USE FOR N.Z. FLAX

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 116, 19 May 1931, Page 11

USE FOR N.Z. FLAX

; .wool-paCks..and .bag's

Seeing that the Dominion'annually expends nearly hulf-a-milhon - pounds on wool-packs made from jute, which monej\ gobs out of the country, any process by which wool-packs could be' made in the couutiy and of matciial grown locally would do much towards stimulating secondary industries. 'That Now Zealand fltix can be used for this purpose, and Unit jt can be manufactured into wool-, packs and bags of all descriptions, and of a quality superior to any imported article, was more than conclusively demonstrated this intoning in one of the Harbour Board sheds. At the demonstration there wcie present the Hon. \i. A. Hansom, the Hon. J. G. Cobbe, Dr. E. JMarsden (Department Scientific and Industrial Research), and a score or jso of interested spectators. ■ Mr. R. Semplc, M.P., acted as 'spokesman, and introduced the investor, Mr. R. D. Coghill. Mr. Semplc said that Mr. Coghill was a Dunedin chemist who had experimented tor years with a view to treating New Zealand flax in order to make it soft enough to stand the loom. He had achieved this, and the article he produced was superior to jute in eveiy respect. It had the requisite strength to withstand all the rough usage of transportation, and n, wool-pack made by this process had no looso fibres, like jute had, to get into the, wool. Flax so treated could be used for all kinds of bags, and for a variety of' other purposes. The question of cost i ivas, of course, paramount, but he bo-1 lieved that the wool-pack of New Zealand flax could be produced at a price which ■ would compete with the imported aiticle and leave a good margin of profit. It would be a great industry for the country, for when the Dominion's own w"ants had been supplied there was the Aus-1 tralian market, worth over four million ;i year. Jt, too, would prove to be the' salvation of the dying flax industry, and would give employment to thousands of | men. Those present were much impressed with the texture and appearance of the wool-, pack. Although not made particularly for demonstration purposes, the pack in j question stood up to some very drastic! tests. The tale waa subjected to great | pressure, dropped from a'height, and gen-, orally knocked about, but after it was' all over it seemd as sound as ever. Facts certainly speak louder than words, ,and it is obvious that there are great and farreaching possibilities in the use o£ v New Zealand flax for wool-packs and similar purposes, provided that the all-important question of cost can be; satisfactorily negotiated.