THE FLAX INDUSTRY

Otago Witness, Issue 1958, 30 May 1889, Page 6

THE FLAX INDUSTRY

•. The flax industry in the North Island, which a «Kbrt time;6soce was at low ebb, is now in fall tide of prosperity; and is attracting as much interest there, as the Pegasus tinfiejds are in this island. The Hon. Robert Campbell, MX.C, who has just returned from a trip in the North Island, has kindly placed information which he h'aa" obfained'at'^ur disposal, and' has, ln 'ariek« ceedingly frank manner, expressed his qpimonspn the subject of 'the' flax industry te h represents ,tive of this journal. In the first place, he said, one of the most striking things" inlconnection with this industry is "the increased demand for the, material. This has been .brought .:abon4 partly b'^r the ' failure' of the manila and si«&! crop^,'a'nd partly because ef the operations of an American cordage ring. having driven outsiders afield jbo Tseek raw material." •'■*•*' v ' >l ' though 1 these causes may seem to be of s temporary character', the Hon. Mr Campbell Is of opinion that the New Zealand flax, haying found- its;; way- -torso "ißSßjf'" "mafltl* will in future be- k more : • inerchsntatilj commodity, than it has been in the past, and that it will in fact, for various reasons, retain iU hold upon the markets fairly well. It is some* ;"what difficult to give an estimate of the extent to which the flax industry has recently da* veloped, but its growth has beeu something startling; indeed, - in Mr Campbell's word^ "wool and frozen meat now.seem_nowherej everybody^ is talking lax, *!&s> "the* interest aroused by the sight of a few; bales of the fibre is most remarkable." Thereis apparently v«ry solid ground for this-- enthQs|asEQ,i Oof,tb9 Oroua estata there are. in 'operation at, the present 11 flax a ills, employing 800 bauds, paying, their proprietors 4 hariclsoQityi and yielding .jbo the Hon. R;,'^ Campbell, by way of royalty on the flax' used, at tt« rato^of very nearly J6300O i per^nnum. When it is remembered 'that if it were, not for thfaiflj dustry the flax would have to be destroyed before the land it covers would be available fof agricultural' purposes* " the' • value ,9f' the nw* dressing operations can be more- readily esfr mated. It is also, we understand, a JW* that one of ' the 'flax - mill owner* who, before entering into the business, waai* station hand at £60 per annum, has saved £low, and that within a few months ; and that other* are also doing remarkably well. Whether the phormium tencue can be successfully coin* yated is not decided; bat as vntn* out cultivation it will grow again in two years, and as the flax fields are very extenfflWj tho^supply is practically inexhaustible. B|J long, therefore, as' the' price lasts' the work *>» goon.' Theprpcessof dressing the- flax KM& now to be well understood, ind^the industry ' i* growing in such a wonderful , manner* t»» Foxton looks ahnostlike a diggfng township. » would be premature to venture an opinion it Mthe proportions this industry will dtiMfWjl assume; but the Hon.JMr Campbell is IwtM"^ that it . will jarove of great importance »° , largely aid our* progress as a colony.