The Otago witness.

Otago Witness, Issue 1951, 11 April 1889, Page 1

The Otago witness.

WITH WHICH Its INCORPORATED IUE SOUTHEBN MEBCUBY. IHURSDAY, ARRIL 11, 1889. THE FLAX. INDESTRX. There is just now great activity in i&b industry connected with the manipulation of th 6 New Zealand native fla* (phormium tenax). The demand for the fibre has been steadily increasing during the last two year*, and ia spite of the turn in the market which we chronicle this week, there ia good hope of the industry becouimg a permanent one. Since its establishment m 1867 the native flax industry haa yielded a return of L 865,284 up to the end of last year, that sum at least being the value of the fibre exported. Of late years, however, New Zealand flax ha 9 been almost elbowed out of tho market, and it was only about the middle of last year that the partial failure of ita chief competitors, Manila and sisal, restored to it the attention it deserved. Another rouson for tho renewed deinaad for it is its pre-eminent suitability for binding twine, it having been found that no fibre makes a twine that is ao suitable for this special use as the better qualities of machine-dressed phormium. But there is no doubt that the native flax is capable of much better results than the production of common cordage. Were the best variety selected and propagated, the fibre is capable of being converted into beautiful fabrics, to which ccme of the native mats and sundry useful articles bear testimony. Indeed, there is reason to believe that it has alieady found ita way among dress materials, such as poplins, for which its Justre and susceptibility to dye particularly lit it. There has just been issued by the authority of Mr lUchardson, Minister of Lands and Mines, a pamphlet which is a reprint of one published by Government in 1872. JFroin it we have been able to gather some interesting particulars regarding the vicissitudes^ which have been met with in the manufacture of llax fibre, and obtain a comparative view down to that date of its relation to the productions of competing fibres elsewhere. The flax industry was then at its very best, and the manifest importance of the subject caused reports to be procured and analyses to be made which showed that the lmtive flax occupied a creditable, and in aome things, unique position in the list of commercial hbrcs. A.t that time the treatment of ! the fibre was purely mechanical. The Maori wahine selected the best leaves, beat them with stones or clubs, stripped the green fleshy part away with shells, and soaked the inner fibre in clear running water, until the necessary filamentation resulted. The machinery adopted by th 6 Pakeha was merely an improvement upon this method, but on the same principle, which, however, has not yet been sufficiently improved upon to pro- j duce anything better than the coarse fibre so familiar in cordage. But in | this, as in most other manufactures, chemistry intervened, and showed that mild alkaline treatment removed the impurities which stopped the way to the general use of the fibre. Through various causes, the systematic prosecution of the industry has been neglected, but not before the native crop had been in great part swept away. It will probably quite disappear where ut all accessible during the present activity, and its cultivation and perpetuation have been almost entirely neglected. In a great many cases the native growth of flax has been cleared away in the course of settlement on the land for agricultural purposes. It ■was stated only recently that a settler in the North Island had spent more

than L2OOO in clearing his land of flax which would now be worth L7OOO to him, and such instances of what look like wanton destruction of the bounties of Nature have not been uncommon. There is this, however, to be said in extenuation, that the fibre has been for some years of but little value, while the plant usually occupied the best of the land. But although the common, coarse fibre has been of little value, that produced by skilful treatment has tiot correspondingly declined, not being in competition with other cordage fibres, but puts to some other manufacturing purposes. The pamphlet now before us states that a fine quality of bright, lustrous fibre has been made by the Natives from carefully-selected leaves and plants. The fibre required prolonged manual labour, and the yield was only about one ton of fibre from 40 tons of green flax, but its value was from L7O to LIOO per ton. It must be remembered that this result waa achieved without mechanical aid of any but the most primitive kind. The implements used by the Native women were simply a flat stone and a few shells to acrap© the fibre with, and they utilised the nearest stream to wash ib in. Moreover, they made no attempt to culti vate the most suitable kind of flax, but went farther and farther afield as their wants directed. Such possibilities as are here shown are worthy of investigation. The most congenial home of the flax plant is by the side of a running stream, and it would grow to perfection on land which can by no possibility be drained by any gravitation process. It is not generally known, we believe, that there have been no less than 58 different varieties of native flax recognised by the Natives. It is quite possible that the same varieties are known by different names in different parts of the country ; but this at least ia beyond doubt, that some easily recognised kinds are more suitable for cultivation than others. It is to be regretted that so little is known of the habits of the plant, and that so little advantage has been taken of its abundant presence, and we venture to hope that the munificence of Nature will in this respect be properly appreciated, and rational advantage taken of the raw material which still remains*