GRADING OF TOW.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 452, 6 March 1909, Page 3

GRADING OF TOW.

CHIEF GRADER’S VISIT TO FOXTON, Mr C. J. Fulton, chief fibre expert, paid a visit to Foxton on Tuesday last. The object of his visit was to superintend the grading of tow at the local grading sheds and to explain the new regulations in respect to same. In conversation with our representative, Mr Fulton stated that the regulations would result in the miller obtaining much higher prices for tow than under the old order of things. Mr Fulton said that when in England recently he had visited a number of the large factories there and found that as a rule the tow received was of very poor quality. Numbers of manufacturers had giveu up using it all together, and others bad informed him that they would not take any more after their present supplies had been used. In many cases the waste in the bales amounted to 45 per cent. He had seen bales opened in the English houses which were almost full of rubbish with a ‘shell’ of good fibre all round the outside. Some ot the millers in New Zealand had made a practice of baling up their tow in this manner, knowing that it would not be opened up until it reached the Home market. This kind of thing had completely spoiled the demand for New Zealand tow in England. Mr Fulton said that he had assured the English manufacturers that on his return to the Dominion, he would approach the Government and get all tow graded by Government officials as was the case with hemp, and then they (the manufacturers) would know exactly what they were paying for. The manufacturers had told him if this were done they were prepared to again use the tow. Immediately on his return he had approached the Government and laid the whole matter before them and the present regulations was the result.

The regulations allow for three grades of tow which is graded on the following lines: colour, length and strength and freedom from rubbish. Mr Fulton said that though the new regulations would put the miller to a small extra expense for tags, cost of grading etc., he considered that the grading would be the means of increasing the price of first grade tow from £2 to £3 per ton. As soon as the manufacturers lound out the differences in the grades he did not think there would be any demand at all for the third grade. One bale of tow that our representative saw Mr Fulton grade on Tuesday was in a very bad state, it contained a large quantity of dust, some dry flaxbands, pieces of flax sticks, and other rubbish. This was the kind of thing that the English manufacturers had been paying the price of best New Zealand tow for. Mr Fulton was of opinion that as soon as the millers found out the benefit of the grading they would take more care in baling the tow and a far better quality of tow would come forward. Spea king of the quality of hemp that was now coming forward. Mr Fulton said that it had greatly improved of late. He considered this was due to a large extent to the better stripper-keeping. At present the majority of the stripper keepers were thorough masters of the machines.