AT THE BIG MILL.

Shannon News, 11 January 1924, Page 3

AT THE BIG MILL.

SIDE LEAF GUIDING SAVES flax uvdustbiY. :

YELLOW : LEAF BEATEN

j Last March a-repr©sentafciv£ of .the j "iMevvs", »vi§itied the swamp at , Miianui owned by the A- and L. Seir : i.ert Co. ana then witnessed title cutting pi tne flax unde£. the side, Jjeafr sysiem, which had been brought into vogue as a, oi waving the nax from tin© ravages 01 the yellow", ileal disease, and as a second .cuthas again jjeeii : 'commenced • on the aauie bioiok a visit of inspection was made ! on Tuesday to ascertain at first hand \\lhat effect the new method was having. Tl\& improveniient in th<e flax since thej ioiuner yisit was. yery noticeable, the percentage' of infected flax at present 'being practically nil, while the quality of the lieaf shows, a marked improvomieittt, being a fine strong and weighty one, with plenty 01 leiigui, it 'being\ estimated to aver-1 age nearly ninie feet, and as it is such I a uniform crop it is now not niece.ssary to do any sorting. The block all over is. the same and there is every, reason to believe .that, where the side cutting lias taken i?iaee in other blocks, they will be tine same, it is considered the young leaves will be 10/libs better lor milling purposes than the old leaf of the samje weight, and it is estimated that in four years one acre .will yield 'approximately 50 tons of flax under the side cut system |a« agjaihst 35 tjons under tlhe hook systemi. The visitor was shown a couple of blocks that' .were condemned Sfc years ago and to-day they -have madjd suoh a good recovery, that they will £>§ jabl© to keep & single stripper going -all the year round. A very notioeaible effect the new system of cutting has had is the disappearanice of rotted vegetation aroaimd the root, thereby allowing plenty of air to get to the plant which materially assists its growth. . So confident are the owners that they ihavte got a grip of the; yellow leaf cHseasie, that itheir policy now is to preserve ail the flax area. Following lihe 'outbreak off the disease about one-tenth of the flax aitea was put down in grass and as. recently as 18 months ago it was thought that only half the, flax would be saved, but it is now pleasing to state the disease is now practically nonexistent. \

There is some flax growing in front of the stripper shed that to the layman appears to be affected, but Mr H. iSeiiiert explained that the discolouration had been brought ajbout iby the mill wiater which is flowing over it at present, and that Jhe flax would ultimately benefit by it. ' Much time is lost by the Gutters having to .travel such a long distance to their work, 'in some cases havin.g| to go between four and five miles from the cookhouse to; their different ■blocks and at the present time they are only able to get in about 40 •hours' work per week. To enable.

them to get in full time Mr Seifieirt is f having erected a cookhouse in the I swamp about %l milles from the. mill, i which is to aiccommodajte 30 meni ■! The piles are'now-in ;and'it is hoped to have it r completed .in a. month's time; There willlbe a cookhouse 50 x 16 and the living rooms block, which will be L shaped, will be 63 x 15 one way and 72 x 15 the other. It will consist of 15 rooms to accommodate 30 men. This will no doulht toe appreciated by the men. At present there are 70 cutters engaged in the iswamp, while there is' a total of 107 men of all branches be- ; ing catered lor' at the cookhouse.