BY-PRODUCTS OF' NEW ZEALAND ELAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11987, 9 June 1902, Page 7

BY-PRODUCTS OF' NEW ZEALAND ELAN.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — have seen a leader in your valuable paper re the flax industry. In my opinion the day is not far distant when Now Zealand flax will find a place in textile fabrics such as carpets, tableeovers, etc. _ It has a great affinity for taking colouring from the ordinary dyes without any preparation, no doubt owing to the amount of tannin matter it contains, where ordinary linen, cotton, and all vegetable fibres require a great amount of preparation before they will take the dyes. The New Zealand flax stands alone in that respect, having a great affinity for colouring matter. No doubt there will some day bo machinery invented thjt will place Now Zealand flax in the front rank as a textile fabric. In regard to the by-products of the flax, some years ago I experimented with the refuse of flax, and succeeded in getting a range of extremely fast colours from a khaki to brown and from light cream to dark orange, all those colours having the merit of withstanding the action of boiling soap and soda. \i am of the opinion that flax contains a valuable tanning substance suitable for tanning leather, etc. I will be glad if you can furnish me with particulars re the Government bonus for the by-products of New Zealand flax, and will be glad to cooperate with anyone having a'knowledge of chemistry with a view of obtaining the bonus.—l art, etc., John GBAHAM, Epsom, June 1, 1902. Dyer.