FLAX GROWING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4724, 14 July 1924, Page 2

FLAX GROWING.

“BETTER THAN DAIRYING.” HAURAKI PLAINS EXPERIMENT. An experiment in the cultivation of New Zealand flax is about to be begun on deep peat land on the Hauraki Plains, and if success is achieved the ilax industry should enter upon a new era. The Lands Department has allotted to Mr G. Smerle, who is a botanist as well as a practical authority upon flax, an area of 370 acres oi peat land at Kaihere, close tp the riako River, on condition that he plants it in phormium (says the Dominion). He is to make his own arrangements for milling the leaf. The area, owing to the depth of the peat and the fact that the clay be.d dips so low that drainage under ordinary methods is not practicable, is not suitable for dairying, and if Mr Smerle is able to prove his contention, that by selection, cultivation, and improved methods of cutting, flax-grow-uis gives a greater return titan dairying, there is little doubt that the industry will receive a tremendous impetus. Ai the very least, the probelm of deep peat country will be solved, it is Mr Smerle’s opinion, however, that on peat land the fibre content of the leaf is lower than that of leaf grown pn substantial soil, but he also is convinced that by the use of proper manures this can be readily corrected. Mr Smerle, who has had wide European experience, first became associated with the flax industry in New Zealand when .he was employed by Manawatu millers, who received a Government subsidy.to investigate the yellow leaf disease. His observations appeared to indicate that the trouble was partly due to the fact that through regular ruthless cutting the plants had become impoverished, and had small power pf resistance against disease. He then developed his theory of side leaf cutting, by which the mature leaves are cut every year instead of every leaf being cut every three or Hour years. From a practical demonstration he has shown that not only does this method of cutting conserve the vitality of plants, but also increases the yield, for it eliminates the usual waste through some pf the outer leaves dying before the general cut is due, and also results in cutting leaves which give .the maximum return of fibre. It is obvious, of course, that where allrihe young leaves are cnt the proportion of fibre to waste is less than where only mature leaves are taken. As to the cultivation of selected plants, Mr Smerle states that the fibre yield varies from 2.5 tp 22.2 per cent, of the total bulk of leaf according to variety, of which there are many. Hence he argues that the best varieties must be cultivated, and he adds that the history of scientific agriculture shows that selection and cultivation always result in improvement. He instances the potato, which has been developed from a very inferior wild plant, also maize and every other grain and fruit. Another point he emphasises is that there is yet no use in New Zealand of phormium tenax fibre for anything but cordage and rope, yet microscopical examination shows that every fibre is composed of from 120 to 500 strands, and therefore there are possibilities of use of these ultimate fibres in the manufacture of textiles when a means is found of separating them. This, he states, is done in Japan today.

Mr Snie le says that he has definitely proved that by side leaf cutting a return of 15 tons of green leaf an acre can be obtained every year from good flax growing in its native state on swamp land, where cattle are occasionally grazed. This will, yield two tons of fibre, and two tons of fibre a year from every acre will give a return that no dairy farmer ever dreamed pf. At recent values he made a comparison with the return from wild flax completely cut every four years with the return of an expert dairy farmer. The profit on flax, he says, was equal to £l3 an acre a year. The dairy farmer’s own figures showed a profit of £3 9s an acre annually. At the present stage it would be unwise to accept these figures without making allowance for market and manufacturing exigencies, fire risks, and other considerations possibly not allowed for, but they cannot be dismissed. Mr Smerle believes that bn the Hauraki Plains settlers might combine flax-growing with dairying, a group establishing co-operative strippers to deal with their flax just as they establish dairy factories to de'al with their butter-fat