METHODS OF CUTTING.

Shannon News, 15 August 1924, Page 1

METHODS OF CUTTING.

Considerable interest has been taken in the new method of cutting 1 nax which has been undergoing an exhaustive trial by a few Manawatu millers during the last eighteen month's; Under the old method, the whole of the leaf was cut every foutyears, just leaving the crown of ; the flax and the roots. The new method, no\y known as “side-leaf,” means cut- , ting the leaves on both sides of the "fan," and leaving the ‘‘sucker,’’ or. youngest leaf and the two protecting leaves. The advantage of this method is that the crop can be cut annually Therefore th e plant gives the greatest; average yield per annum, while the shock to the plant is minimised, which also accounts for the greater yield. • In order to find out whether the i new method had come up to expectations, a,'‘’Times” reporter interviewed Mr Alfred Seifert, president of the New Zealand Flaxmillers’ Association, on the matter, being particularly anxious to discover wehther the increased production ,under the new method was counter-balanced by the added cost. In reply to a question as to whether the “side-leaf” method had any effect on the disease-resisting power of the plant, Mr Seifert,, stated that this had hardly entered into his calculations, because all flax was becoming healthy again whether cut side leaf or by the old way. “Ihave,” he continued, “absolute proof that side leaf cutting did not prevent tile disease. At my home I planted a row of flax about fourteen yards long in 1915. The flax was always cut side- I leaf, but it took the disease in a bad form and three-quarters of the row died out completely. "Therefore, the whole advantage to the growers is in the greater yield. Up to the present we cannot definitely state what that is, because cutting side-leaf has only been carried on for eighteen months—not long enough to form a definite opinion about the matter. But it will probably give a 90 per cent greater yield of leaf than under the old way,”

“Assuming that the yield is 90 per cent greater under the side-leaf method,’’ our reporter asked, “to what extent does the increased cost counterbalance the advantage?”

In reply, Mr Seifert quoted the, following comparative figures which were th e result of careful analysis and fairly set out the position from the growers’ standpoint:—

Return Per Acre. Old Side method leaf ; Yield per annum 7 tons 13 tons Cost of cutting good leaf (per ton) 7/6 15/-Delivex-y to mill 6/- ' 7/Total cost per ton 13/6 22/-j Price of leaf per ton 30/- 30/Nett return per ton 16/6 8/Nett return' per acre £5 15/6 £5 4/“It will therefore be seen that .there is a balance of 11/6 per acre in favour of the old method of cutting when the above rates are paid. Another point that would count with many growers is that in addition to a saying of 11/6 they could sell their leaf at a lower price without , actual loss, while having less trouble handling a small quantity. “Does this mean, then, that the flaxmillers will return to the old method?” “That I cannot say definitely yet,” replied Mr Seifert. "It is purely a question of yield verus cost. If further experience confirms the above dequestion of yield versus cost. If further course that growers will be compelled to abandon side-leaf cutting.”