CULTIVATION OF EUROPEAN FLAX.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4153, 13 July 1874, Page 3

CULTIVATION OF EUROPEAN FLAX.

Mr. J. A. Bird, hon. secretary to the Canterbury Flax Association, addresses the following letter to the LytteUonTimes : In your issue of the 30th June, there appears a letter on the subject of flax growing. The cultivation of European flax has already been tried here experimentally, and with the most favorable results. The soil and climate of Canterbury are, without doubt, well adapted for its successful production, and it is only a question of labour. The Flax Association imported a cask of Riga seed, a portion gf which was distributed to those willing to give it a fair trial, but no reports have been furnished me as to the result. A large quantity still remains on hand, which I shall be glad to supply gratuitously to anyone who? will sow it. The necessity- of some staple industry besides the growing of cereals and the production of wool, will soon become apparent, and I believe the day is not far distant when New Zealand will have cause to regret the destruction of her native flax, as she will that of her native forests ; for it has been practically proved, beyond a doubt, that the phormium fibre, when properly manipulated, can be adapted for any purpose for which other and inferior fibres are now more generally used, and from which such large fortunes have been realised.

It is, unfortunately, true that the present prospects of the phormium industry are not encouraging, but when Manilla hemp of good quality can be purchased for £3O a ton, it cannot be expected that New Zealand fibre will be much sought after. Mr. Thorne, in a recent letter to me, emphatically observes, " I am cer-tain, and care not who dares to contradict my statement, that all I have stated with reference to the utility of phormium and its adaptability to textile manufactures will eventually be acknowledged, and that the manufacturers here will, at no distant period, use large quantities of this valuable fibre in the production of strong and useful materials heretofore composed of flax and Italian hemp." In another letter, he says, " The exhibition of the case of phormium products in Dundee fairly astonished the manufacturers, - and inquiries are almost daily being made : ' Where can I get some New Zealand fibre fit to manufacture ?"

I have read, with interest, the letter of Mr. C. J. Pownall, in your issue of the 4th inst., on vegetable fibres. Mr. Pownall therein refers to a machine of his own invention for crushing and Bcraping the leaf. Prom the samples I have seen prepared by his process, I must bear my testimony to the efficient manner in which the fibre is extracted and cleaned, the quantity being far in advance of any hitherto obtained from the means which are in vogue amongst dressers generally, and I ground my opinion upon a comparison with other samples, of which large quantities of varied quality have passed through my hands during the past three years. I quite concur in the writer's remarks, that it is the interest of New Zealand to endeavor to secure the large and valuable industry pointed out in his communication to you. Mr. Thorne also bears testimony to the value of Mr. Pownall's process ; for he says, "From the samples forwarded to me, the cleansing seems more perfectly effected than in any machine-dressed fibre that has come under my notice."