WILL FLAX-GROWING PAY IN AUSTRALIA?

Waikato Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 3497, 22 November 1894, Page 8

WILL FLAX-GROWING PAY IN AUSTRALIA?

, ——♦ —— A FEW ■: farmers >of, Victoria have en • tered into a trial of flux a \ a commercial venture, and consequently there is a strong diversity of opinions regard* ing this.power.of crop to yield profits. Turning to other countries for proofs, the report of the Flax Supply Aesocia* tion, as read at the 2(JtU annual ineetv ing of thut Ibotiy in' tlie Chumher of Commerce; Belfast} recently, states, that the \893 .crop was the best obtained 'for|3o yCHrs as regains quantity, quality; and "price." The yields per acre were irrUlster, 44*305t.; Munster, 38'305t.; Leinster, d6*o3st f '; and Con* naught, 54*42. The average yield for the whole island was 53.5t, per acre r andthcaverage price! Bssd perstone. The average result per acre ivould,; therefore, appear to be £23 Is (Hd. No doubt some exceptionally good crops realised £3O to £4O peracre. The number of spindles actively employed in ! the linen industry was 884,(142, and the total number in England, and (Scotland under 290,000 slightly. The local supply is quite' insufficient(to^meet the demand .of the manufacturers, the imports from abroad]., being about three-fifths of the i total, i consumption.' The only complaint made at the meet"* ing was that the- manufactures could not obtain enough Irish flux for their l purpose. ; It was generally admitted 189 a was an unusually good one, but, at the same time, 1 the results conclusively proved the soil does not become wornout from continuous flaxgrowing. These, figures were recently placed, before Victorian {armors, and brought from,&:farmer's wife some which are specially: worth of attention,, She says, in explanation of why<flax«growing does not impoverish the land, and why more flax is not produced in Irelandln the first-place, l flu* requires a rich loamy or chocolate soil,, as it will not do on clayey soil, and is always sown after a crop of potatoes, or turnip 9, or any cereal cropi vthai; has been well * The land : requires to be well, prepared by ploughing, crossploughing, harrowing, and rolling, and the seed is always sown with rye grass seed, and the red (trefolium pratense) is then harrowed in ligtitly and rolled. As soon as it is fit for pulling up by the roots, as that ii the method adopted in Ireland and all other countries where it is grown I believe, the clover is left a few-^weeks, 1 and is then cut for green fodder,* while the grass seed is cut later on for hay, and the land is then left < a« lea ;for from three, to: seven years. So; you will sees why there is so little grown.-Even allowing it canbecut in Australia, where is the machinery to scutch' it ? —for it requires more handling after growing than before. I am afraid the expenses are too great to ever compete with the countries nearer borne. The price for flax ranges from 60s to 80s a cwt., and. pullers, receive 2s 6d a day, with food, Bpreaders ditto, and lifters, Is 6d; In ,Bome, places it varies from 3d less to 3d more in Ulster. In other parts of Ireland J cainiOt say what they are paid, Again; the smell while steeping is a great drawback in a hot country like this, and people would ,not be allbwed to empty their dams into rivers, as the water kills the fish."