A DAY AMONGST THE FLAX.

Shannon News, 16 March 1923, Page 3

A DAY AMONGST THE FLAX.

BIG PARTY INSPECTS MIRANUI. MILLERS’ PROBLEMS. Flak,; or to) use. its more scientific name, Pliormium Venax, one of the natural wealth producers of New Zealand, a'hd one of the first industries developed when trade was carried on with the Maoris/has been threatened recently with complete' extinction, i" which’ naturally would be to thd de. " trimerit of the Dominion. To afford an'' (’opportunity to members , of ; Parliament, agriculturists, leading business men 'and, others, of seeing- ' the destruction wrought by the deadly ‘‘yellow leaf” disease,, and to 1 demonstrate the great need —in-'order to preserve this indus- _ try—of research work and flax culti- , vation, 'members Of Parliament, rei presentatives of the Agricultural Department and other institutions, including the Cawthron 'lnstitute, were invited by the r New Zealand Flax. . millers’.Association to spend a.day in inspecting the experimental work which has been in progress, under the auspices of the Flaxmillers’ Association at Miran'ui, near Shannon, andalso the mills owned by Mr Seifert.. The day's outing included a most . interesting tour by . trolly through the,-: flak areas, where Mr J. Smerle, .who. has been/ conducting 1 the experimental work in a painstaking manner, uliy explained the con- ' - ditions and various, methods used for (.modern flax treatment - After visiting ... several blocks of flax, each under differ'ent - treatment, aqd ’being- given a-g-limpsef of ■ tire flax-cutters at work, the pai ty journeyed-back to the mill, where an excellent' repast had been ■ prepared. ’ The; tone ,of the speeches was marked by optimism for the industry, blit. greater still; was the point made oy authoritative speakers of the immense , possibilities—with the 'utilisation df-flax for-manufacturing papei;, etc. —of -the.; industry, and, , the need for applied concentration to prevent "the "valuable fibrefrom losing its hold in New Zealand; ; -v '

There .were some fifty people present, including; , the * Hon. W, Nosworthy, Minister of Agricplture, Messrs J. A. Nash, .W. H. Field, and J. Lmklater, . M’s.P., Profejsor Easterfield, ’of- the ; Caw.thron Institute, Dr. Peakes, and Mr A l . H. Cockayne; and various representatives. of Chambers of ComInerce and divers institutions* interested‘in this important matter., ' EXPERIMENTAL WORK. , The. party, soon after arrival,, was conducted ‘ to the nursery, where Mr Smerle- had carried opt his ~ experiments, on a most' exhaustive.,scale. It was 1 explained that in the Makeru'a Swamp there were varieties of plants’ which yielded from 19.8 per eent. down -to 2’5 per cent, finished fibre,’

- but there was muchVto account for this. iThe.following table sets Out the r-resent yield, of fibre from New Zea. land flax with the possibilities of increasing production by diherent methods of cutting and treatment. / Three samples .were exhibited. The first showed -that from an area' of ground, that would give a thousand tons of leaf‘per annum- cut in the usual way—that, is, every four years—i 120 tons of fibre were produced. The second method—that is. the diamond-! shaped cut—shows that the same area, 'of ground Would yield 240 tons of fibre per annum. The third method *» that is, cutting the matured leaves on ly —shows that the same area of ground would yield 360 tonk of fibre , per annum. ' . V ’ \ . If kept free : from, rubbish, the yield could be further increased by about 20 per cent., while if only the | best varieties Were grown, it would be : ..possible to increase the yield by 5,0 per cent. • . ~ In addition to the increased yield, Mr Smerle explained that the new method of cutting, namely, -removing the side or . matured leaves, also proved beneficial, in. that it tended materially to check “yellow leaf” disease. The yield of fibre also varied with the conditions under which the plant was grown For instance, a plant well protected from wind and shn will yield a low percentage of- fibre, while the same plant when grown in an exposed situation on high land will yield nearly . double the percentage. Mr Alfred Seifert explained that be-

fore experimental work had been commenced they—the Flaxmillers’ Association—sub their scheme to the Agricultural Department, who had given. their approval. .It had been noticed, he proceeded, that some plants had become immune , from me “yellow leaf” disease, and if they collected theseed from these plants and sowed it they would produce plants immune from the deadly “yellow leaf.’ How- ' ever, the work already carried out had meant expense in numerous direc- / tions, a-nd it would be a disastrous thinr- if the industry was allowed to. without making a strenuous effort to save it. Mr Seifert pointed out also that it i -w.as possible to Extend the experimental work miich further than "selecting seed from . diseas'e-resistmg plants, and plants that would give a high percentage and a good quality I of fibre. By breeding and crossing two good varieties, it would be possible to get the good qualities of each in one new variety. Nature had done a, lot in seledting disease-resisting 'varieties. While selecting seed from . these varieties, they 'also took specimens of the leaf to ascertain the percentage and quality of fibre. If qual- •' ity and percentage were both very low the seed was .destroyed. If the reverse was the case, the seed was kept and sown, knowing that they thus get both disease-resisting plants

and high quality with good percentage of fibre. 1 Research had shown that from tli’e one swamp some plantswould yield, as high 'as. 19.8 per cent, of fibre, while, others would range as low as 2.5 per cent. The experiments ' at the nursery had proved that March was the most favourable month in which to sow seed, and that "May, June,' and July were ' bad months. August and September were fairly good. Mr Seifert said that the * eighteen ' different varieties of flax plants being experimented with .had not yet been properly classified. ■The distinguishing characteristics of each variety • were ■ discoverd largly by microscopic investigation, but the colour of the leaf, the edge of the flax, and its general habit were also observed.

‘ The party then inspected the difieient varieties, there being a row of each plant id- on the side of the hill. It was noticed with interest that some were disease-resisting, •- while others very easily succumbed to the enemy. Some were growing rapidly, showing broad leaves and a general healthy appear-

ance, while others made comparatively, little growth.- As each, variety was in. spected; ■ Mr. ‘ Swerle ,gave<’the per. centag’o and quality of fibre yielded by each/, these having beeal ascertained by. numerous, and careful tests, and the gx-eat difference revealed came'as a great surprise tot all present, the millers themselves - being , not the least astonished. This certainly points, to the necessity of carefully testing the plants from which seed is selected in order to find out whether such seed is worth sowing or not. Among the plants inspected were-some which had been suffering from/th’e: yellow- leaf and which . had. been sterilised to-see if the disease, could ,he. checked by thp,t method.> The appearance of the plant's proved that sterilisation was* not an effective remedy.' ■ ; v .

In the nursery also were a’ large number 'of ' plants, raised. from seed. Observations would be continued to see whether', .these seedling's ' would grow true: to'the parent plant. If-cross-pollenisation had' taken place, they probably would not do so. but if flax is self .fertilising, the plants ■will grow true to type.-* , . • QUESTION TIME.

A number- of questions were then asked regarding.the experimental pro. cedure. In reply to a. query as to why some seedlings wgl-e growing- more vigorously than- others, Mr. Smerle said he thought it might be due to the variety,, the soil, or; other causes. As yet, it was ,really too early to say. In reply to a query/concerning fertilisers, Mr/Seifert explained that his firm had found by experiments that a* mixture of superphosphate and potash was very beneficial; Professor Easterfield Gorro.bora.ted,; this .by explaining that .flax was/ just ■•“greedy”' for potash and. it was-; probable that it would, thrive on it as it contained about 40 per cent, of potash,' which could not be sain of any other plant. '

y In answer to a question,. Mr. Seifert explained; that the experiments-, had proved, that,-the time from the planting of the seed- to the first cuttingwould be about; five years.:.' Out of this, time, .the plants would grow foxtwo years' iri the nursery- This time, could be reduced by selecting seed from quick, maturing plants. ’ The whole aspect-of the growth of flax had been altered .by the experiments car. rjed out, it having;, been previously considered that seven years was neces. i ary to • secure a mature plant from soeid. They; now knew that the period could be very great 1 y reduced, tbereby making- the growing of flax very profitable. Mr. Seifert produced photo, graphs showing where a cutting had been made from flax transplanted 19 months ago. --

THROUGH\ THE FLAX SWAMPS. Particularly.interesting was the next stage, of . th,e -journey of inspection, when the patty mounted coupled trol’evs, horse drawn,, and proceeded to the flax area. Here men were engaged in cutting and' stacking prior to railing the.flax to the mill, where it goes, through a number of processes. The first block comprised flax, which had been cut on October 12. One lot was cut in the usual way, and the growth of \ this was very poor and would not yield another crop until four years after being cut. Then the party inspected the diaanond-shaped hut. tiers the g-rowth was much better, and it was evident 'the crop would' be ready to' cut again in two years. The third method inspected was that of cutting the side or matured leaves only. This method appeared- to be much the best, as the crop would be cut annually, and further than.that only matured leaves would be taken into the mill, enabling

a better quality of fibre to be produced. • It ,was explained that, a fan of flax usually had from seven to nine leaves, and by. cutting the side (matured) leaves, ?the annual production was two and eLhalf times gTeater than by the old method of cutting. Of course, it was much more "expensive to cut, but' millers had to decide whether the greater yield would compensate for the extra expense involved. Mr. Seifert " expressed . his conviction that it wofild in the long run pay millers to cut by the new method. Under the old system 7/6 per ton was .paid

for cutting flax, but for cutting the matured leaf, they paid 16/. per ton.' It was anticipated, however, that the second time cutting a block by this method would be cheaper, as cutters would not"have dead leaves to contend with, and the leaf would be heavier. In answer to- a question in regard to “ yellow leaf,” Mr. Seifert said he did not know of a single condition in which a plant was entirely immune from the disease. One blade of flax never lived more than a year and nine months, although it was cut every four ■years by the old', method. This was due to this method of cutting so dam. aging the- plant that it took a long while to recover. After inspection - of another plot,

Which confirmed the impressions received'in the first area, the party returned by the trolleys to Mr. Seifert s private experimental plot, where the different varieties are set out in rows, with- al view to testing the quality and percentage of fibre while growing in "the same kind ’of ground, and further, to see how'quickly a crop can be ob. tained from flax when cultivated and kept free from wejeds. An adjournment was then made to the large dining-room of the Miranui boardinghouse, where Mr. A. Steer, the mil' caterer, provided an excellent lunch, which the now hungry party did full justice to. . After lunch a number, of interesting speeches were made, and these will he ’ reported in our next issue. The party then inspected the big mill in operation. /