NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

Southland Times, Issue 1281, 19 July 1870, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

Means Devitt and Hett report, under date 19th May, as follows :— A rather better demand has prevailed at loir prices ;; about 1000 bales have been offered, and Yi^Vt «nid, -riz., BL& & in diamond, per Halcione, at £28 10s to £29 ss ; D» r B, per Mary Shepherd, at £24 ; CD, per Jason, £21 to £21 6s • G-PJ, per Damascus, £20, and GBE, £23. A few sales hare been made privately at about £33 to £35 for the best dressed sorts, which are at the moment very scarce. The Helen has just arrived from Lyttelton with 900 bales, some of which h»ve been dressed by a new process, which the inventors think will be a great success ; this, however, remains to bo pro Ted. We look for a ready sale for the best dressed sorts at £33 to £35, but a very limited demand for the lower qualities at abont £18 t<r*2s. We are watching with great interest all attempts which are being made to dress the flax perfectly, and at the same time to remove the gum, which is said to destroy the strength of the fibre when brought into contact with water, and to this end we are experimenting on some green leaves, and hope to be able t© report progress in our next advices. Manilla hemp is in better demand, and a good ,business has been done at higher rates, which is all in favor of flax. Fair to good roping is now worth £53 to £54 per ton.