REMARKS ON THE UTILIZATION OF THE PHORMIUM TENAX.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1673, 27 April 1866, Page 2

REMARKS ON THE UTILIZATION OF THE PHORMIUM TENAX.

Br W. T. L. Traters, Esq., Ciihistchc Rcb j j Sir,-In considering the natural resource, J this colony, there is nothing more calJ' 1 1 to arrest the attention than the ah 5 H I and general distribution of the plant mS 1 known as the New Zealand Flax, anS? 1 m effect, from a perusal of the various wjfi 8 which hare been published on New ?Z • 1 that this plant has always been looked.!'' ] with very great interest, both in the J 1 and in Europe. The interest thus creafi I due to the presence, m the leaves of the U of a large quantity of woody tissue, anaC to that produced from the hemp, and ml! • attempts have accordingly, from time to ™K * heen made, to uti'ize this tissue I w ;il ' ? I venture t. go into the causes which C 1 hitherto rendered these attempts abortiv, 1 but I may remark that they have had ut I unfortunate effect of checking further en to 1 prize, by creating an opinion, that the fib,, i cannot be separated from the leaves in 1 state fit for manufacturing purposes, 'oca* 1 at .cost far exceeding its value. One can 1 t! a r e ' ?' J wiU note . nauSv 1 that the capital hitherto employed in ooi 1 local flax-works has been too small to ten H its value in a satisfactory manner, for it 2 I be laid down as a postulate, that no article of 1 commerce requiring new appliances to render I it useful, will find a market in England 1 unless manufacturers there can be assured of 1 a large and continuous supply. In min* the 1 ut . Pi ,iwT t h, a tenax, it must not be supposed that the plant 1 belongs to the natural order Linacea. It be- I longs to the order Liliacai o/Jmieu, and » 1 thus botanically described by Dr J D li Hooker, in his work on the Flora" of Xew I Zealand:— hi " Leaves equitant at the base, full of stron* J fibre, also secreting a gummy exudation. I Scapes pamcled above, with alternate braeteate branches. Flowers curved, jointed on rjf to stout pedicels 1-2 inches long, erect. - Perianth tubular, of six erect pieces, thrre J mner spreading at the tip. Stamens, excerted h Fruit, a long blunt triangular capsule, three- 3 valved, valves membranous or coriaceous, J black, more or less twisted or straight. Seeds ! very numerous in each cell, two. rowed, flai- ' tened, with a loose black testa;" and he adds 3 that the name" Phormium"iß derived frodi • s the Greek word Phormion, a basket, in allu- ? sion to the use to which the leaver are put by £ the natives. . I i It will be observed, thai in the above [ I botanical description of the Phomium temx, f Dr. Hooker particularly notices the existence M of the fibre which gives its principal interest B to the plant, and the gummy exudation which o' has been looked upon as a detriment?' p quality in the leaf. Now, in considering fi whether this fibre can be turned to useful l] commercial purposes, we are led to inquire, in ut, the first place, into the question of supply of the raw leaf. Those who have had anyoppor- r| tunity of travelling over these islands cannot mi fail to have been struck with the extensive ||| distribution of the Phormium tenax. In si- fj|; most every locality, whether on the mountain iS® side or in the river bed, in the narrow valley 'ft or on the broad plain, we see it growing more <l| or less abundantly. In many places, thou- 1 sands of acres continuously are covered with i|| it; and it would not bi too much to say that 'lf within a few miles of Christchuroh alone JS there are many thousands of acres upon m which it is growing with more than average 1§ luxuriance. There cannot, in fact, be the || least doubt of its abundance as a mere .|| natural production, and we may confidently assert that if the fibre can be economically separated in a condition fit for the English ;§l market, the natural supply is not likely to :J| be exhausted for many years to come. I |jj may add, moreover, in reference to supply, if that from actual experiment I have ascer- |j| tained that average flax land in its natural 'Hj growth will yield from ten to twelve tons • || of raw leaf per acre, without injury to the i :'| plants. I have also ascertained, from actu rl >r| experiment, that the average quantity of fibre I obtainable from full grown leaves is little | J less than one-tenth of the weight of the | g leaves themselves; or, in other words, that j the acre of ordinary flax land, in its natun* 1 |.l state, would yield close upon twenty-four |Jj hundredweight of pure fibre per annun', | J without any outlay whatsoever for cultiva- | 1 ticra, IJ This fact alone shows the importance of | M endeavouring to turn the fibre to itceoun 1 . ||j You have now before you the fibre separate. jg|j from leaves of various lengths, as shown "i pi® the following table|'(l

You will observe that the weight of ti> K in each case bears a nearly average prop tion to that of the leaf from which extracted, and as the leaves grew on vari'j'J> kinds of soil we may fairly assume that ite proportion is not liable to much variationAssuming, then, that the supply from "•'» ur ' 1 sources would be sufficient to meet deni;tn J for some years to come, it still remains to be considered whether the fibre can be aviwniitally separated from the leaf, and whether, when separated, it can be turned to probwWi account. , T The first point is one which has I* excited attention, and the General Government of the colony some time aeo onerc" ■ considerable reward (£2OOO, I believe)'' the production of 100 tons of fibre, in a stat to be merchantable in Europe. la" 1 " 1 . aware that the reward has ever been claw™ and it is not my place here to inquire, whet K the conditions attached to it were to produce the results aimed at. I" nllc help thinking, however, that ' heJe , K ;X could have been equally well attained tailing quantity required been limited to ten ' twenty tons,instead of one hundred w\> ■ provided it were at the same time sho«n w an unlimited supply of the article p«wutcould afterwards have been procured. - Returning t» the question, whetner fibre can be economically extracted fro™ . leaf, I think I shall be able to show that can be done, by a process similar in ttK | 0 that by which the fibre before you M s m obtained. . ,| lo You are doubtless aware, that beuean epidermis or outer covering of tlie . .'i[r find a layer of cellular tissue, tecM'j|termed the parenchyma, by which the v tissue is surrounded. You are also pro • aware, that the fibrous tissue may be -• i ated from the cellular tissue by roscer-itw"' of indeed, it is by this means that the fl the European flax is usually separate; the bark of the plant which produces course it is important that , tlie jis should be separated without mju«n=strength. Now the nieAod by vm» 101 . fibre before you was obtained, was ••' loW8: - ' ut ,«*$ The leaves were boiled for two hour-

a small quantity of washing soda. After becoming cold, they, were bruised so as to break up the parenchymatous tissue, and render it easily separable from the fibrous tissue. When well bruised, the leaves were agitated in running water, until, as you will observe, the whole of the epidermis and the greater part of the parenchyma were removed, leaving the fibre as you now see it. In order to carry out the same process on a large scale we should require to use machiIn'the first place, the leaves should either be boiled or subjected to the action of steam in a close vessel. After boiling, they should be loosely twisted or plaited into an endless rope, some ten or twelve yards in length, and from three to. four inches in diameter. Two coils of this rope should then be_ passed between grooved horizontal rollers, eighteen inches long and about fourteen inches in diameter, one e the other, the lower one moved by machinery, and the upper one pressed on to the lower one by a sufficient weight to secure its contemporaneous but slower revolution, and also to secure the effectual crushing of the parenchymatous tissue, About ten feet below the rollers should be placed a trough, in which the loose part of the rope should He, previous to its passing through the rollers, and through which a stream of clear water should run. Every part of the crushed ropes would thus lie in the trough for some time after passing through the rollers, and the running water would gradually remove nearly every particle of the epidermis and parenchyma, leaving nothing but the fibre in the condition in which you now see it. When this process has been completed, the ropes should be hung up to dry, and when dry, be broken into lengths or packed whole in bales, as the case might be. This process, as you will observe, is a very simple one, but still two questions arise. 1. Is it economical ? 2. Is the fibre injured by it ? The first question involves a matter of mere calculation. The machinery is of a very inexpensive character, and, if worked by water-power, the cost of working is reduced to the minimum. In order to prepare the ropes for passing through the rollers we should have to provide:— 1. For cutting the flax and tying it into bundles of, say, 112 lbs. each. 2. For collecting these bundles together for carting. 3. For the carting to the mill. 4. For boiling the leaf. 5. For plaiting or twisting it when boiled, and for watching the further operations. I am of opinion, taking the present value of labour and fuel into account, that the fibre can be produced at the mill at a gross cost of from £9 to £lO per ton, in condition equal to that now before you. . I will now proceed to make a few remarks upon the question whether the fibre produced by the above process can be turned to profitable account. In this question are involved both local and foreign demand. As regards local demand, I know that some hundreds of tons of phormium flax, in the condition of the imported sample marked A, now before you, are annually used in this colony for stuffing mattrasses and other upholstering purposes. I'know also that flax, in similar condition to that which I have prepared for your inspection, has been long and largely used in neighbouring provinces in the manufacture of rope and lines of various kinds, and that it commands a ready sale for those purposes. From enquiries that 1 have made amongst upholsterers here, I find that the flax at present consumed by them in the manufacture of mattrasses &c, costs them on an average £35 per ton, and that they reckon not less than five per cent as waste. From former inquiries in other parts of the colony, I am led to believe, that fibre in the condition of that before you, would be readily purchased at from £26 to £2B per ton for the same purposes, and for manufacture into rope and lines, and I believe that a still larger quantity would be used for these several purposes, if the raw material could beregularly supplied at £25 per ton, I also believe, that if a large and continuous supply of a quality similar to that now shown to you were guaranteed to English manufacturers, it would command from £25 to £2Bpertonin England for rope-making purposes alone,-for although the rope manufactured from it might not possess the same excellent qualities, in all things, as that made from the fibre of the European hemp, there can be no doubt of the applicability of the rope to various useful purposes, for which its comparative cheapness would greatly recommend it. I find the following notice in reference to the applicability of this flax to textile manufactures in volume V of the transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria, in a letter addressed by Dr. Mueller to Jhe Governor of Victoria, in October 1860. Sir,—l have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 15th October, accompanied by a copy of a dispatch from the Under Secretary of State for' the Colonies, desiring information on such plants yielding textile fibre as are indigenous to the colony of Viotoria, and are likely to supply a want of raw material for British manufactures. Whilst, in compliance with his Excellency the Governors request, I beg to submit such information as I possess on the indigenous vegetable fibres, I regret that I cannot point to any native plant extensively available for the desired purpose, or holding out the prospect of successful introduction into British manufactures. But it appears to me that the two varieties of New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) are deserving of especial attention, as likely to supply the wanting material to British weavers, the strength of the phormium fibre being almost equal to that ol silk, and little doubt being entertained that finally the genius of invention will overcome the hitherto experienced difficulty of separating, by an easy method, without sacrifice of the material's strength, the fibre from the leaves. I beg further to draw attention to the extreme facility with which this plant might be reared on places not available for any other cultivation (such as margins of swamps, periodically inundated margins of lakes, &c.); further, to its great vigour of growth, to the probability of its proving quite hardy in the southern parts of England and Ireland, and to the certainty of its cultivation being attended with full success in South Europe, and therefore in proximity to the British market, and under the advantage of cheap labour. Such an opinion is of extreme value, and shews that we have hitherto underrated the importance of this source of wealth. The real difficulty in regard to the application of the Phormium flax to manufacturing purposes generally has hitherto been _ the limit in supply, but I have reason to believe, that if a constant'and large supply could be ensured, it would, as I have before stated, be worth at least from £25 to £2B per ton in London. It will thus be seen, that both for local use and for exportation, this article affords an opportunity for the profitable employment of capital, but I am satisfied that profit can only be derived where its production is undertaken on a large scale. Upon the question whether the strength of the fibre is injured by the process of separation mentioned in this paper, I have no means of stating anything conclusive. I am ol opinion that it is not in any degree injured, and I found that opinion upon the following passage from a recent work, detailing the progress of useful inventions. "Recent schemes for preparing flax hav< excited great attention. Those of Chevaliei Claussen are the most important. The first attempt was to prepare long flax fibre foi ordinary linen manufacture. Four hundred weight of flax in the straw was boiled in s stone vat in water, containing caustic alkali the boiling lasted four hours, which was saic to 'ret' or separate the fibres as effectuallj as an ordinary steeping of a week's duration It is asserted also that the fibre is developec in uniform strength, that it is less discolourec than by the old process, and that mucl more of the glutinous or gummy matter is re moved. The flax was removed from the alkaline liquid and steeped for two hours it water, slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid this effected the cleansing of the flax, and al the same time rendered the straw a more valuable manure than it would otherwise be The flax was then in a fit state to be scutchei and prepared by the ordinary flax apparatus. 1 It would be interesting and satisfactory

however, if-some person, qualified to do so t would undertake the experiments necessary t to determine this point. 1 I must apologise for the crude and imper- d feet manner in which I have treated this im- ut portant subject, and trust that these few I remarks will elicit further observations from a gentlemen around me, who are far better ( qualified than myself to do it justice. t

Number Number ofspeci- of men. leaves. Weight when cut. lMf Weight o clean librc 1 2 1 2 0 1 lb. OZ. ! feet, i 16 6: 0 12 6 a;, 'iafrwtic 1} i