PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1889.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8629, 15 November 1889, Page 2

PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1889.

The Agent-General has been seeking for fuller information concerning the uses our flax was put to, and whether the demand for it was likely to continue. Sir F. Dillon Bell writes :—": — " From all that I could learn it seems evident that there was very little chance of being able to get details from manufacturers in this country about either machinery or their processes, and that as the bulk of our hemp was being bought by the United States, the States was the only place where information really valuable for our colonists could be got." However, Messrs Robinson, Fleming ' and Co. write to the Agent General that they are satisfied it would be useless mixing New Zealand hemp with either Bisal or jute, as neither of those I fibres would give the required strength for the yarn. They think that New Zealand hemp is mixed with manila in the proportion of about half and half. Regarding the relative qualities of the various fibres, Messrs Robinson & Co. give the following figures as to the average breaking strain of fifty yarns (technically termed 25 thread yarns) of each fibre, all spun by the same machinery, which clearly shows the relative value for manufacturing purpose. They are : Manila hemp, 220 ; New Zealand, 138 ; Sisal hemp, 135 ; Russian, 122. Manila and sisal have, however, an advantage over our hemp, from the fact of their being so much cleaner, loaving no waste crop nor straw, as with the New Zealand fibre. With regard to the future value of New Zealand flax, Messrs Robinson & Co. write : " We believe that the production of manila and sisal will increase if it is wanted, and New Zealand hemp would in that case simply have to fight its way through them. Manila and sisal hemp, if cheap enough, would leave no chance, we believe, for much New Zealand, 1 except at a reduced relative value. If on I the contrary manila and sisal continue to rule over £40 a ton, Now Zealand might rise within a few pounds of this figure. It is, however, purely a speculative theory, depending upon many circumstances that might arise but are impossible to forecast now." From this it would seem that the future demand for our fibre would really depend on tho extent of the crops of manila and sisal ; but as the bulk of the hemp we send to England has been exported again to America, it looks as if a use is being found for it which the London buyers are not yet acquainted with, for Messrs Robinson & Co. write — " The great bulk of New Zealand hemp sold here is exported to America. The trade is a new one, and will require a few months to olapse to see how it is liked in America ; but the leading manufacturers there, who have been your chief buyers, write us that if there is much straw in the hemp they cannot use it for the required purpose." It, therefore, the flax industry is to be a permanent one, it will have to be turned out clean and without straw — in fact, it will have to be prepared for market in the same condition as the manila and sisal.