The Possibility of New Zealand Hemp.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 11 April 1910, Page 4

The Possibility of New Zealand Hemp.

INTERESTING ADDRESS MY MR AKERS. TILE RIVALRY OF MANILA. NEW PKOCKSSTCS OF MANUFACTI'HIO. ("Mnnawatu Standard.") A moat interesting address was doliverwl hy Mr W. Aker.s heforo a numbiH' of llaxmillers at the Grand Hotel on Friday last. .Mr Akers has recently been on a tour of the world, and ho niado a special .study of all the -ivals of New Zealand hemp, esi , - 'ially. Manila, and at the same t ; i.ie paid special attention to th. possibilities of tho usa of hemp in manufactures other than those in which it is nt present used. The speaker said tlwit rensoni. why he went away was to find out the possihilties of tho industry and the competition to be expected from other parts of the world. He fir.sf made for Manila, having received information from Mr Cohoiii and Messrs Austin Bros. Labour conditions there struck him forcibly bofore a.nything else. No one who h,ad not been there could understand the value of cheap labour tq the industry. Philippines were only four days' sail by scow from the mainland of Canton, and the natives went across in thousands. They were quite satisfied if they could earn .£'4 to Co in a season. In the Philippines they practically had two springs—"the autumn being just like our spring, so that there were two crops n *sason in some parts. Mr Akers' ; went all round the Archipaelngo, a,nd saw the Manila in every island. The climate was sub-tropical, and would grow almost anything. The population was about six millions. He was quite sure they would be able to double their output if the market demanded it. "What is its minmum cost?" asked Mr Bell. Mr Akers re-plied that is wan a very difficult thing to gauge, .as the money stnmWd was always fluctuating in TTTe Philippines. The planters were paid in silver, and the hdf-dollar which wns valued at '2s Id wns only nominally worth Is Bd, while tho gold standard also fluctuated. The cost of production of hem]) was between £8 and £10 per ton in our gold. But the traders made money by buying in silver and selling in gold. America purchased all the fine Manila, and only the lowest grade—and there wore about sixte-en separate grades—went to London. It was about equal to our tow, but nevertheless New Zealand's best srrade was brought and so mixed with it as to cover its inferiority, and it was thus made to sell. ""Then our hemp is merely making clean aprons for other people's dirtv clothes," suggested Mr Grieg. Continuing. Mr Akers said that when in London he came across I)r Nanmanii. a leading German fabrics and dyes authority, who was now in the South Kensington Rdiool in Lo,ndon. He had made experiments with flax to see what could lie done with it. fie bad found that it could be broken up and could be made into a texture that would fake dyes more brilliantly even than silk. Mr Akers got some samples and showed them to the Ag:'iit-Geiieral, but. the matter went no further in that direction, and Dr Xaumann had asked Mr Akers to endeavour to get the New Zealand Government's bonus of C'inon reinstated. ' The bonus, it will be. remembered, was offered for anyone who could invent a process to utilise heni]) in other ways. In ffuly, continued Mr Akers, New Zealand flax was gradually finding its way into various articles of commerce. There they made a material that could hardly be distinguished from silk, while many other things also were made from it. In the Agricultural Exhibition at Paris the speaker saw a very large number of different fibres, one of which struck him, being made horn a species of aloes. It was cheaply produced and appeared to be good for .spinning. There was no doubt that New Zealand flax was going to take a great part in future in the manufacturing world, because of the way it took the dyes. When dyed the fibre wns more brilliant even than the colour itself. Mr Akers told of an experience that the Australian customs authorities had with a material which they declared was silk, but which was proved afterwards to have been made from New Zealand hemp. This tallied with Dr. Naiimann's experiments. Mr Akers considered the Flaxniillers' Association .should go to the Government and ask them to reinstate the £2000 already mentioned for a bonus to the man who could invent new processes for using the flax. In reply to Mr Bell, Mr Akers said Dr. Xaiimann used both the dressed fibre and the raw material. Further, Mr Akers said he was preparing a quantity of fibre and raw material to send Home to Dr. Naumann. He was also sending Home large samples of all the waste products of the mills, and even the vegetation to some of the leading paper millers, who were certain they could make paper from the by-pro-ducts. In reply to Mr Greig, Mr Akers said there were no big planters in Manila. The whole of the growing was done by the Filipinos.' who bartered the hemp for goods. This if the price fell by £12 a ton they would still grow it, for it was their "tucker." The method of preparing the fibre was delightfully .simple. All the machinery the "scutcher" had was a piece of oltl iron, oiii which the hemp was scraped. That was the only process it went through. The cultivation of the hemp was more costly, it having to be hoed twice a year. To Mr Bell, Mr Akers .said his reason for agitating for a reliable agent in London was that tho commodity was being abused, and was only competing with poor Manila, winch regulated our prices. The hemp was badly marketed, and ho was quite sure if it went through one chann-el only it would bring £25 per ton. Some idea of the extent of the fibre industry could be obtained from tho fact that he had seen no less thiwi 13 acres covered with sheds which all contained Manila. Dr. Naumann, said Mr Akers again, would not tell him what his process was, but said it was a chemical action which extracted an acid from the flax. That acid.at present broke up the fibre by crystallising, and when extracted the flax became silky. Mr Broad thought well of Mr Akers , suggestion to ask the Government to reinstate the £2000 on the estimates. Mr Cohen pointed out that the cyanide process in gold mining was n precedent for flaxniillers to follow. The Government had bought that process and then sold, it to the mine-owners, and if a process was discovered for assisting flax treatment then the Government might be induced to do with milling as they had done with mining. Mr Bell thanked Mr Akers for his interesting address, and stated he would liave an opportunity of addressing a full meetings of millers later on,