FLAX.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1920, 1 July 1869, Page 2

FLAX.

j {From the Wonyanul Chronicle.) \ f Now that the flax fibre is assumingimportance as an article of export, and settlers are beginning to cultivate instead of destroying the plant which produces it, any information tending to guide persons investing capital either in the growth or manufacture of the new staple may be acceptable to our readers, and rather because the country on the North side of Cook Straits between the Taranaki range and Mount Egmont lias always been regarded by the Maoris as so specially the home of the flax, that fibre and mats from thence formed objects of "ift or barter with the tribes in other 9

parts of the Island, and thence it may not uhreasonably be expected that Wanganui may become an important centre of the flax trade.

The Phormium tenax, Harakeke, or KorarL of the Maoris, varies very greatly in character and quality. It may be found of all heights from one foot to eight, or over ten feet, and with flowers of all shades of color from pale yellowish green, through orange and crimson, to a dark dull purple. In the same way the color of the leaves varies from almost yellow to almost blue y while their edges and centre ribs range from pale orange to a purplishblack, and the proportion of fibre from little more than nil to fully 25 per cent, of the weight of the leaf. Great difference is also found as regards the tenacity with which the fibres adhere to the woody matter of the leaf, it being next to impossible in the case of some leaves to get rid of the -wood without bruising and breaking the fibre so as to render it nearly worthless j while from others nearly every particle of the fibre can be torn out by hand, in so clean a state as to be completely freed from refuse by means of a few strokes of a stiff brush. The color of the fibre itself also varies from a dirty brown to brilliant silky white.

The Maoris divide the flax into sixteen varieties, but as in the wild state of course nearly every bush is a seedling, the different sorts are so blended together that scarcely any two plants are precisely alike. Of the sixteen sorts, however, the Natives only regard three as being of any value, and any one who takes the pains to examine the bushes growing in their plantations (for the Maoris cultivate all they require for their own use), will find that they consist merely of these three distinct varieties, though .a further comparison of the leaves of plants of either variety, taken from different cultivations, will show that even these vary very greatly in quality. The sorts cultivated by the Natives are the Wharariki, Ruakawa, and r ' l ihore. The first is a long-leaved flax | of a blueish color, with nearly black edges, and a purply-red flower. The fibre, which is dark-colored, adheres very tenaciously to the woody matter, and the latter is in itself very rough, and comparatively little liable to rot from exposure to damp, (tc. This sort is used for plaiting into ropes, floor mats, and good baskets, as well as for the manufacture of nets, and tying the thatch which covers native whares. The Raukawa is a shorter flax than the last, with lighter colored edges, and yellowish red flowers. The general color of the leaf is a blueish-green, but it is far thinner and apparently harder than the preceding variety, The leaf curls very little in drying, and the fibre, which is dark-colored, can be readily torn out in lengths of from eight to ten inches. It is these last points which gave it value, as it was used in the manufacture of the rough mats for out-door wear, and a perfectly rain-proof garment of this flax was far lighter than a similar article would have been conof other varieties. This sort is but little grown now, and is chiefly found in old cultivations. The fibre is extremely strong, beautifully white, and appears to be enclosed in the wood but hardly connected with it. The woody portion of the leaf and its skin are so brittle that when the fibre is torn out the extraneous matter which comes with it can readily be removed by scraping with a shell or in the best samples with a brush. When first extracted from the leaf, the fibre appeal's too coarse to be useful for any thing but rope, but after a few hours soaking and being beaten between stones, it subdivides into an immense number of silky fibres and is then ready for use. Persons intending to plant it, split the leaf into halves rejecting the centre and edges; then cut each half just through the skin of the under-side or back of the leaf at about its middle ; double the ends together (the face touching the face) and grasping and squeezing the cut firmly ■with the left hand, lay the folded leaf half round the left thigh, and with the right hand pulling, and the left thrusting so as to keep the portion of the leaf from which the fibre is being torn pressed tightly on the thigh, try what length and amount of fiitre will come away. Then turn the leaf over-, and grasping the ends of the extracted fibre with the right hand, tear it in the same way from the other end. It will soon bo found how greatly the length and thickness of fibre obtainable by this means varies; and any bush whose leaves will irot give strong fibre the whole width of the half-leaf, and at least a foot long, should be rejected as u6t worth propagating, as the force necessary to separate the wood from the fibre will bruise and damage the latter so as to materially lessen its market valuV. A leaf of the best Tihore thus treated will yield two ribbons of fibre each kwo inches broad, about a sixteentli of an inch thick ; and the whole gf the which varies from three to

four feet acccording to soil, and all the extraneous matter adhering to it, "will be a little skin broken up like fine bran, which can be brushed off when dry. Everyone, therefore, cultivating flax should endeavor to get a few bushes of Tihore, and propagate them carefully, with a view to future planting ; but as at present they can only be obtained from the Maoris, and the number of plants is very limited, of course a shift must, for the time, be made with the inferior sorts. No doubt, like all other plants, the flax will in course of time be improved by cultivation, and even the Tihore, by careful selection, be improved upon, but as good flax is no more trouble to plant, and occupies no more ground than bad, we have printed the above particulars in order to save our readers from disappointment from cultivating an inferior article.