THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 345, 23 February 1889, Page 2

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

It is satisfactory to know th.it there is every prospect that the flax industry will veiy sli'Htly receive a great impetui in this distiicL. Mr Coulthard. who has bv j en steadily at work athiamill,closeto Te Aroha township, during the past year and up to the time when he so recently had the mi«foriune to have u larue quantity of fl.ix, and also the scutching machineiy and houses destroyed hy fire, has now with 'commendable pluck, and in a remaikably short space of time, replaced the buildings etc., burnt down, by much more commodious and suitable ones, and will Boon have the work of restoration completed ; whilst he resumed operations with the • strippers' (which furtunately were not damaged) within a few days from from the date of the lire. Cvi ters have been busily employed ior some weeks pnbt conveying flax to thia mill from the paddock oppo&ite ' Carrs 1 house, now the property of Mr Adams. Last week we reported in our columns that Mr W. T. Firth had made an offer of ;£'2s pei annum for five years to Piako County Council, for the li^ht to cut flax on both banks of the Waihou liver reserve within Piako County ; tho County Council lesolving to invite lenders for the disposal of the privilege (if on obtaining a legal opinion it was found there was no objection to their thus leasing it), as being the fairest way for all -paities. We undui^ stand Mr Firth has also entered into an agieement with the Natives, whereby he has secured the right to a very large area of flax on the western bank of tho Waihou liver; between Shaftesbury and Mati M»ta In our issue of 23rd inst we reported that a Mr Yon Stunner had entered into .inanjrcments with the Gordon Special Settler*, by which he has obtained the right to alla 1 1 the flax on their land at a royalty of Is pei ton, on condition that be starts a fl ixniill in their vicinity. Mr Yon Stunner has also secured the right to all the flax on Mi Herbert Cox's land, and also to tluit'ui the proportyof a nnmberof settlers in the district (Miaftesbury). Mr Yon Stunner is a son of Air S. W. Yon Stunner, Resident M.i<;i^tiate at Masterton, .md comes to Te Aioh.i from Auckland. He has travelled extensively through Australia, America, and elsewhere. He pmpeses residing at tlu j (ionlnn Settlement, in order to personally Mipei intend operations. He has pui chased several hundred acres of land from the Gordon Settlers, in order to secure a title to the water right. The pioposed site for the flaxmill is on, or •idj.icent to a section purchased from Mr Sm.irdan, about a mile and a half from the Waihou river bank. The motive power will be piovided by a Pelton wheel, and a 'fall' of 80 feet can be obtained. With respect to the quantity of flas available we are informed there is a 1 rge supply on every side, within a radius of two or three miles. By the agreement Mr Yon Stumer has enteied into with the Gordon Settler's, Mr Hei bert Cux and others, he -ecurea the so'o right to cut their flax for i period of live years, at a royalty of one shilling j.er tun. Seeing that twenty tons

an acre is a very ordinary crop (whilst' ii?\ Taranaki and some other districts'as much * as sixtytonsof flaxhave been obtained off an ? acre), it required very little calculation to see that this ' new '?ventiire promises '.to prove a very great, boon to the Gordon Settlers, many of whom will' probatfly dispose of sufficient flax in one year* to pay, for the cost of their la" nd ; and intheir chsb no doubt flax growing will pay better than grazing ; whilst the money obtained as_ royalty will be clear to pocket, the realisation of the. unearned increment in the truest' sense. ' Whilst flax sufficient for a two or f three years supply in sight it is stated has been secnred, we are informed that by "judicious' and "careful cutting 1 (notcuttingtoolow, etc), a ßecond crop maybe obtained from the same land every two years, in fact that in, Raglan district in some places a crop of flax. has' been cut in successive years A start has already been made with the preparatory work, the water race having been commenced this, week. Mr Von Sturmer expects to be ready to start the mill in about three months,, and to employ about twenty to thirty hands at the first,, whiph> number he expects to largely increase, especially in the summer time. It is his intention to give the settlers and others who have signed the agreement with respect to the flax, the option of cutting and supplying it to the works at per ton ; and alsi to as far as 'possible employ • the settlers themselves, and other local labour available. We sincerely trust the undertaking may prove a good thing for the proprietor, as it is sure to do for those living ia that portion of the district.