The Flax Industry.

Manawatu Herald, 22 December 1898, Page 2

The Flax Industry.

On the 3rd day of November last the Extension of Commerce Com' mittee brought up their report and it was ordered to be printed. The Report is as follows : — I have the honour to report wiSJi regard to the flax industry: The Committee regrets that time did not permit of all the witnesses available 'being called ; but the Commissioners' report, together with the evidence called, give very hopeful indications* of valuable improvements, both in chemical and mechanical directions. On account of the great expense incurred in experiment in conneotioritflHi with the preparation of flax, ygP^ Committee considers the present inducement in the shape of a bonus is insufficient, and recommend the Go* vernment to increase the amount offered to £5,000. Bobebt MoNab, Chairman. On? of the witnesses examined was Mr William Toogood, who gave some interesting evidence from whicfl we take the following :— Your attention has been chiefly directed to improving machinery in order to prevent a great deal of the waste that takes plaoe at the present time?— Yes, preventing the waste, and savins; the labour, and improving the fibre. What are the difficulties that flaxproducers have to contend against at the present time?— ln the first in* stance, the miller has to pay for the cutting, carting, washing, stripping, and everything else, and then throw 4 cwt or 5 owt to the ton away in tow ; if plenty of mills running, no sale for this article. By proper machinery 8J cwt can be saved, besides time in bleaching. Ido not know whether Mr Gardner has sent in hi-? report, but you would see from that the result of my last trial. Can you recommend any Btep3 that would lead to flax successfully competing with manila and elsal ? — Ye?, but the only thing, I think, ia by mean 3 of improved machinery, especially in regard to the dressing. There is also, as I have stated, the possibility of saving time, and preventing the loss of tow, and improving the quality of the fibre. In my opinion, there is too much waßfce in the production. Do the producers find the market regular, or variable ? -Very variable. Of course, the price of manila rules tho flax-market. If manila is cheap it afiects the flax. There is another thing I may m.n im; I believe the flax stretch** m »•• ■' th-tn the manila. I think Uv>> wi I b f »'-in-l to be the case in ».■> ri a u^-. T't ■ cause of this may b ■ h\t tin- n" ix in not soft enough t/< p'o up rightly, and when a strain i- put upon it it stretches. This i.a on'y a suggestion. The cause of ttmt should be ascertained by the C>mmittee by means of experiments. Private individuals^ cann >t do these things. lam awaiflr™ tha f people will not buy flax rope as ngiin-r raanila, but I do not know that the ttui reason for this has yet buen?a3ccrtained. It is not as soft as the manila, and it is not spun so closely. Theee samples (produced), washed and scutched by my machines, are much softer than those by another machine (also produced), and have been bleached in half the tim->. These samples treated by my machines are worth from £1 to £1 10* more than the others, because they are ready fur the rope-making machine without further dressing. Mr Bimes.— Was this flax of youra [produced] washed befere being bleached ?— lt is washed as it oomes 1 from the machine, which saves the labour of two men, or about 10a. a ton. I understood you to say it was bleached inside ?~Tes, not in the sun, though I may say that the shed was open. And by that process there is a great saving in the tow, as it does not get entangled so much?— The scuthcher is not yet complete, and I do not know exactly what the saving will be, but it will be considerable. The stuff will be ready for the ropemaker at once. What do you oonsider the loweApossible price at which a goolr artiole such aar this [produced] could be turned out ?— I should aay about £10. It depends upon cost of the green flax. It makefe a difference where you are situated. Take my own case, My green flax would cost Is 3 a ton more as at present situated ; if I bad the mill on ljßkk* field, much less. In Foxton, bo^r ever, they can get it landed for 10* to 153 a ton at present. How many tons of green fl*x does it take to make 1 ton of dress flax? — About 7£. But with your new process it will not take nearly so much? — Not if you save the tow, because nearly 25 pet cent of the dressed fibre is thrown w* away after all this expenditure is on it. No industry in tho world would stand that. „ Do you know of your owtf knowledge that the sisal grans crop has failed in the Island to a very considerable extent? -I think they have stopped cultivating. I iiave a small paragraph here which 1 pent • to the Evening Pott, and which appeared in 1895. It reads : " A correspondent forwards us tha following cutting from an Auckland paper, which will, hs think", be interesting to onr read r.*, and th^i ' ii

colony general : 'In a recent rppori on the trade and commerce ,'of Vcra Cruz the subject; of Yucatan hemp i* referred to. This hemp ia now generally known as sisal, from the fact that the fibre was first exported from Sisal, a small coast port about twenty-aeven milea west of Progreso. In view of the low price that has ruled for Bi'sal hemp for some timepast, it will be of interest to know that the export from Vera Oruz varies from 19,000 to 45,000 bale* per month, the average weight of each being about 850 Ib. It has been remarked that this year (1895) will have the maximun quantity of land under hemp-cultivation in Yucatan, which meana that the production of hemp has reached its limit. Under the existing circumstances of low prices, high monetary exchange, and the scarcity of Indian labour, many of the farmers are planting maize instead of replanting hemp. New land, as well a3 old hemp-growing areas, is now being used for growing maize and other products.' " The sisal, I may say. is not as good a 9 oar hemp. I think rope-makers prefer our hemp. The Chairman. — Outside the assistance that you suggest Bbould be given for improving the machinery do you know of anything else thp Committee could oonsider in regard to encouraging the industry ?- 1 think the committee should vote a earn to enable small experiments to be carried out. For instance, an experiment could be tried in iha way of testing flax rope and binder twine as against the nianila and other fibres. Mr McLean.— You cay that thp New Zealand article stretches more than the oiher ? - Yes. If the N«w Zealand flax were made softer it , would spin closer, and I think that would do away with the difficulty. They have all been going in fur coarse fibre, but why they are doing so Ido not know. I asked a rope worker in Auckland about this matter, and he said they wanted the staff as soft as they could get it ; but, aa I 6aid, the machines a:e stripped for the coarse article ; at present some makers want fine, some soft.. The Chairman. — I understood you to say that the Committee should direct attention to having scientific experiments conducted, with a view to comparing New Zealand flax with other fibres, and should give thp public the benefit of the information secured ? -I think that would be a very good thing. If the Government acquired aome flax land, and lonaerl a little of it, they would gain in the end, because the amount of mon?y that would be distributed -by that means would more than compensate for any loss in the way of interest. Even if the Government piid 8£ p« cent, for the land and got only 2£ per cent, from it in return, the money that would be circulated would compensate. This would also use up » a good deal of labour that would otherwise be not used and thrown on the country. I think it is for th^ Government tn try and find out thp the real reason why the New Zealat d flax U not u?ed to a greater fxtent. It would take a private individual years to do so.