VARIOUS METHODS OF UTILIS ING FLAX.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 673, 20 July 1870, Page 3

VARIOUS METHODS OF UTILIS ING FLAX.

(From the Southern Cross, July 8.) Now that a fall in the market price of our prepared native flax has rendered it questionable whether the industry can be profitably continued, it behoves us to utilise every portion of the leaf if possible, and it is remarkable to what an extent this may be done. It was long ago demonstrated that New Zealand flax could be used for many purposes besides rope-making, and it is surprising that the knowledge has been put to so little practical account. The durability and general excellence of prepared flax for the manufacture pf bell-ropes, mats, &c, was demonstrated years ago, the readiness with which it may be- dyed being one of its chief recommendations : yet, if we except a very small home trade in doormats, this department of usefulness has never been developed, although it opens a wide sphere of labcur in the construction of matting to supersede that made from cocoa-nut fibre, as well as other articles connected with this extensive branch of industry. To mattress-making, furniture -stuffing, and like employments, we shall not particularly refer, as flax tow is generally used in the colony by upholsterers in preference to any other material, although we think our fibre might be turned to better account. The use of flax as a paper-making material has recently been brought prominently before the public, and is perhaps the most important aspect of our subject. . New Zealand flax was first used in paper-making about forty years ago, when Mr Murray, 3T.5.A., had paper made specially from phormium tenax, to print his work on the deterioration of paper upon. The great object of his pamphlet was to show that the paper in common use was not sufficiently durable, books or written manuscripts becoming injured by a very trifling amount of wear. He recommended the use of New Zealand flax, as the strength of its fibre rendered it particularly well adapted for making a durable paper. A copy of Mr Murray's work is in possession of Mr T. Kirk, of this city, and the paper is a standing proof of tbe correctness of the views advocated upon it. Although of such a great age the paper has not at all deteriorated, and is remarkable for its toughness. It is unbleached and rather coarse-looking, but these defects are easily remedied, j

Since the time mentioned phormium tenax has frequently been tried by paper-makers both in Britain and Australia. These experiments have always been successful, although an objection has been raised to the flax because of its great strength. In some.instances ordinary paper-making machinery has been completely stopped, owing to the resistance offered by the fibre. The tow resulting from cleaning" the leaf for ropemaking could be profitably used in making the finer descriptions of paper, while the leaf, simply dried, could be reduced for making coarse paper. It must be borne in mind, however, that flax can only be profitably used for this purpose within the colony. The price given for rags and other paper-making material is not so large in Eogland as to compensate a merchant for paying the heavy rates for transit and freight upon flax to be used for paper-making: yet it would be an extremely cheap as well as an abundant material here, and it is a matter of astonishment that, notwithstanding the reward of £1000 offered by the Provincial Council of Ofcago, and although repeated attempts have been made in Dunedin and Canterbury to establish a paper mill, it has not yet been accomplished. We believe that as promising a field of speculation is open in carrying on such a manufacture here as in any other department of trade. We next come to consider the merits of the flax-gum, which has been used on a small scale. This trade is also capable of being further developed. The adhesive qualities of the gum are very great, and serious objections have arisen to the use of common mucilage for envelopes, in consequence of the ease with which it is re-dissolved. Considering the immense trade in envelopes, the extensive field for speculation offered by this industry may be well imagined. In fact, the Practical Mechanics' Journal, in an article on the subject, remarked that anyone entering into auch a trade judiciously would make a fortune. To go on adding virtue upon virtue to our flax appears like puffing it up at the expense of truth and reason. Nevertheless, some plants, such as the palm, are capable of being applied to many uses, being apparently specially adapted to supply the wants of savage tribes, who are destitute of the knowledge necessary for delicate manufacture. The flax plant is one of these productions, and the many purposes it was used for by the Maoris show how necessary it was to their daily existence, cut off as they were from the means of exchanging their products with those of other countries, and thus satisfying their wants. The next property of flax we shall notice is one for which it was greatly valued by the Maoris, namely, its medicinal qualities, defined by English doctors, when taken internally, as purgative, diuretic, sudorific, and expectorant. It seems also to be valuable as a liniment. How this property of flax may be made of use, we recommend to the consideration of some of our enterprising chemists, and pass on to notice flax as a substitute for hops. All who have in any way been connected with flax-dressing know what a strong odour, resembling the smell of beer, is emitted from flax refuse, and there appears to be no reasonable doubt that a species of beer might be made from phormium tenax. To avoid any lengthened remarks under this head we shall simply quote Dr Hector's observations in the appendix to the Dunedin Exhibition Report. After describing a method tried for cleaning the flax by steeping in hot water with sulphuric acid, the report says : — " The liquor from the preceding experiment was perfectly clear, of a pale-yellow colour, and had to a remarkable extent the odour of bitter beer ; and undoubtedly a kind of beer could be made from a strong infusion of flax, mixed with a moderate quantity of sugar, and then fermented. The bitter principle of flax is a very pure intense bitter, capable of being retained by charcoal, by which it is given up to alcohol, and might be used to communicate a bitter taste to beer in the absence of hops. It would at least be less objectionable than drugs that are said to be used for this purpose." To experiment upon the flax is inexpensive and easy to accomplish, and some of our brewers who desire to make themselves famous (

might try both tbat and the manufacture of tutu wine 7 The last and one of the most important uses for flax is the employment of the refuse from the mills as a substitute for oil cake. Cattle are extremely fond of it, and its fattening qualities have been frequently _te__oijf strated. Immense heaps of this vegetable substance accumulate at the mills and are allowed to putrefy, when the stuff might be pressed into cakes and preserved for home use or for exportation. It is found necessary to' import large quantities of oil cake into Britain from the Continent, and we might as well participate in the profits accruing from the trade as not. As a manure, this refuse may also be applied with advantage.