HEMP INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1082, 5 April 1913, Page 3

HEMP INDUSTRY.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,-— As a worker in the mills, I can thoroughly endorse the statements in last issue re the manner in which the standard of grading hemp at the local sheds has risen during the last few weeks. Three weeks ago the hemp from the shed I am scutching at was invariably grading from 72 to 76 points. All ot a sudden this dropped to 67 points. We then exercised all the care possible to get back to good fair, being extra careful, but still only got 68 points. Now, sir, if this same line had been in the shed a week ago it would have easily got 76 points. I have been scutching in this district for the past 12 years, and know that the standard of good fair has been steadily rising for some time, and, like the Chinaman, I want to know “wha for? ’ ’ This is a matter that needs careful investigation, or else we will find the mills pushed out by a lew graders, and we workers who are making homes in Foxton will have to suffer, aud tor no other reason than to satisfy the whims of graders and wealthy manufacturers. Trusting that some abler pen than mine will take this subject up, because no one will suffer more than the workers in this large industry. —I am, etc., Scutcher. Johustou St., Foxton, April 4th, 1913.

[We regret that the Department’s regulations prohibit the local grader from submitting the other side of the argument. We have asked him for an expression of his views on the matter, but he says any explanation must come through his superiors. From what we can gather, however, the Department is determined to maintain uniformity of quality in the various grades, in order that the hemp shall not be prejudiced on the Home market. — Ed. H.]