NEW ZEALAND FLAX

Hokitika Guardian, 31 August 1929, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND FLAX

FUTURE OF INDUSTRY. The necessity for greater production of New Zealand phormimn hemp has been .stressed on' many occasions bj GovelrnmiMit officials and others in close touch with the industry. Mr Robert Burns, of Messrs Jolm Burn.' and Co., Ltd., whose firm has been interested lor many years in the hemp export business, and who ha.recently returned from England, com ments on this aspect of the industry as follows:

“during my recent visit, to England I took the opportunity of intei viewing a good many of my friends interested in the New Zealand hem,market/friends of many years’ stunning, and the universal complaint i found both from manufacturers and merchants was that the quantity oi New Zealand hemp available was to, limited.

“The manufacturers’ point of view was tliat they iiad to adjust their machines to handle New Zealand hemp, they could not buy sufficient to keep their machines on it, and liac; to alter their! machines again when they went back to sisal or Manila. •‘The merchants’ point of view was the unsatisfactory market, because they could not (depend on a continuity or sufficienqy of supplies, whereas there was always a very large quantity of sisal and Manila hempavailable. The amount of New Zealand hemp available is so small as to bo almost negligible, and a number of ’the merchants have proposed to give up handling New Zealand hemp altogether unless the export of this article from New Zealand increases. “In so far a& the quality is concerned, the usei-s are perfectly satisfied with New Zealaud hemp for the purposes for which they have been m the habit of purchasing it. ’ *‘l was agreeably surprised at the absence of complaints as to Govern ment grading, both merchants and manufacturers seemed to be quite satisfied with this." In view of the above it may be stated that the production of hemp in the Dominion should, within a few years, show a noticeable increase from the flax plantations now being established in various. parts of the Dominion. Out of 8000 acres being planted by one company about 35Cu acres have already been planted, and early in the New Year the milling plant is ; to be erected to deal with the leaf from , the first 1 planted areas of this company.

The importance to New Zealand of the development of the industry will be realised from the fact tha t over » period of ten years in the Manawati: district, millers paid an average royalty of £1 per ton on the green leaf purchased for milling ,purposes. In the wild swamp areas, taking the crop over a period of years, the average annual yield of leaf would be from seven to nine tons per acre. On the basis of the average annual royalty paid to the owners of the swamps the net return from the land greatly exceeded that obtainable from dairying-

The output of leaf from the plantations will undoubtedly be much larger than from the wild flax areas.The New Zealand Government figures estimate a yield of from 20 to 30 tons of deaf per acre per annum off properly-established plantations under suitable soil and climatic conditions when the plantations reach full maturity, and this estimate is according to authentic information received from the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture, being largely exceeded in the matured plantations of New Zealand phormium tenax established in the Argentine. If these figures can be obtained in New Zealand, and as the natural lialbitat of the plant everything- should be in its favour, then taking into account the advantages of the permanent nature oi tin? crop, and one whioh requires the minimum of attention, the industry should 1 assume greatly increased importance as a source of wealth to the Dominion.