OUR FLAX.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 705, 6 January 1910, Page 3

OUR FLAX.

MISS CROSS AS AN EXPERT,

Christchurch, January 4. Miss .Bella Cross, M.A., who has for several months been engaged iu preliminary work of investigation regarding New Zealand flax and the possibility of developing the flax industry by the application of more scientific methods than have hitherto been employed, has given an interview to a reporter. Miss Cross said that she was not concerned with the mechanical side of the industry. The best methods of extracting fibr its commercial form must be determined by engineers. Her object was to discover which variety of flax would prove most profitable tor cultivation, giving the largest and most valuable yield of fibre, and which localities were best adapted for its growth. One of the most important sections of her research would be preparation work to provide a directory to all publications bearing on the subject. As yet no such work had been compiled, aud no index to works of reference was available. Miss Cross has already spent some time iu examining books aud reports in the libraries and similar institutes iu Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland, and is going to Dunedin with the same object. Many seedlings of different kinds of flax have been planted in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, and their development will be watched by Miss Cross this year. Comparatively little is known about the different varieties, and experiments have so far not been very satisfactory. Miss Cross will occupy two or three years on her task.