FLAX COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2710, 24 October 1871, Page 2

FLAX COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT.

(From the Lyttelton Times.) One of the first duties which the Flax Commissioners were directed to undertake was to Wait the chief districts of the colony where the preparation of Phorminm fibre is carried on, with the view of inquiring into the different processes of manufacture. From a table appended to the report, it appears that during 1870, there were 161 mills in operation, having an aggregate of 342 stripping machines, employing 1,450 horse-power and 1766 persons, and producing 4457 tons of fibre. A large number of the mills were, however, closed towards the end of the year, owing principally to the fall in the market value of the staple. Colonel Haultain visited and inspected the principal mills in operation, and the results of his inquiries are summarised in the report, a detailed statement appearing in the appendix. He found that througout the colony the method of manufacture is almost identical, and the object—production of fibre for rope-making purposes—the same. There have been no ma erial alterations in the processes of manufacture since a former Flax Commission reported, but, labour having become more skilled, there has been a marked improvement in the quality of the fibre produced. Colonel Haultain has no doubt that if all the manufacturers could take advantage o! every minor improvement which has been effected in the different districts, they would still further improve the fibre and diminish the cost of its production. True, unquestionably, but how are tie manufacturers to find out what improvements have been made ? Canterbury is foi> tunate in possessing a very energetic Flax Association, by means of which the industry has been greatly promoted and aided, but pvery province or district is not in the same enviable pqsitfon. For the purpose of the report, the colony is divided into three districts—northern, central, and southern. The first-named includes the province of Auckland only, and the mills are mostly in one locality. It is rather surprising to be told that the plant is not abundant in the northern district, and that the cost of the green leaf is therefore correspondingly high. We had always been under the impression that there was abundance of flax inmost parts of the North Island, and that it was of a superior quality. Colonel Haultain says there is sufficient for small mill owners, “ who, working themselves and with their families, and sparing no pains to produce a good article—for none other will sell at a remunerative price—can earn fair wages,” The fibre meets with a ready sale m Auckland, to the rope-spinners or for export to Sydney, where a considerable quantity is used. One firm alone has paid as much as L 13,000 within the past three years for flax fibre, and “the favorite manufacturers cannot produce it, fast enough to meet the demand. ” This is certainly encouraging, more eipecislly when we consider that most of the producers are small freeholders, who devote only 'a portion of the year to the preparation of flax. The price paid in Auckland for apprpvcd brands is from LI? to L2J per ton, and the cost of production is from Ll4 10s to Ll6. Great stress is laid by Colonel Haultain on neat baling, in addition to careful preparation. Murray’s brand, he remarks, is considered one of the best, and fttc'ies the highest rate. “It is not only carefully prepared, but is also very neatly baled, as is the greater part of the Auckland fibre; and there is no doubt that this is one of the advantages that the Northern fibre has oyer that of the other island in the Home market. 1 ' The machines mostly iu use in the Northern district are Price’s and Gibbons’s, with an improvement on the former by Dugald, As usual, there was great difference of opinion about their respective merits, and it appears from other portions of the report that improved machinery is the one great desideratum for producers. The proper machine has not yet been discovered, and, until it is, the preparation of phormium will not be as profitable as we are fully convinced it might be under favorable conditions.

Operations in the central district, which includes the provinces of Napier, Wellington, Taranaki, Nelson, and Marlborough, are not conducted on a large scale, though the industry promises great extension in the course of a few years. Two companies have commenced operations at Qpunake, fifty miles north of New Plymouth, under very favourable circumstances, They lease extensive

areas of flax-covered land from the Natives, have an abundance of water for power and washing, and inexhaustible supply of raw material close at hand, are at no expense for land carriage, and labor is procurable at moderate rates. If therefore, the Commissioners observe, the manufacture of the fibre is to pay in any part of the colony it should do so here. Tie report directs special attention to the ravages of a small caterpillar, which is said to have made its appearance in several parts of, we presume, the central district, and to have very largely injured the leaves of the flax plants in the neighborhood : “It attacks the leaves in the early summer, and cats away the hbre m long patches, which leads to an extra quantity of tow being scutched out during the manufacture. ” We do not remember to have heard of this caterpillar, before, and are sorry to learn that the immunity of flax from ills that most plants are subject to is not so complete as wo had been led to believe. Some of the Marlborough manufacturers appear to produce a very superior article, and the Commissioners inform us that this superiority is not attributable in any way to the quality of the raw material. The leaves are selected with great care, and every part of the process receives the closest attention, “ especially the adjustment of the machine.” The cost of the fibre delivered in Blenheim, ready for shipment, is stated to be Ll4 to Lls per ton, and the prices realised in London from L3l to L 36. These, we should imagine, are exceptional cases, though we are aware that the Marlborough flbre has always been very highly praised.