FLAX COMMISSIONERS.

45

G.—No. 4

17. J. C. White, Auckland. Bataroa. Not soaked ; merely brushed and stripped. White's machine used. 18. J. C. White, Auckland. Bataroa. Soaked in running water five hours before being hung up to dry. 19. Ensor Brothers, Canterbury. Boiled. Price in Christchurch, £25 a ton. Colour bad, but otherwise good. 20. Ensor Brothers, Canterbury. Boiled. Price in Christchurch, £20 a ton. 21. Richmond Flax Company, Matata, Bay of Plenty. Stripped ; washed i passed twice through india-rubber rollers, with a pressure of one ton; bleached in sulphur fumes two hours ; sun dried and scutched. Cost about £20, delivered in Auckland. 22. Richmond Flax Company, Matata, Bay of Plenty. Stripped; washed; sulphured four hours; sun dried and scutched. Cost about £20 a ton, delivered in Auckland. 23. Chatham Islanders. Hand-dressed, and scutched afterwards. Exhibited by Canterbury Flax Association. 24. W. Skey, Wellington. Hand-dressed. Scraped with a knife and washed keeping it constantly wet until the operation was finished. No chemicals used. 25. A. E. Menzies, Southland. Prepared from cabbage tree. 26. A. R. Menzies, Southland. Prepared by new process. 27. A. R. Menzies, Southland. Tow from No. 26. 28. W. T. L. Travers, Wellington. Boiled; passed through grooved rollers and running water and dried. 29. Ensor, Canterbury. Tarn; dressed at a less expense of £3 Bs. than the ordinary process: — Drying Ground, per ton ... ... ... £2 0 0 Scutching ... ... ... ... 10 0 Baling, Iron, Canvas ... ... ... 0 6 0 Freight ... ... ... ... 10 0 Extra Expense— 4 6 0 1 ton Green Leaf ... ... ... 0 18 0 £3 8 0 30. Enson, Canterbury. Tarn. do. do. CLASS ll.—c.

Collection of 1870. EXTEACT FEOM RepOET OF Db. HeCTOB. 1-70. Russian hemp, clean and long; average strength, 96. 2-70. Manilla, very fine sample. Average strength, 100. 3-70. Maori dressed ; half a hank; length, 4 feet; uniformly white, with silky lustre ; fibre, downy. Microscopic—fibres free, rough in outline, form adherent, cellular tissues ; fasciculus broken up. Average strength, 101. 12-70. Prepared by a steaming process ; small hank ; length 6 feet; colour red at base, yellowish white at tips; soft and flexible, but the sample appears to have been rubbed ; fibres moderately downy ; very free from boon ; lustre deficient. Microscopic—Fibres free and hair like; fasciculus broken up ;no adherent tissue. Average strength, 63. 13-70. Prepared by modified retting process; small hank, length 4 feet; greenish ; flexible but harsh with little lustre; fibres downy ; no boon. Microscopic—Fibres straight and adherent, rough by the attachment of dark bands of connective tissue. Average strength, 51. 14-70. Scraped by machinery and soaked ; very small sample ; length 3 feet; tips and buts cut off; soft, flexible and downy, but deficient in lustre. Microscopic—Fibres broken into short lengths; not free; rough from adherent tissue. Average strength, 72. 15-70. Machine dressed, and then treated with chemical reagents; very small samples ; soft but dull, like cotton waste. Microscopic —Fibres divided freely; very flexible, but breaks short, with ragged ends. Average strength, 47. 12