THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1345, 9 January 1915, Page 3

THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Phormium tenax, the indigenous fibre-producing plant of the Dominion, writes Mr W. H. Ferris, Government Chief Hemp Grader, in the Agricultural Journal, provides the only instance we have in this country of the conservation of a natural resource —-the production of a valuable commercial product from a native plant growing in its original state and environment without anything being done by man to improve it by cultivation or selection. Rich harvests of the fibrous leaves are being periodically obtained from the great fields of phonnium, which are still in practically the same condition as when the country was first settled by British people. The only evidence of man’s endeavour to maintain the fertility of the native phormium areas is the removal of foreign growth (principally the native toetoe, allied to pampas grass) and the elimination of standing water by means of drains and canals. Although the main avenues of supply are in swamps, this is not, as is frequently supposed, because phormium tenax is a water-loving plant, but rather that it has been forced into the uncongenial habitat by reason of ■ the advance of the evergreen forest, which is' the dominant feature of the flora where phormium most abounds. The industry of producing fibre from the native plant has passed through many vicissitudes, and though now it is in a fairly strong position, there were times when the industry would have been practically lost to the Dominion but for the fact that-some of the *• main swamps in which it grows were either too costly or almost impossible to drain for agricultural purposes. At the present time the production of phormium fibre represents the most intensive farming in the country, ami yet, properly speaking, it is not intensive at all. Practically the only expenditure necessary to maintain the phormium crop in good condition is about £1 an acre a year (a crop is secured every three years), this expenditure being divided between clearing toetoe and rubbish and keeping the drains in order. On this expenditure it is possible to take every three years from an acre of swamp 15 tons of leaf, growing from the same roots which occupied the ground when the Native race in its cannibal days dressed the fibre by means of a shell to fashion its picturesque mats and clothing. This 15 tons of leaf produces ou an average about 1 )■> tons of fibre, and about 3 cwt of tow. The industry of milling phormium fibre as we know it to-day supports more labour per acre than any other crop produced in the country. The total number of men employed at the 182 mills in operation is 3,276, and the wages of these in the twelve mouths would represent over ,£400,000. The area of land carrying the native fibre plant at the present time is about 65,130 acres, valued at j£i, 332,500. The capital invested in' mills, plant, etc., is ,£314,460. Though the European crisis, has interfered somewhat seriously with the phormium hemp trade, the business of milling is now conducted on such an improved basis, by reason ol the introduction of more up-to-date and labour-saving machinery, that the cost of production has in many cases been reduced to a minimum, thereby enabling the milling of phonnium fibre to be carried on on market returns which at one time would have spelt ruination. As it is at present, prices make it impossible for some millers to continue operations. It is only those enjoying very favourable conditions, as to leaf supply, etc., who cau afford to operate their mills, and then they have to be satisfied with little or no profit.