PHORMIUM TENAX.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLX, Issue 8168, 20 August 1887, Page 2

PHORMIUM TENAX.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib, —You were good enough to publish a communication from me relative to this fibre a short time ago, and the press of the whole Colony cordially joining in my invitation to, notice it has being of vital interest to bur , present position. The report, in consequence, has naturally led up to a large amount of correspondence, and again, therefore, I will ask your permission to convey to the Colony at large, through your columns, the results, as far as obtained, showing that it is universally admitted the fibre produced in half-an-hour from the gum leaf, all the silicious matter being mechanically cleared off and artifically dried, produces at a nominal cost fully 50 per cent advance of value over the “ dried hay” prepared hitherto at a great expense, and almost worthless for manufacturing purposes. Some of my correspondents, very practical men, state that it is so entirely altered in its nature that it is now far too good for roping, and in in its present brilliant, glossy, oily state it will take the lead of all other fibres of its class for spinning into manufacturing purposes ; far ahead of jute, of which 300,000 tons are now sent toEngland and Europe yearly for that purpose, and for strength and consistency better than the Manila or green Russian hemp, which have hitherto ’ held the palm. This, if realised, naturally opens up a broad question. Commencing upon a fibre at a cost on the spot of at least one-half of those now used, we can manufacture here a far superior article for the world’s supply and do away with the Protection now sought against the spurious articles imported, much to the detriment of our woollen factories. Dundee and Melbourne spinners hold the same opinion, and from long experience of the world’s fibres I do not hesitate to assert that these statements will be verified and will lead up to most important results for this country. It is an indigenous fibre which, now that the ignorance displayed hitherto in its manipulation has disappeared, is the most valuable of our products. To those who have any left I say strictly preserve it. You have no goldmine so valuable, and it must take time to reproduce it in large quantities. As an addendum and a curious coincidence between the two fibres of different classes, both running the same rapid development, kindly introduce this report from Professor Forbes-Boyle, in his work upon the world’s fibres, published in 1855. Referring to the Irish flax and its then crude treatment, he proceeds to state that— At this Juncture an English gentleman, a Mr Chas. Pownall, in endeavoring to work out

Mr Claussen’s idea of obtaining from flax a fibre that would spin on cotton machinery, made a moat valuable discovery as to the preparing flax for the common linen purposes, which was this : that if the flax straw, when taken out of the water in which it had been steeped and fermented, were instantly, and before drying, subjected to a severe pressure and a stream of cold water, the pressure would press out, and the water would wash away almost all the gluten remaining in the plant and removed by fermentation. It is impossible to over-estimate the value of this discovery. The grand difficulty in the management of _ the flax plant had always been the difficulty of hitting the happy mean between over-fermenting and under-fermenting the straw. If the straw were not fermented enough, the gluten was not sufficiently discharged, and then the woody parts of the plant stuck to the fibre so strongly that nothing short of violent blows of the scutching instrument would remove it, and violent blows broke much of the fibre into short lengths, called tow, of little or no value. On the other hand, if the straw were fermented too much, then the gluten was, indeed, sufficiently discharged, and moderate blows sufficed to remove the woody matter ; but in that case the fibre was weakened, and the blows, moderate as they were, again broke the fibre into tow. In either case the yield of valuable fibre was unsatisfactory, and the reed and quality deteriorated, and it was only in those cases where the exercise of the greatest care and -judgment had enabled the steeper to trim most happily between fermenting too much and fermenting •too little, that a satisfactory yield of fibre was obtained, Mr Pownall’s discovery at once triumphed over this hitherto almost insuperable difficulty, because it enabled him to stop short in the process of fermentation before he arrived at the point of danger, and yet remove the gluten even mere effectually than excessive fermentation had previously done, from which there resulted the following advantages :—l. The squeezing and washing s» completely cleansed the fermented straw that the objection to Schenck’s hot-water system, arising from the putrid matter re-adhering to the straw, and flying off from the straw in dust in scutching, at once disappeared ; and hence the mills erected for hot-water steeping resumed work, and now no impediment exists to steeping being carried on all the year round. 2. Fermentation need never be carried beyond the perfectly safe point, and hence the fibre is not weakened. 3. The woody matter is easily removed by moderate blows of the scutching instrument, because the sticky matter no longer impedes the operation, and hence the yield of the fibre_ is much greater. 4. The fibre obtained is of a singularly soft and pliable character, and is much preferred by the spinner. 5. The subsequent process of bleaching is greatly facilitated, because it is the gluten which remains in the fibre which resists the action of bleaching ingredients, and under Mr Pownall's process the gluten is effectually removed. “ The use is spreading more and more every day. and the results ate universally acknowledged ss most satisfactory. The process adds from LlO to L3O to the value of the ton of flax, according as the raw material is of inferior or superior quality, and the expense is the merest trifle.” These methods of preparingthe fibre from flax stems which have been dried and stacked afford considerable advantages, as the seed becomes more ripe, and the farmer oan choose a leisure time for the preparation of his flax ; or, better, he may confine his attention to growing the flax, and then send it for careful preparation to the factory or rettery. New Zealand will admit, I think, I am no novice upon the subject now written.—l am, &c., Chas. Pownald.