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Star (Christchurch), Issue 699, 19 August 1870, Page 2

" Kaiapoi, Aug. 10, 1870. "To the Hon. Sec. of the Canterbury Flax Association. " Sir, — We have the honour to send you herewith samples of flax prepared without the aid of machinery or chemicals. No. lis flax from the young leaf ; No. 2, sample from leaves from six to nine months old ; No, 3, from leaves of indefinite age. We send samples of tow, from each variety, similarly marked ; all these samples have been obtained from the raw flax, by boiling in a peculiar manner, which leaves the vegetable matter and gum in such a state as to be easily washed off in cold water. The samples when thusjtreated were passed through a common patent mangle, and roughly hackled with a hackle made of three-inch wire nails; we also send you a sample in the rough state, which has merely been boiled and washed; with the reat you will find a sample of fibre from the leaf of the cabbage tree, dressed in a similar manner. " Our plan has two recommendations, simplicity and economy ; the necessary working plant need only be two large boilers capable of containing a ton of raw material each, a water scutcher, and a pair of heavy rollers working under presser ; half the ordinary number of lines will suffice for drying, as we can bleach otherwise sufficiently ; half the number of hands will suffice, as the flax is much sooner saved than by the ordinary process.