THE FLAX INDUSTRY

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1120, 10 July 1913, Page 4

THE FLAX INDUSTRY

SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS

A German scientist is at present in this district arranging to conduct experiments in the flax industry. It is his intention to erect expensive machinery at one of the flaxmills for the purpose of ascertaining whether the cost of hemp production can be lessened and whether the by-products, particularly pulp, can be worked up into articles of commercial value. The scientist referred to is prepared to remain in the Palmerston district for at least a year experimenting, and he states that if at the end of that period there are prospects of success he will continue the work for a further twelve months.

Flaxmillers regard the matter as one of supreme importance to the hemp trade, pointing out that if the cost of production is cheapened along the lines mentioned to them by the scientist it will revolutionise the whole industry and cause it to become of great value to New Zealand. It will be seen that the work the German scientist is about to undertake here is of considerable value to the community, and even if he gains a fair measure oi success in his investigations remarkable progress may be expected in an industry which has done a great deal to assist the prosperity of Palmerston and surrounding districts.

[The above appeared in the Mauawatu Standard and possibly is in connection with the experi meuts which Messrs Rough Bros., of Foxton, in conjunction with others have been carrying on at Raugiotu and other parts of the district for some considerable time past.]