FLAX INDUSTRY

Hokitika Guardian, 21 January 1932, Page 2

FLAX INDUSTRY

PRODUCTION OF HEMP, EXPORT VALUES. SERIOUS DECLINE SHOWN. Jn view ol' the need for the devt h>pnieiit of primary industries other than thr.se from which the Oomm.on ai present ree l'.es t.ie hula <d ils national income, many peoti.e aie nine more turning attention to New Zealand liax, or phormium teuax. Sis 1 has praitieally ousted New Zealand llax as a leading nrodueer of hemp, and this, as well as the prevailing hard’times, has caused tile export of New Zealand hemp to fall off in an alarming man-

J low serious is the position of the (iax industry,;is illustrated by the tallowing figures, i<or the year ended Al.iir.li 111, 11.30, the 1'.0.b. value ol hemp, tow, stripper tow and stripper slips exported fiom New Zealand totalled £382,39-1, whereas the export value of these articles for the following yetir —that ended March 31, 1931 —totalled £91,658. This meant a loss to New Zealand of £290.736 in export values when the figures for the two years are compared. Further, the loss in wages to employees in the industry tan he put down in round figures at about £120,000 THIS YEAR’S PRODUCTION, This year the position will be even worse ami donut has been expressed whether Aew Zealand’s hemp production tor the year ending March next will amount to 3000 tors. In view of the fact that in the vicinity of 2d,00 tons is used annually by rope manufacturers and others in the Dominion, the export trade for the current year is likely to he almost negligible. In an cli'ort to rehabilitate the industry the Unemployment Hoard has oil'ered a subsidy of £3 per ton, while there is also an oiler by the Government of £IO,OOO for a machine that will produce dOO tons el high-class fibre at a more economical figure than that at present obtaining, '.ibis oiler holds good until May 31 next. Mr C. M. Plane, technical engineer for Richard Garrett and Eons. Ltd., Leiston, England, is experimenting in the Manawatu with a machine he recently brought out from the Old Country. This fhix stripper is a modification of the type used iu Kenya Colony and the West Indies for sisal. Three other promising machines are at present being tried out in different farts of New Zealand, while another in Great Britain lias yet to he tested in this country.

It is estimated tlie world list's 450,000 tons of lmrd fibre per year and a share of this is the potential market at which New Zealand , has to aim. Sufficient raw material is estimted to be at present growing in .New Zealand to return 16,000 tons of fibre, while several flax plantations that are coming on should be able to add to this quantity. tSEI) BY THE MAORIS. When the Maoris came to New Zealand front their island homes in the South Seas they dressed themselves m garment's of tapa doth. Tnis they found too thin for the colder climate here, and they turned their attention to the long, green, lleshy leaves of the Hus plant. It was not long before they learned how to strip the fibres and prepare them for plaiting and crude weaving into doth. I hoy soon discovered, however, that of the many varieties only a lew kinds were suited for their purpose. By observation and a proves of trial and error they selected the best and planted and cultivated them near their pas- So valuable were these plots oi flax to the Maoris that when they moved to new places they dug up the roots and took them with them. It is said there are over j-00 kinds of fhi.x. but'only a very few, three or four kinds, have so far proved to lie of real commercial value. Tiie Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has done much by tests and experiments to reduce the number o the minimum, while Dr •). S. 1 cates, of Massey Agricultural (Allege, lias proved that one of these strains, the fibre of which is the strongest known is almost immune from disease and so should lie capable of wide use in producing a hemp which may rival the best from other lands.