THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1680, 11 May 1904, Page 68

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

BIG RESOURCES AND POSSIBILITIES. The flax industry of this colony is growing into something big and solid, and this is only the reward that perseverance deserves. The general reader is probably not aware that efforts were made to develop the industry as far back as 1783 ! ' In 1778 a settlement was formed at Norfolk Island (discovered by Captain Cook in 1774), and the people were, by agreement of their charter, to endeavour to 1 manufacture from what was termed '"New /Zealand flax.” So much was thought of the idea in Grea; Britain that in 1788 /one Sir George Young and others • .petitioned Parliament for a grant to the island for the express advancement of the industry. Supposed European ex. perts were taken, to Norfolk Island, but they made a failure oT their work, and -then two Maoris were induced, principally because they were kidnapped, to go to the island and teach the native method , of dealing with the plant. One of the natives was a tonnnga and the other was a warrior, and as flax-working among the Maoris was done by women, the Norfolk Island people gained nothing, and, says an old report on the - subject, tbe flax experiment never came to any profitable result. - If, it continues, a machine could be constructed to separate, the vegetable fibre from tbe flaxen filaments any quantity of useful articles might be prepared with great expedition. /Hemp is quoted at .£2B per ton to - day at New Zealand, "‘and,” said an expert when questioned on the subject, "this colony’s flax has a big future in front of it. It is unrivalled for binding twine —nothing in the market can compete with it. There . is just one point about tbe industry in . the.colony that wants some attention and •that is. the fact that millers are only •/ making,. -or practically only making, good /average quality of hemp. Fine hemp is not made because it doesn’t pay so well. If: the-Government would give a bonus of £2 per ton for one year it would ../result in .millers turning out hemp that would he so approved on the' English //■ market that the bonus would not be required after the time 1 have stated.” ; The Government has already offered .bonuses -for improved methods of dressing

flax, but we believe that these bonuses are not now available. It seems to us that the time fs opportune for reinstating a bonus for an improved method of dressing flax, and that stripping should be treated separately from bleaching so that improvement in either method would carry a reward. The utilisation of the by-products calls for attention as does also a system that would prevent the enormous waste in producing a ton of hemp. To make a single ton of hemp eight or nine tons of green leaf are consumed, about two tons of tow, valued at s“s per ton, is also obtained, and tbe balance is waste.

A very large proportion of the colony’s total exportation of flax goes to the United States. The imports at New York for 1903 were 32,762 bales as compared with 23,482 bales in 1902, and 13,242 bales in 1901, so a glance shows that the fibre is steadily increasing in demand. The grades mostly sold at New York are “Good Fair Wellington,” “Fair Wellington,” and “Fair Auckland.” Of course all hemp i:s graded by the Government officers before it leaves tbe colony. There is no duty on hemp in America. Exporters, however, are suffering from one serious difficulty—at the present time there is no direct communication from New Zealand to the eastern coast of America, consequently all shipment® of flax have to be sent through London. Now, here is thl point. If American binder twine manufacturers are able to buy, and profitably utilise, this colony’s hemp at the price asked for it in the market there, why cannot New Zealanders more profitably manufacture on the. spot? New Zealanders are beginning to try it, and enquiries are being made that will possibly result at no very distant date in the installation of a binder twine manufactory capable of producing hundreds of tons of twine annually. , More flax is shipped away from the Wellington port than from any other port in the colony. THE MAKERUA ESTATE. In order to gain some idea or the flax industry a visit was paid to the Makerua estate where the growth and treatment of the plant was seen in all its branches. This big property in the Manawatu was originally merely a huge swamp, and has hitherto been considered by train passengers and local residents as irreclaimable and valueless. It was partly given as a grant to the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company by the Government and partly purchased by tbe company. However, under the contract which ■existed between the Government and the company the latter was required to form at least two main outfall drains within a given period. This and certain additional draining work was done, but the company could never see its way to go in for a comprehensive scheme of drainage for the whole area.

In June, 1902, the Makerua Estate Company (formed for the purpose) purchased the property, which at that time contained 12,386 acres. Since the purchase forty miles of drains have been cut,

fourteen miles of wooden railway lines have been put down, many miles of fencing has. been erected, bridges have been made, about five hundred acres of bush and scrub has been cleared, and about 1500 acres of land sown in grass. The difficulties to be overcome were great, but the results have been well worth the trouble, and if the proposed relief channel and incidental works for the Manawatu river are carried into effect it is more than probable that 90 per cent; of the Makerua land will he free of all risk of even the worst floods, and it will be fit for settlement. At present it is immune from any ordinary flood. The company is supplying five flax-mills with the raw article, and it is estimated that double the number of mills. will be able to be supplied in eighteen months. ' The mills are consuming about sixty tons per clay. There is a lot of timber on the property, too, principally white pine, and mills are being supplied at the rate of 126,000 ft per month. These changes have not been brought about 'without considerable expenditure being involved, but the shareholders of the company have faith in their enterprise. and did not hesitate to embark their capital in what seemed to many prudent and careful business men a foolhardy speculation. Swamp land is notably of immense value for stock on account of its rich, fattening qualities, and the sleek, fat cattle on the Makerua property are a most convincing argument of the truth of the assertion. At present there are about three hundred and fifty head of cattle grazing on the jiroperty. OVER THE ESTATE ON A TROLLY. A very good tramway system is on the property—wooden lines that creep away into the heart of the flax fields, and to the bush where the white pine lives. Along these rails teams of horses haul tc the railway station or the mills the tightly packed leaf or the long heavy logs, and it is on one of these tmines that one is enabled to go over most of_ the property. The first stop is at the Tdkoma rn river a picturesque stream guarded all along its banks by close-set. cabbage trees, and behind them by tall, cleanbodied white pines. Here men are hard at work clearing the river-bed of sunken timber. The sound of cracking whips and shouting comes from up the creek, and there fourteen bullocks are hauling logs out of the water. Some of the logs can only bo removed by powerful explosives and here and there along the creek can be heard a muffled report, and the water is shot white and hissing above the cabbage-trees. Eighteen months ago it was barely possible to get a canoe up the stream. To-day a launch could navigate most of it easily. The trolly goes on away from the river, out of the 'broken bush, and into an enormous circling stretch of young flax. A striking picture that great green area makes lying shimmering in the sun for miles and miles, and touched up at the edges with faint, black daubs of bush against foam-white clouds on the sky line. Every here and there broad water-chan-nels cut into the body of the green expanse for the good of its health, and how much has been the improvement can only be truly understood by those who first saw the place when the flood waters lay heavily everywhere before the channels were cut, and see it to-day when the flood-waters go sullenly and complainingly through their narrowed limits. The “press waggon” runs away to another line of rails, past canvas camps of firewood-cutters, flax-cutters, and drain-cutters until ONE OE THE MILLS

is reached. Here, large stacks of the green article await the attention of the workers. There, paddock after paddock is covered with the white fibre put out to bleach and dry. The manager led the way to where a man sat pushing, as fast as he could, blades of green flag down the little round throat of a demon machine that tore at the flax with its iron teeth at the rate of 2000 revolutions a minute. This stripper ripped off all the skin—the green vegetation of the flax—and threw the stripped article down below it, where it was caught by one man, who handed it on to two others. These men carried it to a great wooden trough where it was washed and made sodden, hung on poles, and left to dry for a day. After that it is spread on the bleaching paddocks, hung again on drying wires, and finally carried to the scutching machine. When the scutcher has gnashed its teeth through it to take what little vegetation the stripper has left, the flax is clean white hemp and is packed up in bales. For miles and miles one is taken through bush and flax, and flax and bush, where men are cutting, and sawing, and burning, and exploding, and digging, and one comes away with the conclusion that it is to the flax industry and that alone' that these improvements are due, and to wonder whether an industry that employs so great a volume of well-paid labour is not capable of expansion and improvement.