NEW ZEALAND PHORMIUM TENAX

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7018, 5 January 1910, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND PHORMIUM TENAX

1. ■ 1 /■ ' (* INVESTIGATIONS BY A LADY < SPECIALIST. ‘ ' < ■ J. 1 PRESS ASSOCIATION. 1 CHRISTCHURCH. January 4.,' ; Miss Bella Cross, M.A., has for several - months; been engaged investigating with : regard to New Zealand flax and the pos- J sibilities of developing the flax industry I by the application of moire scientific methods than have hitherto been employed. In an interview, sho said she was not concerned with the mechanical side of the industry; the. best methods i of extracting fibre in a commercial form i must • be determined by the engineers. . Her object was to discover which variety i of flax would prove most profitable for i cultivation,. giving the largest and most i valuable yield of fibre, and which lo- 1 calities were best adapted for the growth 1 of one of the most important sections. ■; Her research would be preparation work : to provide a directory to all publica- :

tions bearing on the subject. As yet, no such work had been compiled, and no index works of reference were available. , _ :!' , Miss Gross has already spent some time’’ .in examining the libraries at Christ, church, .Wellington and ‘Auckland, and is going to Dunedin, with; the; ■ same object. Many seedlings of different kind# have been planted in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, and . their develop, ment,wilT.be,,watched by;Miss Cross this year. , Comparatively Tittle is known about the different varieties, and 'oxpori, ments have not beep very satisfactory, .Miss Cross’s work will occupy two oi three years. ■