THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1018, 2 November 1912, Page 3

THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

In an article dealing with Palmerston’s past, present and future, which appeared in the Dominion, the possibilities of the hemp industry are touched upon. The writer says : “in the mere production ot fibre the developments of the future must not alone be found if Palmerston North is to reap its full harvest from so promising a field. There are indications that the fibie itself will be treated on the spot and converted into the finished article for export. If Palmerston business men are fully alive to their town’s advancement they will see to it that exhaustive inquiries are made into the treatment and uses ot phormiura, and that experiments are made in the manufacture of articles in their own town. Already a Wader twine factory is at work in the district. It is stated that some of the by-products can be converted into excellent linoleums and carpets. There have been suggestions that under proper treatment the fibre can be converted into fabrics of rare quality. Why should it not be possible for such Industries as these to be started in the very home of tbe fibre? If Palmerston North cannot work out its salvation along these lines, it may be left behind by towns with other advantages it does not possess. But if its business men realise to the full the possibilities in fibre and make an honest endeavour to produce from the fibre, not articles interior to those already mentioned, but articles of the best quality possible, there should be a big iuure for the town, and it should have no difficulty in running into fifth place in the race for city honours. It is in the making of the best articles that New Zealand’s future as a manufacturing country lies. Because our woollen mills have turned out “good goods” they have prospered, and if the New Zealand fibre is converted on the spot into high-grade articles, there will be abundant markets for all that can be produced.”