European Flax Culture in New Zealand.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 349, 9 March 1889, Page 5

European Flax Culture in New Zealand.

{From the New Zealand Farmer.) We make no apology for returning once more to this subject, for we firmly believe that if the flax (Linuvi mitatisshnuin) industry is once well established in this country, our agriculturists will have provided for them a new and most profitable field for energy and enterprise. Since we last wrote on the flax question in this journal we have been favoured by^ several communications on the subject, which have reached us through the Hon. Mr George Fisher, our present Minister of Education. This gentleman is in frequent correspondence with Mr J. 0. Wallace.of Belfast, the invention of thenew flax scutching machine referred to in former articles of ours. Mr Fisher has most kindly placed this correspondence at our disposal, and tho trouble he has taken to obtain information from home, and to aid in every way the efforts of those who, like ourselves, strongly believe in the benefits that would result to colonial farmers from the culture of European flax by them, entitles him to the thanks of all who are interested in our agricultural prosperity. We have waited to publish the information received until now, when the season has arrived to entor upon the preparation of the soil for the sowing of a flax crop in the spring. The following is a letter from Mr Wallace addressed to ourselves, and dated London, October 18th of last year :—: — Sir,— l beg: to thank you for publishing my letter of 22nd June in your journal for September. When in London I waited on the AgentGeneral, but found he was most unreasonably opposed to flax cultivation. He considered flax was an exhaustive crop on soil, although he had never had it grown to test his theory or opinion. I named several gentlemen and farmers who had grown flax and found it was not exhaustive. The only way is for farmers to try an acre or two aores with, flax as against grain or any other crop. One gentleman tried three crops* in equal divisions of one field in 1886. One portion on the west side had equal to thirty-four loads of farmyard manure, planted with potatoes ; the centre, which got no manure, was sown with flax ; the east side got equal to thirtyfour loads (that is, thirty-two loads farmyard and artificial manure equal to two loads more) and was planted with turnips. Last year (1887) the -whole fie'd was planted with wheat. The centre portion, where the flax had been, and which was not siren any manure, had the best wheat in length of straw and weight of grain. That is the only proof that should guide a farmer. As to my advising avuidance. of deep ploughing, I quoted the rule which I had seen uroven for over twenty years, and which my father and friends adopted for fully 40 years. The fact that flax is rarely a good crop when sown after potatoes (where the land must be deeply stirred), and that there never is a good crop of flax after turnips, is sufficient to deter farmers from deep ploughing. Although the land requires to be ploughed in autumn, the frost would prevent the soil settling or getting firm, so as to give the firm seed-bed which flax requires. I would be very glad if I were in a position to send out one or more machines to scutch and clean the flax. The work done by my machine has satisfied the experts in Belfast, so that there i=s no doubt but it will satisfy elsewhere. I have just had intimation that the jurors at the Paris competition of Rheea machines would not awrvd a prize there for any machine. Several of the experts who were there have arrived here, and tested my machine. One firm has already machines, while three other firms are in treaty for some. Each expert has told me that my machine, although built to work flax, works the Rheea in quite a superior manner to the best machine at Paris. There were twenty-nine entries at Paris. I did not know in time to enter, otherwise I could easily have got first prize.— Yours truly, J. O. Wallace. The reference to deep ploughing is in reply to some observations of our own upon this point which appeared in the Farmer for September last. We have only to point out that Mr Wallace bases his remarks as to the effect of frost in preventing autumn-plouehed land from settling, so as to give a firm seed bed, upon his experience in the north of Ireland. In most parts of New Zealand, and certainly in the North Island, we do not think the frosts are sufficiently severe to keep land deeply ploughed in autumn from settling sufficiently to give the firm seed bed required for flax. He certainly brings forward facts which go to show that flax - growing does not injuriously affect land subsequently sown to wheat. We have before us a letter by Mr Wallace, which was published in the English journal Industries combating the view that flax is a specially exhaustive crop. In this letter the writer says :—: — Controversy and statements do not prove that flax is exhaustive or otherwise on soil ; but farmers who will try a crop of flax on land can prove that it is not exhaustive, as all know who have grown it for years. The writer has seen it regularly for the past twenty years, and his father proved it over forty years since, I have frequently met gentlemen who professed to be skilled agriculturists, and were constantly quoted as eminent authorities by others, make the same statement as Mr Monie about flax ; but when asked if they had tested it by actual practical experience, in having a crop or crops grown under their personal observance, I found none who had done so, and further. I know that any farmer who puts manure on the soil immediately preceding flax never has a good crop. Flax will not succeed well after potatoes, and never after a turnip crop. The ground must not be deeply stirred, as flax requires a firm seed bed or subsoil. On grazing land in good condition two or three crops of fine flax have been grown in succession without manure, but this plan should not be followed : the best rotation is flax after lea oats. Unfortunately, the water of retting pits is never utilised. Another gent'eman— Mr James McLaren, Ferrybank, Cupar, Fife— had a splendid crop of flax last year after lea oats. When flax was pulled, barley was sown for spring feeding, followed by flax ; again a fine crop, and now a good crop of clover— the fourth crop in two seasons — is the best proof that the land is not exhausted. Farmers should work always on the same principle— by practical tests. I hope that these remarks may be useful. In a letter to Hon. Mr Fisher, dated 29th November last, Mr Wallace, after thanking him for copies of the The Farmer and Otago Witness, says :—": — " In the Southlander of 10th August, Otar/o Witness of 17th August, and in the previous number of The Farmer too, I think you will find that I mention rotation that has been proved to be the best for having large yields and good crops of flax. I have never stated that the flax crop does not require manure, but a good crop has never been i*eaped if manure was put> on land immediately before sowing flax. Flax is like all other crops ; if farmers wish to get be3t results they must adopt a sensible plan and grow in rotation, and that for flax is as Iknovvand have already put in my former letters to grow it after lea-oats. Notwithstanding the testimony of aU the Professors to the effect that flax is exhaustive on soil I hold the opposite opinion because I have seen it tested, and all who will grow flax on lea-oat land without manure, and put 35 tone or loads of farmyard manure for a potato or turnip crop, and on the same land in the following season plant oats, wheat, or barley, will find the best crop in length of straw and weight of grain on the land that had flax." Mr Wallace goes on to express the opinion that farmers in Great Britain are deterred from the regular and extended culture of flax by the interested advice of people deeply involved in the cotton and jute trades, which they think would be injured by the extension of flax cultivation. He goes on to say: —"I am pleased to see that the editor ot The Farmer grasps the subject and remarks, as I have frequently done, that ' it is the business of the agriculturist to feed the soil that yields the crop.'" In the Northern Whig of November 16th last, we note the following quotations for flax in different markets : — Ballymoney, 40s to 60s per cwt.; Bandalstown, 5s 6d to 9s 4£d per stone of 141bs. Under the head

I of " Nemry Flax," in the same paper, we I read as follows :— ' c This market to-day was | again largely supplied, and, the attendance of dealers from all the principal towns in the North being good, the demand was keen and all exposed for sale was soon bought up at prices varying from 5s 6d to 7s per stone according to quality. As an instance of the extraoidinary good yield of flax in the Mourne district this year, it may be mentioned that a farmer named James Orr, residing in the townland of Benagh, Kilkeel, sold in Newry to-day 97 stones, the growth of three bushels of seed, for which he received the very fair price of 6s 6d per stone. This is only one instance of the many good yields of flax this year in this district." Referring to this wonderful yield Mr Wallace says it was obtained from one acre of ground, and represented dressed flax onty, which at the price quoted our readers will see gave the grower the tidy little sum of £31 10s 6d — not a bad return from an acre of ground. But besides this there would be the worth of the tow to add to the amount. Mr Wallace claims that if this crop had been dressed by one of his machines the yield of fibre would have been " about double >% that stated. C4oocl flax last season was fetching over 9s per stone of 141bs, and we are told was likely to rise in price still higher. Mr Wallace complains, and with good reason, of the apathy and want of interest displayed by Sir F. D. Bell with regard to facilitating some such an'angement as we suggested in former issues, by which some machines might be sent out here on special terms in order to encourage the culture of flax by our farmers and fairly test the profitableness of the indnstiy. The AgentGeneral evidently treated him with an amount of official brusquene.ss which, under the circumstances, is very much to be regretted, and would not even devote half an hour to going fiom his office to inspect the machine which was on exhibition at the time at the Olympia Exhibition in London. A Mr W. S. Aickin, an old resident of New Zealand and a relative to Mr Ct. Aickin, of Auckland, was in England at the time and inspected the Wallace scutching machine. To show how simple is the manipulation of the machine we may say that Mr Aickin, after seeing it at work for a short time, although he had had no previous experience of similar machinery, was able to attend to it in a few minutes as well as Mr Wallace himself. This machine, it is claimed, will enable farmers to grow and then to manipulate a flax crop on their own farms, instead of having to send the straw as was formerly the case, to flax mills to be dressed. As compared with the old process the new machine will give a much larger yield of fibre in proportion to the straw treated. The difference amounts to as much as2sandeven 30 percent. ;in fact,practically the total product of fibre in the crop is secured instead of from only 12A to 16 per cent, as with the foi'tner machinery. If this be so, and after careful investigation we see no reason feo doubt the fact, surely it will be quite clear to our readers that the profitableness of flax culture has been placed on an entirely different footing by the new invention. To work one machine only a two-horse power is required with three either boy or girl attendants. Two or thx-ee machines worked side by side could be fedby these same three attendants, but, for finishing and dressing of the fibre it would be best, we ai'e told, to supply one attendant for each machine besides. In the foregoing we have dealt entirely with the profits to be derived from the fibre, but as we have pointed out in former articles the seed alone would pay a substantial profit, indeed a far largerone'than has been dei'ived from wheatgrowing for the last few years. The value of the fibre is much increased by its being well dressed, the diffeience on this account sometimes amounting to twice or thrice the price obtained for badly dressed flax. A larger and better yield of fibie is always obtained if the straw is kept until thefollowing season, and is steeped or reeted at the warmest season of the year. The feed ballsjshould not be "rippled" off until within one month of seed time, except any portion that may be required for feeding cattle. With regard to sending out and erecting machines in New Zealand to start the industry and prove the value of the invention, Mr Wallace regrets that he is not in a position to lay out the cost of the machines while this is being done, otherwise he says he would willingly do so. He points out that he has had to incur a very large outlay in connection with the experimental machines constructed while he was perfecting his invention, besides paying the heavy costs of taking out patents and making tests, before he could hope to get the smallest return from the r sale of machines. But he adds, in a letter to Mr Fisher, "I did for New Zealand, entirely owing to the generous and continued manly manner in which you have tried to bring forward the flax culture in New Zealand aided by your friends in the press — what I have not and would not have offered to any other country or firm ; I proposed to give for experimental purposes a few of my machines at actually below what I have to pay for making the machines." These machines are now valued at £200 each f.o.b. in Belfast.

The VjcrcmiAX "Wheat Crop.— The Australasian estimates the acreage under wheat in Victoria this year at 1,248,000 and the average yield at 7*635 bushels to th 3 acre. This would give a return of 9,529,000 bushels. The quantity needed for the requirements of the colony is estimated as follows :— For sowing an area equal to that of last year at the rat 9 of 1} bushel per acre, 1,560,000 bushels. For a mean population of 1,100,000, at the rate of 5£ bushels per head, 6,050,000 bushels will be required, making a total for home use of 7,610,000 bushels. Subtracting this quantity from the estimated total of 9,529,000 bushels, there l-emains a surplus for exportation of 1,919,000 bushels, or about 51,411 tons.

The Premier, in reply to Mr A. Murchie acfcing-secretary of Auckland Caledonian Society, who conveyed to him the resolution of the Caledonian Society on the subject of crofter immigration to New Zealand, stated that he would be glad, during his visit to Auckland, to meet with representatives of the Society and have a fuller statement and discussion of their suggestions for the extension of Government aid and encouragement to fche settlement of crofter families on the soil of New Zealand. Lord Delamere, Lady Delamere, Lady Evelyn Morton, and the Hon. Miss Sybil Cholmondeley, intended to proceed for a tour round the world in the steamship Arawa, which left London on January 24th for New Zealand direct. The codlin moth has made its appearance at Rangiora, in Canterbury. The United States House of Representatives has^ passed a resolution favouring the promotion of a commercial union with Canada, andto assimilate the import duties and international i-evenue taxes equitably, and to divide the receipts. The New South Wales Government have ordered from Sir W. Armstrong at Elswick, four 22-ton guns. The "Berlin Post " states that fche Emperor William will visit England about August next. The Czar will probably pay a visib to the Kaiser about the end of March.