NEW USE FOR HEMP

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3847, 20 September 1928, Page 2

NEW USE FOR HEMP

IN MANUFACTURE OF SACKS AND PACKS. Dunedin, Sept. 19. If experiments with New Zealand flax continue to be as successful as they are at present it is probable that a valuable new industry will be established in the Dominion. A reporter was shown a usefullooking grain sack of unusual strength recently made in Dunedinfrom locally-grown flax. It is claimed to be the ‘first of its kind made in New Zealand. This bag was introduced by patented methods, and it is the outcome of extensive research which has had for its object the substitution of specially-treated pliorium fibre for jute, thus establishing flax as a base material for sacks, woolpacks, and hessians. Judging from the results so far obtained, it would seem that the expenditure and trouble taken in the matter have been amply justified. The new article is claimed to be superior in every way to jute sacking, and since it is stated that the cost to farmers of the finished goods will not exceed that of the imported material, the value of this research to the Dominion can be readily imagined. When discussing the matter with Mr. Coghill, Who has been conducting the experiments, the reporter was informed that the process employed applied to coir for the production of sacking from this material, and that the wool-packs so made were non-frayable and quite free from the loose fibre trouble. The annual value of jute goods imported into this country was £750,000, while Australia spent about £4,000,000 every year on the same materials. It looked as if the monopoly of this trade so long enjoyed by India was about to be seriously challenged. SAMPLE IN PALMERSTON NORTH. The above message was referred o Mr. A. Seifert, r orominent local miller, and Mr. Seifert showed a •Standard” reporter a piece of the sacking made by the new process by Mr. Miller. 'This had been forwarded from Dunedin for inspection, and the finished article appeared to be of a. high quality. Mr. Seifert expressed the opinion that the material was apparently very good and quite strong, and pointed out the importance of the matter if the early promise should be fulfilled. "If,” he said, “they .can succeed in making wool packs and corn sacks, it will be a big thing for the flax industry and give it a great push forward by making a new outlet for (lax. Besides this, it will be the means of creating a new manufacturing industry in this country, giving employment to capital and labour, and keeping in New Zealand money now sent overseas.” In addition to the finished sample of sacking, Mr. Seifert had interesting samples of New Zealand hemp and sisal. The hemp had been treated and the fibre —usually harsh —softened down to mkae it suitable for the manufacture of light sacking, while the sisal had also been softened by the new process. The above matter was the subject of a discussion at a meeting of the Manawativ Flaxmillers’ Association held in Foxton on May 19th of this year, a report of which, together with Air. Coghill’s letter, was published in the “Herald.”