NEW ZEALAND FIBRE AND ITS USES.

Shannon News, 20 November 1928, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND FIBRE AND ITS USES.

BLEACHING AND DYEING WITHIN BEACH. WIDE FIELD' OF DEVELOPMENT OPENED UP. The special article published below has been, kindly written for the News by a resident of Shan- ; non who has been engaged for i some time in research on' his own ; account 1 into the possibilities of the further develbpment of New. ■ Zealand hemp fibre. It is under- ; stood that Mr Steven has achiev- . ed certain definite and important ' results which will open a wide field for the future utilisation of ; one of this country’s distinctive products. THE THREE CIRCLES OF TRADE. : ■ ' (By Alexander Steven.) ■-Through the past''few years there has beenii’i awakening in regard to the possibilities of " developing the manufacture of goods within New Zealand from our native fibre. This has been a reasonable line' of rcseach, and surely the time is ripe for • practical action. Tiv the-development 1 of tlie. .manufacturing trade, .let us examine the three distinct circles of trade, each having within itself a wide field to cater -for. • • : DRY -SPINNING. : 'First-, wo have the dry; spinning trade, -which would have for its base the stripper' slip tow, properly cleaned and graded.' Within the scope of this' circle of trade lies sacking, matting,: scrim, carpet foundations, - heavy twine ( and tarpaulins, also other covers which' are topdressed by waterproofing, 'etc:, '■and’by a softening treatment woolpaeks could be made that would overcome the objections to such produced [ bv other fibres, the wool adhering •to -the ' fnib, fibres and refusing*‘to’leave the pack' withput a considerable ■•/time’being spent in teasing it out. '.This" is * due to ’ the hard protruding' fibres "and to overcome it a softening is necessary.' This is a simple process, and ‘it will' enable production of ;cheaper lines of i cow*' and horse'eovers. If can thus 'be seen that here alone a wide and pro- : ■’fitable field of tradh waits to-be tap;ped. Not. only have we here a'wide ’range of articles .to produce, but there is also a vast territory to' cater for, and. if New Zealand will ever 'justify the .name, of the “Britain "of the 'Southern Seas,” we must be up 'and id oing to show - that we. are not a one-: jeyed That is' jour title to-day. -

j . WET SPINNING. ! Having established the first circle jof trade, ,'w.e find another ' immediately (comes into, view—a vast field,'•a vineyard ready to harvest—the wet-spin-ning circle. The base for' this" circleis the tpw, from the jG.br which, has been previously bleached. The Government .has before it at present a process which successfully bleaches the -fibre without in the slightest degree reducing its strength, compared with that of the present-system, while the spinning Qualities of the fibre remain unimpaired. • On the . combination of ; these two qualities, I would. net dare to mark 'the limits to which the New Zealand (fibre can be put. on entering this circle bf trade. We puf the tow through a reducing process,, producing an article very much resembling raw cotton, This is know’ as “weaver’s tow,” and by a totally different process from that of jthb first circle, we build this 'tow- up jnto threads of a remarkable 'degree • of fineness ranging . from. .1 to 50. •Within this range there lies -an immense variety of. articles.; In Mhe heavier end we have better-class c-ow and horse covers, all manner of-canvas, sheeting, Before another general ..elation takes place it is quite, possible that hard-wrought New Zealanders will go to sleep on sheetsmade from; our .native fibre. Within this circle we have the union trade. We would, warp our cloth with N.Z. fibre and -weft it with N.Z, wqol, and with that we enter into the production of workmen’s clothes. What a field to labour in! We have the dress goods trade of Australia for our export in addition to our home market. Again bv importing a little raw cotton, we can take hold of the shirting and general mercery trade. We have the foundation for our indus trial life. Let us begin to build upon it. It is never too-late to start. MERCERISATION OF TOW,

Then we have the third circle of trade, which differs from the. other two, Here we begin by, the chemical treatment of the reduced tow, equivalent tp : the niereerisation of/cotton. We thus produce a tow with . the silky lustre, and by the finer spinning process we produce mercerised and artificial , silk goods, . This circle of trade has leapt into prominence in the course of the past twenty; years as the result of chemical knowledge applied:to the different fibres .of .the world. In this department N.Z. fibre lends itself as kindly as any other. I am satisfied from small experiments that* there is a grand opportunity in this, circle, and that New Zealanders need fear no foe', if we build our industrial future on N.Z, fibre. In this third' department we would cater for, all manner .of artificial silk goods. Then the by-products or waste matter of the second circle, together with the waste matter of the third, goes to manufacture fine cord. •Nothing is destroyed. The, cord trade has its base in the' sweepings and refuse of the others and the cord made from the refuse of this third: circle is eery useful for the carpet manufactur■rer, The. betier-class carpets would, bo a• union of such with wool. BLEACHING AND . DYEING. Having 1 nS\f' ;, ’r!escribed'The three eles of trade as far as the spinning and weaving-is concerned, it will be understood that to complete these trades, the dyeing of the materials will be necess; ary and' that is only possible oh a bleached foundation. The fibre at

present .produced, by the r millers .contains too great a percentage of; gumniy substance, which retards the,, dyeing, but by the bleaching process how be* , fore the Government this is totally removed.' Thus it follows that the whole field of industrial possibilities lies open before. .us. Shall we go in ; and con- '• quer? T was not long in this ; country •. when I met a brother Scot and I asked him if he thought New Zealand was the “Britain of the Southern Seas.” “Naw Naw, brither, if she is,, she’s, gie- far back,” was the answer, but;, I cannot think that;we will be-content., to, sit far back: However I will bp'* able to answer ,my own question immediately after the next general election. . • ' . SHANNON’S OPPORTUNITY. In the meantime, there is a breeze of • activity blowing in Shannon and I trust it will not cease till it has blown into practical form the, first circle of- . our ; New Zealand manufacturers. I.t will be, noted that we have not made,. any demand on the rope making fibre', / which w-ould still ,be available for export at -a very much increased value by the proper bleaching process. At • present the spinning substance left in,, the fibre shortens its life by .the action-, of rotting, and; disintegration of the fibre strands. To counteract that it must - be bleached. The proper bleaching has been a labour ;of 'research for- years. Common bleaching agents were found to be too severe on the fibre and'.in-stead-of making for improvement seem- - ed -to hasten destruction, but now the • Government are * satisfied that- the bleaching -can -be done’ without rin rany ' way impairing the value-of the fibre. Indeed the fibre will come very close to Manilla and Sisal for colours f In conclusion, since the Department of Scientific/Research thas no longer to look for bleaching methods, it will now . be able to turn its attention to the stimulating of our . manu'facturing industries.' However, if it chooses to : remain in a - field ‘already harvested; that cannot hold up the working-out of the first‘circle of trade, and-iti that", respect this Dominion would .do well to keep its eye on Shannon.'