FLAX-GROWING IN ENGLAND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1687, 17 March 1917, Page 2

FLAX-GROWING IN ENGLAND.

THE possibilities of a revival of the (lax-growing industry in the United Kingdom art* discussed bv Dr. J. Vargas Eyre in a useful article which appears in the January Trade Supplement of The Times. Dr. Eyre says that the experience of the past three seasons hits shown that high-class (lax crops can he raised in this country; indeed, Belgian experts have declared the

crops to l>c generally equal to those raised in their own country. The main difficulty, particularly since war broke out, has been to obtain labour at harvest-time to pull the crop. With a view to overcoming this difficulty machinists and others have therefore long been engaged on the design of a machine to effect the pulling satisfactorily. At the present time several machines are under construction or are in an experimental stage in Canada and in Ireland, and it is believed that of the machines which are known, one in Ireland shows the fairest promise of dealing satisfactorily with the pulling operation. The aim of the Flax Society, Dr. Eyre tells us, has been to keep the commercial possibilities well to the fore and to devote attention to the economic side as well as to the scientific side of (lie work. From this point of view the necessity has been realised of aiming at the preparation of the higher grades of fibre as being the more remunerative. To attain this end it is necessary to produce a flax fibre which is not merely strong and of good colour, but one which has a certain supple “feel”—known as spinning quality. From the spinners’ point of view the length of the

fibre may be moderate, but , its length must be even and it must exhibit uniformity of fineness of fibre. There is little doubt from the results so far obtained that the factory side of the problem will be standardised satisfactorily, but whether or not it will prove to be a. profitable undertaking remains to lie seen after the completed installation has been running on the best lines for a few years.