NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

Southland Times, Issue 1187, 24 December 1869, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

The following article is from the pen of a gentleman who has had large experience in Christchurch, and whose opinions are therefore entitled to consideration : — To nothing in New Zealand at the present can there be fairly attached greater importance (not even excepting the discovery of goldfields) than the manufacture and export of our native flax, phormium tenax. From, well nigh the

earliest history of New Zealand, and the beginning of the present century, flax ha 9 been an article of trade between the jViaoris and Europeans. About forty years ago it was the chief trade, done principally by barter, aud according to statistical accounts the export amounted to, in 1828, 60 tons, in 1830, to 811 tons, and in 1831, as much as 1062 tons, and then rapidly declined in a few years to comparatively nil. As soon as the value of this product became known in England and France, and the quantities which abounded in this country, public attention was aroused, and various schemes were devised for its preparation by machinery, with a view to bringing it into the European market in greater quantities than the tedious old fashioned Maori method, (simply scraping with the mussel shell) would permit. But despite the efforts made, and the long experience of the manufacture of the European flax and hemp, and other fibres that have been used, all have been set at naught, aud nothing worthy of general acceptance arrived at until within the last two or three years. Scores of thousands of pounds had been carefully and thoughtfull v expended, but with grievous disappointment to some and beggary to others. Thus the stubborn monster, that bade defiance to all the tactics and ingenuity that could be brought to bear upon it, remained dormant, instead of long ago having become, as nature no doubt intended it, the staple article of the Colony, and to return so much per cent, per annum. A great deal may be said regarding the apathy shown by the New Zealand Government in not having done more towards developing this industry, the neglect of which has been to deprive the Colony (as can be plainly seen now) of her true position. Rewards have been freely offered for the discovery of goldfields, which will never confer a tithe of the benefit on the social and commercial condition of the Colony as the development of an industry so legitimate and permanent as the one referred to, which will, when once thoroughly established, stand to the end of time. It is much to be deplored that thousands of acres, literally covered with luxuriant flax, have been ignorantly destroyed, and the expense incurred in adopting this blind" empiricism of clearing the land have bean so great in some instances as to almo3t ruin the holders ; and now they are painfully alive to the fact that they have been throwing away what was really of more value than the " land. The Colony at large has suffered by this, in having lost what ought to have been exported, and cultivation will speedily have to be resorted to to repair the loss. Much of the land that has been cleared of flax would have produced from forty to sixty tons to the acre of the raw material, which is valued now at £1 per ton at first blush. The sacrifice has been enormous. But despair not, the time has at last arrived when the difficulty of getting this glorious source of wea'th, sown broadcast at our feet (and after so many years of disappointment) m;iy be asserted, beyond all possible doubt, to be thoroughly solved, and the industry permanently established. Shipments of large quantities have been made to the English market, and prices realised that hive exceeded the most sanguine expectations, and the practical results go to prove that the phormium tenax can now be put either into the Colonial or English market, leaving a very satisfactory margin of profit to the manufacturer. There is no danger of over-stocking the market, but, on the other hand, advices prove that the price anl demand will increase with the quantity sent to the market, even if one million sterling worth should be produced annually. There is now a wide field open for capital and labor, and the mere fact of flax land coming into such requisition of late, tends to show the magnitude of the proportions the flax industry is fairly assuming. As New Zealand is entirely dependent upon the foreign markets for the disposal of the flax, we cannot conclude our remarks without alluding to a matter of vital importance to this question. Great fears of late have been entertained regarding the combustibility of the fibre, and the danger caused to ships in carrying it. Doubtless prejudice has arisen in consequence of the wool ship Blue Jacket, en route for London, from Lyttelton, part of the cargo of which (unfortunately for this new industry) was New Zealand flax, to which so many have attributed the origin of the catastrophe. But from subsequent investigations, and the certain knowledge of there having been damp wool and Fiji cotton on board, that had been refused by the captains of other vessels, and with the additional testimony of the officers of the unfortunate vessel, that the fire broke out in a part of the ship quite different from that where the flax was stowed, there is conclusive evidence that it could not have been the flax. Flax improperly dried is a very dangerous cargo, every one must know ; and as the old adage says, " prevention is better than cure." Let it be a sine qua non that your flax be dry before you ship it, and from the experience of the earliest shipments from New Zealand, and remembering the raw leaves, simply dried, that have been sent home in quantities as much as fifty tons at a time, and arrived home with perfect safety, we need ] not fear but that practice will overcome prejudice, and the New Zealand flax will be pronounced as safe an article for export as wool, cotton, or any other fibre. A precisely similar prejudice existed in the early days of the jute exportation from India ; but, like all new prejudices, time has worn it out. The valuable letters contributed by The Times' special commissioner in Ireland, and communications from influential landlords, are ripening public opinion for an equitable settlement of the Irish land teu lire question.