THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 13, 18 January 1907, Page 3

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

The Question of Cultivation

[BY W. KERR.]

This industry has become a very considerable factor in the prosperity of the colony, which may be gathered from the fact that last year the amount of hemp exported reached 28,209 tons, valued at £730,803, or nearly three-quarters of a million sterling. Its average price was £26 per ton, but latest _ quotations show that it is now realising £34 per ton. The cost of purchasing the flax leaf and its manufacture into fibre is about £lB per ton. An average crop of green leaf should yield about 40 tons to the acre, and, as it realises from 15s to £l per ton, when sold to the flaxmiller, it will, at once, be seen that 100 or 200 acres of green leaf must yield a handsome profit to their owner, especially bearing in mind that flax, once planted, requires neither time, labour, nor attention until ready for cutting. It takes, on an average, eight and a-half. tons of green leaf to yield a ton of fibre.. In Canterbury uncultivated areas have produced 80 tons of green flax to the acre, and there flaxmillers pay royalties varying from 15s to £l per ton for the green leaf. New Zealand has practically a monopoly of the flax industry, as the Phormium tenax, or flax bush, is indigenous, or native, only to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. OUR MARKETS." Our markets for the flax fibre are very extensive. We export it tp Great Britain, France, United States, Japan, Canada, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and British Columbia. THE USES OF FLAX FIBRE. The hemp is used for all sorts _ of purposes. It is mixed with manila. It is used largely in the United States and Canada for binder twine, ropes and lashings. It is made into twine and rope, and the flax tow into bags and mats. The French use the fibre in conjunction with silk, in the manufacture of tapestry and curtains, while the Japanese manufacture our flax fibre into handkerchiefs of a texture so fine and soft, that the New Zealand Customs officials took the material to be silk. Indeed, we do not yet know to which uses our flax fibre is put. Only last year, Mr Toomath, practical flaxmiller, in giving his evidence before a parliamentary committee, contended that it was being used for fabric and other manufactures, and that its value is not sufficiently known. In proof of this, he stated that he, himself, had shipped to a firm of merchants (Messrs Ledger, Smith and Co., London), a specially prepared line of New Zealand flax, the return for which was quoted at £75 P er t° n ! PROFITS OF WORKING. It costs on an average 13s per ton to cut and carry green flax to the mill, and the average cost per ton of milling the green leaf into fibre is £6 lis. Now an ordinary mill is capable of turning out, without much difficulty, 16 tons of fibre per month. This tonnage of fibre, taking eight and a-half tons of green leaf to the ton, would represent 136 tons of green leaf. The following figures are significant and speak for themselves : Price realised from sale of 16 tons of fibre at present quotation of £34 per ton..._ £544 Cost of purchasing 136 tons of green leaf at 15s per ton ...£lO2 Cost of°cutting 136 tons of green leaf and carrying them to the mill at 13s per ton £BB Cost of milling 16 tons of fibre from 136 tons of green flax at £6 lis £lO5 Profit £249 After making a liberal allowance for freight, it is clear that a comparatively small mill, like this, must yield its owner an annual income of considerably over £2OOO. ITS CULTIVATION. New Zealand flax is known botanically as Phormium tenax, phormium being the Greek word for basket. The old-time Maoris used ; the flax fibre extensively for basket-making. Flax belongs to the natural order Liliaceae, and is perennial. Its roots are said to possess valuable medicinal properties, with which, however, we are not, at present, concerned. It grows throughout the whole of New Zealand ; on flats, on the sides of hills, in swamps, and on the banks of our numerous streams and rivers. In places it covers very extensive areas extending to hundreds and, sometimes, thousands of acres. As previously pointed out, it is a native only to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is now certain that if the industry is to go forward, very great efforts must be made to cultivate the flax and increase the quantity now growing in the colony. Hitherto, millers have worked whatever uncultivated flax areas they have been able to secure. They cut all before them, and one of the greatest mischiefs, for which some of them are answerable, is permitting:, their flax cutters to cut the flax too low, thus, either destroying the plant, or retarding its growth for years. Owners of flax should insist, in their contracts, that the plant should not be cut lower than eight or nine inches from the red part of the root. It is alleged that there are many varieties of flax, only some of which are suitable for milling. Mr Gregor M'Gregor, of Wanganui, who has, on a small scale, been cultivating and experimenting with flax for some years, gives the Maori names of five varieties suitable for cultivation. They are : Nguturua, Huiiroa, Katiraukawa, Putaiora and Urumea. It is, however, a question whether too much importance is not at present being given by Mr M'Gregor to the matter of varieties, for' Mr Fulton, Government flax grader, told the parliamentary committee, last year, that, while we hear on all sides that there are many varieties of flax, and that there is a want "of knowledge as to which are the rnost profitable varieties to cultivate, there are, in reality, very few, some of these being freaks of nature. The variance very largely depends upon where the flax is grown, the nature of the soil, and the cliiriatic conditions. A person who has studied the plant thoroughly can tell, at a glance, which are good or which

are bad leaves, and on close examination, be absolutely certain of their quality. It is only very lately that efforts at cultivating flax have been made, and on a somewhat limited scale. These have been made in the Manawatu, Waikato, Taranaki and Invercargill districts ; and in some instances, the roots, not the flax seed, have been planted. In every instance, though somewhat different methods have been adopted, the results have been considered satisfactory. Mr Gregor M'Gregor affirms that both the quantity and quality of the fibre is very much improved by cultivation. He says : " I know that, under systematic cultivation, it would give a greater yield of fibre, and I can say, with every degree of truth, that it certainly improves the quality of the fibre, it becoming brighter and stronger. Flax responds readily to cultivation. It is one of the easiest plants to grow. It withstands frosts and the most severe winds, and the roots can remain out of the ground for weeks without injury.

In digging up the plants it is well to dig some little distance from the roots, so as to get well under the plant, cutting the or large main roots. It will then be found that, the numerous fan-like shoots can be easily broken off or cut off with a spade. Before planting, it is well to follow, Mr M'Gregor says, the Native mode, and cut off on a bevel from the root to the crown (or centre leaf) all the outside leaves, leaving the centre one (terito) only, or, if that be over, say 3ft, cut it off also, because if all the leaves are left on they die away and retard the growth of the young shoots. In planting, the ground should be well worked, four roots being planted together at right angles to each other, the ends of the roots together, the top to incline outwards. The plant will then have a slanting position. If the roots are planted in rows there should be a space of not less than 6ft —Bft to ioft would be best —from centre to centre : each way. An acre would thus take from 4500 to 4800 roots. It may be mentioned that an ordinary flax bush contains from 50 to 60 young roots for planting out. A Government expert says the practice is to plant the roots in trenches or rows Bft to 12ft apart, the intervening spaces being utilised by grazingsheep, but not cattle, as the latter eat the young flax shoots. Mr Raymond, who deals extensively in flax, and at the Parliamentary Committee inquiry last year represented the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce, stated that he had planted hill flax on land of poor quality that would not grow anything else —much of it being such that a goat could not live on it. There is little, if any, soil where the flax was planted, and the flax is doing well. He says all that is required is to run a single furrow, cart in the roots, plant them in rows 10ft apart, turn back the furrow, and the flax will grow. The roots will even catch on the side of a river and propagate successfully. An acre of cultivated flax, planted in the way suggested by Mr M, Gregor, on good soil, will, in four or five years, yield from 45 to 55 tons, while Mr Raymond asserts that he was told by an expert, that an acre of well grown flax Bft higH»- would represent 60 tons ; Mr Raymond thinks this is a fair estimate. It may, however, be well to err on the side of caution, and estimate the yield at about 35 tons. The cost of cultivation, of course, depends a good deal on circumstances. Roughly it will cost per acre from £5 to £7 10s. To get fairly quick results, it is best to grow from the roots and not from seed. The Americans are determined to compete with us in flax growing, for they are fairly wide awake to its value, and are buying up seed in all directions for planting where the _ climatic conditions of America are similar to those of New Zealand. It will be well, therefore, to inform such of our readers, as are directly linterested in the cultivation of flax, how to grow the flax from the seed, because, from the evidence given before the Parliamentary Committee, last year, it seemed that there is general ignorance on the subject. Mr Fulton informed the committee that study and care are necessary for the successful growing of flax from the seed. The best way is to pulverise, say, one-eighth of an acre of with finelyworked top soil about sin deep, leaving a firm subsoil. The seed should be gathered in summer, and in the autumn, the seed-bed being ready, the seed, after soaking for a few hours to assist germination, should be planted in drills about an inch from the surface, covered, and kept well irrigated. In the spring _it may be transplanted out over suitably prepared areas. It will take probably from eight to nine years before the flax grown from seed, will be suitable for fibre.

The writer would urge upon the whole farming community that though they may not be able to grow flax extensively, yet if on the spare patches of their land each of them planted a few acres, these in the aggregate would run into two, three, or more hundred acres, and would be sufficient to keepaflaxmill in constant employment, the miller paying about £l per ton for the green leaf. This would all help to increase the general prosperity and to pay rent or interest on mortgages.

It will be a great public misfortune if our people do not give to flax-grow-ing their best and immediate attention. Our flax supplies are appreciably lessening, and, if we are to keep this great source of wealth, we must be up and doing, and alive. An expert witness before the committee expressed the opinion that " neither kauri gum, nor timber, nor gold would equal the flax industry if it be jealously fostered." In conclusion, the writer wishes to express his obligations to Mr Ritchie, of the 'Agricultural Department, for official papers, fyom which much of the foregoing information lias been obtained, and _of which, in a measure, this contribution may be considered an abstract.