THE HEMP INDUSTRY

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 3, 15 March 1913, Page 319

THE HEMP INDUSTRY

W. H. Ferris.

Unsatisfactory Quality.

With many millers working for only high-point fair-grade, combined with a good percentage of diseased leaf in some phormium-areas, the quality of the fibre which reached the. grading-stores last month was decidedly disappointing. This was practically confined to the Manawatu and Auckland districts. In several cases the stripping has been so unsatisfactory, thereby resulting in bruised fibre, that the hemp has only reached a common grade. Two or three Wairarapa mills have been short of water "for washing purposes, with the result that the fibre has been badly stained. Consequently only a common .grade could be awarded. •O Poor Scutching.

The most unsatisfactory feature of milling - work as disclosed by the grading of the past month has been the decidedly inferior scutching generally in evidence. Failure to scutch the fibre properly is a very serious defect, as it means that cordage - manufacturers cannot produce a twine free from lumps. The presence of these lumps in binder-twine causes the twine to break, and thereby delays reaping operations. The unsatisfactory scutching is solely due to careless work on the part of the scutcher. This defect in, our fibre is undoubtedly prejudicing it in the eyes of manufacturers, especially those who have a profitable substitute available.

Hawke’s Bay and Southern Mills doing Good Work.

Very little, good-quality fibre came to hand from the Manawatu .and • Foxton mills. The best phormium has been forwarded by mills in Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, and Westland. I had the pleasure of grading 189 bales of fine-grade fibre in Hawke’s Bay the other day—a beautifully stripped and prepared line from one of the cleanest and most uniform fields of phormium I have seen. This swamp is practically in its native state, there being only a few shallow drains in •evidence. The leaf is. therefore growing under natural conditions. There was not a speck .in . the leaf throughout the area, in strong ■contrast to the poor condition of the leaf in many of our overdrained swamps. The Marlborough hemp is generally of a very satisfactory standard. In only one case is a miller of that district turning

out a fair line, principally owing to the distance the leaf has to be carried, -thereby inducing heating, which turns the leaf black and makes good dressing and colour impossible. Four or five millers have been securing a fine grade, and one miller has produced- a “ superior ” line. The Westland mills. are turning out a fibre of an excellent standard, generally reaching high-point good-fair. They have a good leaf to work with, and the milling of it is being conducted on sound lines. ' • Southland Mills working Up-to-date Methods. Southland millers are improving their methods of stripping, and,, having installed automatic washing-machines, are turning out a free and good-coloured fibre, which has been commonly reaching highpointed good-fair. One or two millers with a small output are obtaining a good-fair article under the old methods. They certainly, however, have a good leaf to work with, though this is rather on the short side. Unsatisfactory Tow. Tow is reaching the grading-stores in a very unsatisfactory condition, except in a few instances where millers are having it shaken well. Seeing there is an increasing demand for this by-product, it is most unsatisfactory to know that the quality is declining instead of advancing. Development in the South. Just sixty mills have recommenced operations in Otago and Southland this season, after having been out of commission for five or six years. The output was considerably restricted during the month owing to unfavourable weather, which was also the cause of the fibre milled being of poor colour. Canterbury Fibre of Good Standard. The hemp being produced in the Canterbury district is of good quality. Little of it is being graded, as the bulk is being purchased by local cordage-manufacturers. Canterbury fibre is very well milled, the resulting thread being free, strong, of good colour, and • well scutched. ■ It is thought highly of for binder-twine purposes. Stripper-slips. Altogether too much gum and vegetation is being left in stripperslips. This gives the by-product a very bad colour, and thereby militates against its' extended employment. In several cases millers have been packing the slips in a damp condition, which brings about a dangerous heating of the bales. Two or three lines have arrived at the grading-stores during the month in a very heated state, with the result that they had to be condemned for export.