The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. NEW ZEALAND HEMP.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 1 September 1913, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. NEW ZEALAND HEMP.

'! llkkk was ;i lime in the history ol (lie New Zealand hemp industry when il susl.'i iued a seven 1 set-back by the action of certain careless millers who turned out inferior henij). 1 hat, however, was remedied in tile-lace of much diminished demand and poorer prices. Hut evidently the lapse of vears has solicited the recollections of millers, for in the latest issue of tlie Journal of the Agricultural Depart nic 111 we read liiat unfortunately for Ihe industry a liiyli percentage of the hemp graded last mouth was of a (list inct ly 1111satislactory character. owin<>- to the laryv amount ol diseased leaf boin<j' worked. This, however, applies principally to the Mauawafu district. Very litllc fault can be found with the work of millintr. except in regard to scutching. where carelessness resulted in many lines containing an undue proportion of '"iow-balls" and "taily ' ends. This trouble can only be rcu'arded as one of the evils of the contract suslcm. In the rush 111 ii'('t through a lar»'e amount of material tlie (jiiality of the work is ignored. Il is to be regretted that many millers do not realise the importance of keeping really badly diseased leaf separate from the better quality. They overlook the fact thai the value of the line must be determined by the most inferior portion. That is the principle on which the trade buys its raw material, and il is tlie principle which must be largely observed in the work of j> , radilil>'. In many cases the larye percentage of really diseased and practically weak hemp included 111 parcels has resulted in the exportation of hemp which can only briny discredit on plioriiiiuin-iibre 011 oversea markets. It is <|nestionable if il really pays to null some of (he badly diseased hemp .at present bciujr "uf ilised. 111 a few eases whicb came under my notice during the past month it would certainly have paid tlie miller to liave discarded a »'ood percentage of his leaf, as the higher A-alue of the remaininir fibre would have , more limn compensated bim.