The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, March 16, 1916. HEMP GRADING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1523, 16 March 1916, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, March 16, 1916. HEMP GRADING.

The position of hemp grader should never be filled by a thinskinned or sensitive expert. A grader is appointed, naturally, by reason of his expert all-round knowledge. Every miller reckons, by reason of his practical experience, that he is an expert also. At times, therefore, there is conflict of opinions as to the grade of hemp between miller and grader. The difference of opinion on a few points one way or the other in the grade ot the fibre represents the loss or gain of much gold to the miller. Millers have the right to make full enquiry as to grades, with a final appeal to the chief hemp grader, Mr Ferris. In this gentleman the Government, and the industry, possesses an expert who knows his business from the green blade to the press hank. He has “been through the mill,” and long before his appointment as grader was recognised as a stripper-keeper of the highest order. Mr Ferris is acquainted with every mill and swamp in the Dominion, and keeps in touch with all the latest improvements in machinery. His observations, practical experience and advice are free to all for the asking, and many millers are indebted to him in this connection. Grading hemp is much more complex than classing wool or grading butter and cheese, and the man who can put his finger on a fault must know his business. Here is an experience which recently came under our notice. The grading of a line of hemp was not giving satisfaction to the miller. Mr Ferris visited the mill, and set to work for two or three hours experimenting, located the fault in the stripper, and rectified it. How many experts would take off their coats and set to work tor the love of the thing ? Mr Ferris is a valuable asset not only to the miller but to the Agricultural Department, and the hemp industry owes much to his skill, foresight, and diplomacy.