WHY NOT A STATE PAPER MILL?

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1795, 28 February 1918, Page 2

WHY NOT A STATE PAPER MILL?

IX a letter to the Auckland Herald on industrial development, Mr Clement L. Wragge says “it may be taken as an axiom that, all such industries as tend to make this country independent and self-reliant, especially at this critical period,

ought to be fostered mid encouraged in every legitimate manner. Paper is now becoming scarcer and more expensive. Why not produce paper on a more extensive scale in the Auckland Province by manufacturing paper from the fibre of the giant Abyssinian banana —Musa, ensete. These noble plants thrive perfectly, particularly inwall sheltered places, in these northern areas, and by growing them as a commercial proposition the so-called waste lands of North Auckland might'be made to yield thousands of pounds by means of paper-making and allied industries. The Queensland Government has set, apart certain lands for the growing of fibre-pro-ducing plants. Why not also New Zealand? The Abyssinian banana is probably the most useful of all plants next- to the cocoanut itself. The fruit is edible. when cooked, and the young leaves wdjen boiled form a table delicacy; but the main value of the tree is in the strong fibre and pulp that it produces so lavishly. ,'Plie growth is very rapid, and the huge loaves on approaching maturity may attain 20ft. in length and 3ft. in breadth, and th'e life of the plant is about five and a-half years. To grow them for economic use the principle of rotation of crops should be followed, and (he plants cut out for paper-making at four years when they are at their best for this purpose, leaving others to attain their full span of life for the seed within the fruit from which the plant is most readily raised. Another plant almost as useful that will thrive equally well in our northern districts is (he Fourcroya gigantca, or Mauritius hemp, allied to the sisal hemp, of which there are vast plantations in Fiji.”

THE ever-increasing demand for jpaper justifies the starting of paper mills in this country, and apart altogether from the introduction of plants for the purpose, we have going to waste thousands of tons of raw material suitable for making the best grades of paper. Take, for instance, the waste products from our (laxmills, vegetation, scutcher dust, etc. It takes about eight tons of leaf to produce one (on of fibre. The best part of the other seven tons, after allowing for tow, is lost. Yet this waste is considered the best raw material for paper manufacture. It seems strange that while there, is a paper famine in the Dominion no steps are taken to produce all the paper we require within the country. What is to hinder (he Government from making investigations as to the possibility of a State mill? We believe it would be worth while.