SOMALILAND FLAX.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 821, 2 April 1910, Page 3

SOMALILAND FLAX.

During his stay in England, Mr I. W. Raymond, of Invercargill, who is largely interested in flax in New Zealand, has paid much attention to a study of the areas from which the world’s supply of fibre is drawn. He has been directing his investigations as far afield as Manila, Yucatan (Central America), and lyast Africa, and has now taken a considerable interest in the British Somaliland Developing Company, of which he has been offered the position of managing director. This company cujoys the rights over 23,000 miles of fibre country and 10,000 square miles of mineral country in the British Protectorate of Somaliland, which lies in the horn ot Africa, and is best known to fame as the quondam demesne of the Mad Mullah.

The fibre which Somaliland produces, called Sansevieria, is coarser than sisal, but very tenacious. “ It is growing simply in millions of tons there. The quantity has not been estimated. There is, however, a smaller proportion of green leaf than in the case of New Zealand hemp.” The price of Sansevieria is now about 10s per ton, or from £i 10s to £2 10s below that of New Zealand hemp. The Somaliland Developing Company’s fields are about fifty miles from the port of Berbera. The labour is native, aud is paid for at the rate of qd to 6d per day. Mr R. R. Hollins, of the Premier Diamond Mines (South Africa), is the controlling figure in the company, and he it is who is trying to induce Mr Raymond to join the board. The proposal is such a tempting one that it would have been accepted forthwith but for the fact that this would necessitate Mr Raymond’s absence from the Dominion for a few years. The company’s factory in Somaliland employs 145 hands, besides the management, both in Somaliland and in England. It has been in operation for some time, but more capital is being put in to open up the country. — Post.