:— Year. Tons. & . 189,7 2,709 30,674 .1907 28,547 832,068 1917 23,510 1,197,396 •1927 16,189 473,221 1929 ...'... 13,252 337,968 "PLANTATION METHOD. The flax (phorium) plant, Mr. Broad said, was indigenous to New Zealand and was capable of incalculable improvement by selecting and breeding. Hitherto it had' milled while growing wild and it could be demonstrated that milling from plantation flax could be done more cheaply. .The Scientific and Industrial Research Department was endeavouring to discover a process of artificial bleaching and drying in order to cut out cumbersome processes and eliminate wasteful costs. r ■ Better and more uniform hemp wag leaving New! Zealand than ever before. The Imperial Institute had proved after exhaustive salt-water tests that New Zealand flax was superior to both Manila and sisal.. Large areas of Crown lands would grow nothing else and about 1000 acres had been planted on the Hauraki Plains. The Forestry Department had also areas Of flax planted near Waiuru and Foxton. Competing fibres made by black labour in Java, Africa, the Philippine Islands, and Mexico came into New Zealand free. They were more expensive, but could" be competed with in quality immediately the plantation flax was grown and research revealed a way to bleach the fibre to;a desired whiteness.

Apart from the business being unprofitable leaf supplies had dwindled. The latter difficulty had been overcome by tho growing of the plants from seed. Plantations were now being laid down and the industry was well on the way .through the • transition: stage.

AS USUAL—"COSTS TOO HIGH.".

~' Tho cost of production had been increased during the,, past three years, both Government and local body taxoß rising, while accident insurance was increased through an alteration in the law/: These extra costs had to be faced on a' falling market, .and the miller could not in any way pass the burdens on; He depended entirely on the world's parity for the price of his hemp, and the world's parity of costs was indisputably lower than costs in New Zealand.

Tariffs were not sought by the, millers. It was believed that certain Government Departments had contracts with makers of cordage for the supply of cordago made from sisal, which was not worth a penny more than cordage made from.New ZealandI.flax. It was, however, whiter in colour; and therefore became soiled , more easily. The main points why it was considered important to stabilise the industry on the lines suggested by the association were that the plant, the process, and the business could be and were being iniprdved: that Government Departments, the .railways, shipping companies,, and harbour.,'boards would be heavy loser 3 if the industry ceased; that the industry was in a transition stage, and when established could repay stabilisation advances which would bring into the country largo sums of foreign money far in excess of the intrinsic value of tfie advances; that no Government could be attacked for carrying out the scheme, because of its national, importance and the benefits that would accrue to Budgets, bankers, railways, shipowners, harbour boards, merchants, and traders; and, finally, that it would consolidate another valuable national asset.

At present a large number of men employed by tho mills was thrown out of work. If operations were stopped altogether the asset of land, which in most cases was useful for no other purpose, and buildings would-be lost, and machinery and mills costing many thousands would be rendered worthless.