THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1082, 22 March 1911, Page 8

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

' . HEJIP AND TOW GIUDINGS. The. totfil' number of. bales of hemp graded by . the Department of Agricui- ; turo during January was 'JBOSI bales, as ' against. 12,2'JG for the corresponding month of the,previous year, a decrease 01 •2397 bales. For the twolva, months ended January 31 the number of bales graded, was 124,417, as against 93,035 itr the .previous twelve monchs; an increase of 31,382 bales. . , .'.... During. January 3250 bales of tow were dealt with, as. against .1181 bales for the ' previous month, a decrease of 928 bales. -..Jlbst of the .hemp (over two-thirds) came from the. Wellington province—33ll bales from Foxton and 3538 bales from • Wellington. Of'.the whole Dominion's b'ntput, 63.39 .per. cent, was good fair, 4.21 per cent, of fino, 30.75 per cent, fair, and ■ 1.35 per cent, common.. The percentage .rejected wa5..0.3. Jn-bales , the. qualities • were represented as follows-.—Fine, +17; good '.fair, f>275; fair, 3041; and common, • 133. There Was none of superior grade, and the mimber of baies rejected was 30. The quantities credited to the various ports wore:—Auckland, 1701 bales; Na-pier,-238; Foxton, 3311; Wellington, 3533; Blenheim, 127; Picton. 175; Lyttelton, 75; Durfedih, 278; and Bluff, 447. F-oxton's total quantity consisted of 85 bales fine, 2979 good fair, 218 fair, 8 common, and.2l rejected. Wellington's, figures were.:. 97 fine, 1891 gooil fair, 1508 fair, 33 common, and 9 rejected. Of the 127 bales graded at Blenheim, 114 were classed fine and the remainder good .fair. The 325G bales of tow which wore handled were graded at the ports in the following .quantities:—Auckland, G72 bales; Napier, GO; Foxton, 749; Wellington, 1179; Blenheim, SG; Picton, 175; Lyttelton, 95; Dunedin, 22; and. Bluff, 218. Foxton's total was made up of 50 bales, first grade, 554 second grade, and 13G third grade. Wellington's total consisted of 362 bains first grade, CGI second, 132. thin!, and 21 condemned. For. the whole Dominion, 159 ' bales wore 'condemned. The balance consisted of 745 bales first grade, 1617 second, and 705 third. About fifteen nor cent, of the tow graded at Auckland was condemned. It is. reported that a good many Hawke's Bay sheep have been going into Taranaki lately.