FLAX AND OIL.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 130, 31 August 1844, Page 103

FLAX AND OIL.

We have been favoured with the following extract from a letter received by one of the merchants of this place from his correspondent in England, which it will be seen gives a favourable account of the flax and oil shipped from Wellington last year : —

" April 20, 1844. " Part of the flax shipped per Nelson was sold by auction in February. A small portion, said to be of inferior quality, brought JE2O ss. per ton ; the remainder of that offered, said to be good, brought £25 10s. The rest of the shipment by the Nelson is held by a merchant of Liverpool, who is determined to give the article a fair trial, by dividing it into three lots and giving it to three different manufacturers on whom he can depend, to be worked up by them in a variety of ways. This will prove what your flax is really fit for ; and, if he is successful, will do much to silence the Russian merchants and brokers, who do all they can to run down the article in every possible way. It will be some time before the result of this experiment can be ascertained; but I am in hopes that good flax, such as the better portion of that shipped by the Nelson, will still continue to be worth from £22 to £25.

" The oil per Nelson turned out to be exceedingly good of its kind, fairer and clearer than any South Sea oil hitherto seen here. It was sold by public sale for £35 per tun. The merchant who purchased it told me that it was worth from £4 to £5 per tun more than any South Sea oil for a length of time, and that he could pot point out any improvement, either in the boiling or otherwise, to raise its value. A lightness in the colour is the chief object, and that has been attained."