Hemp

Horowhenua Chronicle, 5 November 1915, Page 2

Hemp

(.By \V. iJ. l'eiii.s, in the Journal oi Agriculture..) tiuiiiu improvement has been noticeable m tlio qua lily ol' tlie hemp lor-warde-d l<ir .shipment (tilling the past inontli Irom the .Wanawatu mills. W'nirarapa, .Uai I borough, Wcbtland, Uantcrbuiy and Southland maintained ;i lib'i'j «1' good quality, Having apparentIγ consistently worked to to a good-fair stantliii'd, and in soim; cases to a line Srado. In this they "Were liesisknl by having a .siipjjly ol' yood leal, in many insi a noes in Uio.se districts tin , leal lias been sorted into different lengths. Tiiis soiindi pi'actiit , not only means bet tei and more uniform stripping and more rfrective scutching, but miihu'iiiity in the baled fibre. BeHiie.'i llio increase coniercial value there i* less w;iste in Ihe mi Ding process, a sirving wlic'li more, than compensates for .slightly increased cost of production. ■The flax grub or caterpillar has again made its appearance in the .MunaAvatu district, and is working havoc in some pliorniiiim areas, making it piaclicafiy impossible lor millers working the aifected flax to secure good-fair gnwle; while the broken character of ihe lib re leads to an merea.se in the quantity ot the tow produced and 11 deterioration in its quality. Tt is to ho regretted that many millers do not realize the importance of keeping renlly ba<lly diseased! loaf npnrt from the hotter (|iiality. They should not overlook the fact that the value of the lines must be determined by th<> inferior portion. That i? the principle on 'which tlio manufacturing trade buys its raw material, and it is a princple which must he largely observed in the work of grading.

If priros arc niaijifcninofl Mio sonson's output should constitute n record. Practically nil mills fn rho Watisnvatu arc ivorki'nn; at full and i'lic supply <«f leaf is abmifJiant.