PROGRESS OF THE NEW ZEALAND FLAX TRADE.—A COMPARISON. (Nelson Colonist)

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 107, 9 January 1873, Page 2

PROGRESS OF THE NEW ZEALAND FLAX TRADE.— A COMPARISON. (Nelson Colonist)

Thk price of the Now Zealand flax, by lale advices from England, was £ii per ton, and the supply was reported as being insufficient to meet the demand. It is gratifying to ob^LMVehow steadfastly this industry n increasing m importance, and liow the expectations jears ago hopefully ' expressed in these columns are faat approaching realisation. We hare oftener than once stated that tl.o long staple cf our pkormium, of which so many thousands of acres exist in New Zealand, can be drcsbed to such a fine silkmcss of iibre, as ultimately, in tiie finished article, to be worth in the manufacturing world from £70 to £90 per ton. That, of course, implies (lax dressing of the highest order, by the finest macb. nery ; and if the rough staple, such as is sent home, is worth, ai is now reported, £10 to £it per ton, the (inures we hare given will, we believe, be greatly understated After examining the samples sliovtn yeurs ago by Mr Luke Natnus, of tins city, samples which far transcenl m beauty of color and delicacy of fibre the finejt Flemsh flax we over snv, and wuich, in fact, more resembles silk than any other commodity of the ktnJ, we entertained little doubt that our Itax would command large attention in the commercial circles of England, and would ultimately compete with a far .noro valuable material, «md be employed with silk and other fine manufactures. Probably, manufacturers in England have by this time discovered this fact, and are carrying it to a practical issue. Hence, doubtless, the steady rise in the demand for the article, and the consequent increase m its price, ns its fci'ue Talue is being ascertained. The industry is ytl in its infancy, but it is one of the most promising in New Zealand. Large tracts of (las are growing in nearly every piovmce of New Zealand, and could be inailo available for generations to come, cither by careful cutting of the v, ild plant so as to preserve it, or by systematic cultivation. The idea of cultivation of the plant is one which, sooner or la'o 1 , will be taken up. If the wild article can be made so valuable, what may noi be accomplished in the way of improvement by means of cultivation ? That however, is a question for the future, winch only experience will solve. The present condition of the New Zealand ■pliormium trade, which is now giving promise of rapid growth, reeals the history of an East Indian iiroduct, Jute, now largely used in textile fabrics Some 30 years ago, Jute was scarcely known, and after having become knonu, was little t iou<rlit of, and was a long time bcfoie it came into general favour. In 1851, tuo Jute imported into tiio Unite 1 K.nudo i was 23,000 tons; ten years later, it was only 45,000 toni. From t tat time, it rapidly msrcual, until in LB7l, it readied the ii amount of i 7-5,"03 tons, winch ia about 70, 00 tons in excev. of tne flax flimtrnj imported, and ot.lv 22,000 tons 1( 3 t:> in the loffii quT.uit} of ilat, ton, and hump unpur'td ii.it j iiu United Kingdom Jute, as we l.aye saia, is obtain°d ix-n an Ind an plant, Corckouis cip*u'ans of boianists, w\ oa i- also cultivated in C ma, but the British trade is with India. The Jute of commerce is the inner fibre of the plant, and is obtained by maceration. Prior to 1830, the fibre was almost unknown, except in the form of gunny bags. Its length, which generally extended to 12 feef, led to attempts to make cordage from the fibre ; but its liability to injury from moisture tendered it unfit for that purpose. In 13 tO, tie rirst cargo was brought from Calcutta to Dundee, t!ie chief se«ii of the coaiscr linen mamuactureg It was «h we have said, but littlo valued, as it >*us fjund not easy to manufacture, and was also unsuited for the flax and spinning machinery commonly in use. Gradually, after many failures, the difficulties in this direction were overcome, and the evil repute which first injured the trade in the fibre was removed. Its real value was understood, and now the trade in Jute goods forma one of the mo*t prosperous and extensive articles of manufacture. A short tabular statement may be of service, as showing the rapid growth of this article as an import to England from India '• —

The quantity imported during the cloven rears from 18G1 to 1871, inclusive, was 1,0i3,710 tons, of the value of £21.431,622, that is, over a million tons of the fibre, bringing in the market nearly twenty-oie and a half millions sterling. Something less than 10 per cent of this quantity was reexported in the raw state to France, Germany, and America, (0 the value of f illy three and a half millions, leaving about 18 millions worth of the raw article for manufacture in Great The quantity and value of jute yarns and manufactures, including, carpeting, cloth, and bagging, exported during the period named was as follow s : —

To show further the growth during 10 years) it may be noted that the quantity of jute jams exported was about ►even millions of pounds avoirdupois, worth about 3d per lb ,tn all £85,126 In 1871 the quantity was nearly fourteen million*, and the price had risen, making the value (or that var £263,298 In 1861 the export of the mannfa -hired c th, dec, "as 6,519,000 yards, of the value of £127,031 ; .in.l of bagging, 612,848 dozen*, valued at £307,583. la 1871 the qu mtities were 62,583,000 yards, worth £1,031,072; and 2,841,307" dozens of bags, the value o£ wliich was £1,201,165. Sue i aro some of the results displayed in tlie history of a Ion? despised product, w'lieh, about 20 years ago, was looked on with groat disfavour, and in the attempt to utilise which numerous failures were experienced. Inferior articles, made by ill adapted machinery, and ere yet the character of the raw material nnd its proper manipulation were understood, had the eQect of still further damaging its reputation Now, that despised oriental fibie employs a fleet of the largest merchantmen to conTey it from Calcutta, and has becomo in the manufactures of England of at least as great importance as flai, if it is not really more important in both the extent of its application, and in the manner of persona to which it gives employment in the mother country. The valuo of the Indian jute is far lower, and iU capacities are far less than aro those of the New Zealand flax. On that account, there is httlo likelihood of a large consumption of tlie latter material in the manufacture of an inferior article like bagging, to which jute is so largely devoted Whilo, therefore, wo do not offer a comparison of quantity, with a fibre cultivated and prepared in a poun'ry where the teeming millions of nativo workers male labor cheap, there are re-cmblancP3 in the early history of tot >o ]uto traf'o and in that of the New Zealand flax which, w th tlie continued lmimrvms; pros ">ect9 of the la f ter, should lead New Zealanl ti l"Dk Ibrwarl with greit hopes respecting this valuable and hitherto only partially tried and only partly apprpc ,\Uh\ commodity. Tho woe r-rly difficulties, tbp «a,me depreciation, the 31 it 1 )X\'\ if ■!'>'•-> ni "nrViprv, arvi -imilar obstacles in the wny of i npir uu; and making it mii cloth tint first met 1 tho East IrrJ Jim net nnd kept ha^lt, ay «till •rj r^ P ni . ; pv ,t, t r,,,,£ (-i „ pior>i:i'J»' if Now Z aland ]?'".t f| i« ait-'e is n r w matm? its war Th° r n iily dprnmiil es-.s's ibi it, anJ t v e norpp^cin its pr ccm the Himema !ie^ irnvp 'ts r,i!.io and f!i? prowng e^plovnent wh'ch is b»"iiff foun 1 for it. Its real value once ascertained, the best chemical and mechanical appliances necessary for its full and compkto uti'isation in manufactures will not long rcmam undi' covered or una^ ailed of The persevering experiments t which hare ben made bv Mr Forbes, of Hatton, in Forfarslure, (he chief seat of the heavy linen and canvas manufacture, have already produced s"mc g>^d efi-ct C'oth of a. kind has been manufactured from t'u> ''br 1 douh'le-.^ wth machinery not properly s-iited. for workitv; it siti-factonly, just as our ex'sfmg machinery hi r» for preparing the raw leaf is yet imperfect. But what ha 3 been done is that the article is being sought, for in the market. The neerl« of commcrco will ultimntely do the rest. Here, in New Zealand, our fir»it care should be. to see that in working the flax, in packing, and otherwise fitting it for the English market, no effort should be spared to make the be«l useofthe means we possess for improving the character of an export from which we expect great things.

The Ten Tribes. — TheJemhh Messeiujeris armous to start Mr Stanley on nn expedition for the discovery of the Ten Tiibes. The idea is a vast ono— so vast, indeed, that it is to be feared that some time would be lost before it could receive even what the French call " a commencement of execution. " The Ten Tribes have been a long time missing, anil the most contradictory theoiies have been put forward as to their present resting place. According to some authorities their descendants are to be found m the existing race of Afghans. Others maintain that they are scattered over the face of the earth in the character of gipsies. Dnchinski, the polemical ethnologist of Russia and Poland (fioui whose arsenal that inferior wairior, M. Quatrefages has borrowed the weapons ho cinplnva against la race Prussienne), proves almost to his own satisfaction that the Ten Tiibes found their way to the banks of the Moskva, where they have since behaved like Jews under the name Muscovites. Finally a writer hns recently published a boolt to s'iow that tlio Ten Tribes settled some time ago in England, und are in fact the English ; so that Mr Stanley, without being aware of his good fortune, has perhaps for some time past been in actual communication with these proposod objects of a new senreh. The w orst of it is that we are none of us consoious of our origin ; and if, on his first internet with a large body of our native ponulation (the members of the British Association for mstaivo, at Brighton), Mr Stanley had exolwmed, "The Ten Tribe*. I pre*nme," the astonished as»embly would certainty not.Lke Dr Livingstone in reply to a similnr inquiry, have acewored is the affirrcatuc—Pall Mall Gazette.

Quantity. Value. £ Jute yarns, in lbs 89,327,690 1,490,771 Jute manufactures, cloth of all kinds and carpeting, m yards .. .. 327 6(57,378 5,250,632 B.igging, in dozens . .. . 17,251,209 8,051,8H Total valuo exported £1-1,802,247

jj Imported in 18j1 " 1861 " 1866 " 1870 " 1871 Tons. 23,000 4.5,204 81,296 118,881. 173,719 Valuo. £ 460,000 709,000 1,476,244 2,326,910 4,103,736