British Flaxgrowing

Northern Advocate, 8 April 1943, Page 5

British Flaxgrowing

LONDON, April 5

The House of Commons Select Committee on National Expenditure, after a critical survey of the difficulties of British flax production, recommends reorganisation of home flax production. The Department of the Ministry for Supply report recalls that it was essential, on the outbreak of war, to develop on a large scale home flax production, which was normally a peasant industry and had built up into a centrally directed factory industry on mass production lines. Yet there were very few people in Britain with much knowledge or experience of flax.

The total area of flax cultivation in 1939 1 was only 35G0 acres, after which the area had increased enormously and was still increasing, and 17 factories were now operating. Capital expended on purchase and extension of existing factory buildings now totalled nearly £1,250,000. Current expenditure last year was £1,840,000, about evenly distributed between growers and processers, but over £500,000 had been realised for the sale of by-products. Favours Retting Cabinet in 1939 ratified the Government scheme for production of “green” flax, which was then generally agreed to be right because of the difficulties of producing retted flax. However, considerable criticism has since developed against the green flax policy, especially among Scottish spinners, who contend that retting should originally have been adopted. The select committee, after examination and arguments there anent, recommends that retting should be adopted without delay wherever practicable and calculated to fulfil requirements, and adds that much of the trade’s understandable resentment arose from the fact that the home flax production department, until recently, did not possess anybody with technical knowledge at headquarters. The select committee recommends that the department should be placed under the ultimate control of the flax controller, who should appoint a director with business experience and knowledge of flax. He should be assisted by a small production board consisting of a scientific member and representatives of spinners and processers. The committee also recommends early inspection of factories, the condition of which should be reported to the Ministry for Supply, and trained fieldsmen supervising flax-growing should, at a certain age, be granted indefinite deferment from military service.