FLAX WASTE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 2000, 8 July 1919, Page 2

FLAX WASTE.

REFERRING to the flax industry, in which he 1 has been carrying on /researches for three years past, Professor Easterfielcl told local body delegates at Wellington recently that it.,t«|ok approximately eight tons of green flax to make a ton of fibre, or, counting all the fibre, the inferior as well as the best fibre, six tons of leaf to one ton of fibre. These figures seemed to show that there was big loss, but in actual fact the best laboratory result he had been able to obtain was one unit of fibre from five units of leaf; so” that he did not consider that the flaxmiller was doing so badly in his process for Removing the green matter to clean the fibre. He spoke of the ways in which the green matter might be utilised. In the first place the waste was rich in potash and phosphoric acid, and therefore very valuable as manure. Unfortunately the cost of transport made the wide use of this waste for manure impossible. In actual fact it contained 70 per cent, of water, and a farmer could not pay freight on water. One of his suggestions was that the waste might be returned to the fipx land as manure for the growing plants. A plant growing as rapidly as flax must take enormous toll in these substances, ash and phosphoric acid, from the soil, and unless the soil was refortified with manure the crops would weaken. As a matter of fact, experiments had been begun with the use of this waste as manure, and the results promised to bo good. Also, it was found that the waste contained three per cent, of sugar. To deal with the sugar industrially he said that his scheme at present was to sterilise the Avaste by heating in order to prevent the sugar being attached by bacteria. This done, the waste Ava.s squeezed. The liquid contained all the sugar, and all the manurial content. The liquid might still be used as liquid manure, or it might be used for the making of alcohol. He produced a bottle of the finest rectified spirit made from (lax fibre. The dry residue might be •used in the mills as fuel. He looked to the time -when the flax mills Avould not need to use any other fuel. At present the return per acre from flax-growing was at least equal to the return from dairyfarming, but the position of the industry was precarious, because a fall in prices would kill it. His suggestions for (he utilisation of Avaste would perhaps be valuable when loav prices came again, as (hoy probably ryould in four or five years from hoav.