Football.

Manawatu Herald, 25 September 1900, Page 2

Football.

FOXTON JUNIORS v. LEVIN JUNIORS. The above match, was played on the racecourse on Saturday, and although greatly in favour of the local boys, proved a very interesting game. From the start it.was easily seen that the Foxton boys were heavier than their opponents, and were going to have the best of the game, but tbe Levin boys played up and defended well. In the first spell Foxton was awarded a free kick in front of the goal for off-side play by a Levin player, and Galbraith placed a neat goal. Later on in the same spell from a rush by the Foxton backs E. Hunter waa grounded within a yard of the line, and J. Furrie snapped the ball up and crossed the line like a flash. No goal resulted. In the second spell E. Hunter ran right through his opponents and scored, but the attempt at goal Was a failure. All through the second spell Levin was confined to their twentyfives, but played pluckily, and the game ended Foxton 9 points, Levin nil. For Foxton R. Simmonds, E. Hunter and G. Dunn, in the backs played well, especially the latter who, for a beginner, played a splendid game. In the forwards Hooker, Galbraith and J. Furrie were the pick. For Levin Dunn and Mclntosh played the best of the backs. Mr L. Furrie refereed in an impartial manner. After the game the Levin boys were entertained by the local boys at tea.

The following Report from inforiZ l ation gained by a personal visit to the. Philippine Islands in July last, by Mr H. Austin, has been handed to us for publication : — TO THE CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE NEW ZEALAND FLAXMILLERS' j ASSOCIATION. Gentlemen, — In accordance with tha arrangement entered into between your Association and myself that I should visit the Philippine Islands with a view of gaining information as to the production and probable supplies of Manila Hemp and all matters likely to advance the interests of the Association, and I now beg to submit my report. Taking into consideration the cir- "* cumstances existing in the Philippine •Islands at the present time, arising from the late war, the Association will readily understand the difficulty ot obtaining reliable information on any subject of a commercial character, nevertheless at the expense of a great deal of time and trouble I have succeeded in obtaining information of a valuable character, the reliability of which cannot be doubted. < Among certain olaases there appeared to be a desire to oifer me every facility for eliciting the information I required, others again were not blow in opposing my endeavours to procure good and reliable evidence, and there seemed to exist a doubt as to how far it was wise to disclose full and complete details, and it was not till after many interviews and a great amount • of correspondence that I succeeded in assuring them that I had no desire to upset or interfere in any way with the present system of conducting the fibre' trade. In this report will be found a table of statistics giving the production and export of Manila Hemp for the last ten years, a perusal of which I am sure will be of advantage to the members ot your Association. The information contained in this letter was furnished me by R. Calder Smith, Esq., Secre« tary of the Manila Chamber of Commerce to whom I am indebted not only for the above, but also a vast amount of other information bearing on the subject. The following gentlemen also merit my sincere thanks for the kind and willing assistance rendered me and the readiness with which they sought to advance the object of my visit :— I. T. McLeod, Esq., Director General ofthe Company Maritima ; I. McLeod, Esq., General Merchant, Manita ; N. Smith, Esq., (Smith, Bell & Co.); H.Williams, Esq., of Kerr & Co., General Merchants, Manila. For the sake of comparison I have also included the statistics of the pro- s duction and export of flax from Hew >*v Zealand for the year 1899 ant j hrust the perusal of it may act as a stimulus to producers of fiax in the Colony. MANILA HEMP (ABACA). Hemp (musa textilis) referred to by some writers as (M. paradisacia) is found growing in many parts of the Philippine Islands. In appearance it greatly resembles the well-known and edible banana, only experts can perceive the difference in the density of colour and size of the green leaves — those of the hemp plant being of a somewhat darker hue, and shorter. The plant seems to thrive best on an inclined plane, and nearly all the wild hemp I saw was on the slopes of mountains and far away down the ravines. Although the plant requires a lot of moisture, (the only exception to this rule that I know of being the island of Salu, which is situated at the southern extremity of the Philippine Islands) it will not thrive in swampy land, and to attain any great height, it must ba well shaded by other trees more capable of bearing the sun's rays. From the fact tbat I found it flourishing in its natural state on the slopes of volcanic foimation, I gather that a great depth of soil is not indispensable 4 for its development. In the Province nf Altay it grows on the declivities of . the Mayon Volcano. The hemp tree in the Philippines reaches an average height of ten feet. The plant requires three years to arrive at cutting maturity, or four years if raised from the seed ; most planters however transplant the six-' months suckers, instead of the seed, when forming a new plantation. Planted in virgin soil, each shoot occupies at first a space of eight square feet. In the course of time this regularity of distribution disappears as the original plant is felled, and the suckers come up everywhere from its root. The stem is cut for fibre-drawing at the flowering-maturity, in no case is it allowed to bear truit as the fibre is thereby weakened, and there is sometimes even a waste of material in the drawing as the accumulation of fibre with the sap at the knife is greater. In virgin soil the plants are set out at the rate of say, 720 to each acre, but on old worked land a greater number can be sown, the reason for tbis being tbat tbe hemp plant in rich soil, throws out a great number of shoots from the same root which require nourishment and serve for replanting. The young plants will sometimes throw up as many as thirty suckers. If 9pace were not left for their development the main stem would I flower before it bad reached its full j height and circumference. ! The largest forest trees are intentionally left to shade the plants and young shoots, so that only light rooting is imperatively necessary. A conflagration could not spread far amongst the green leaves and sappy petioles. Therefore the Manila crops are never likely to be destroyed by fire, as was anticipated by some people ; neither has it been attacked in any degree by blight. The plants are only at rare intervals damaged by hurricanes, from which they are fairly well protected by the density of the forest ; being set out on high land, they are extremely seldom inundated ; locusts do not attack tbe foliage, and beetles do very little, it any harm. There is no special cropping seteon

as the plants do not all mature at precisely the same time, and the fibre extraction can be performed with little precipitation and more or less all the year round. No ploughing is necessary although the plant thrives better when weeding is carefully attended to. Although there arc about 1400 islands in the Philippine group, there are only about fourteen islands on which the hemp plant grows ; the reason being that the soil on the other islands, not being of volcanic nature, is unsuitable for the growth of hemp. The finest quality of hemp is produced in the islands of Layte and Marinduque, and in the districts of Sorsogon and Gubat of the Province of Altay (Luxon). - Hemp growing with ample capital, appears to be the most lucrative and least troublesome of all agricultural enterprises in the Colony, while it is quite independent of the seasons. The great advantage to the colonist in starting hemp-growing consists in the clearance requiring to bs only partial, whilst newly opened up land is much preferable. Of course the great drawback to the beginner with only limited capital is tha fact that he cannot expect to recoup himself for his labour for at least three years. After that period the risk is small, drought being the only natural calamity to be feared. ' The difficulties with which the European hemp cultivator has to contend, all centre in the one thing, viz., the indolence of the native ; hence there is a continual struggle between capitalist and labour iv the attempt of the former to counterbalance the natives inconstancy and antipathy to honest toil.

(To be Continued.)