FLAX.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 101, 15 January 1870, Page 6

FLAX.

The following encouraging quotation of sales of New Zealand flax are by the last English mail : — Messrs G. J. A. Noble, of London, remark " that the market continues very firm. The sales since the 30th comprise 541 bales ex Percy, just arrived from Auckland. The marks and prices we give at foot. This fibre is becoming of considerable importance, and will amply repay great care in sorting and packing. The public sales on November 3 and 4 went off with considerable animation, the prices realised showing a large advance on previous rates. November 3. — E Constable, 415 bales, at L 45 15s. to L4B 10s. per ton for sound ; W. McL, 94 bales, L 47 ss. per ton for sound; McD, 43 bales, LSI 10s. per ton for sound ; X, 34 bales, LSO per ton for sound ; MC, 36 bales, LSO per ton for sound; E, 11 bales, Lsl JOs. per ton for sound ; November 4. — D, 37 bales damaged, L 37 to L 46;4 6; HM over D, 28 bales damaged, L 32 ss. to 48 ss. Thus making the total of 541 bales, a above." Messrs. Ellis and Hale says that the demand and use for this article is increasing, and the great rise in the value of Manilla hemp (owing to its largo use for making cables, &c), prices arc considerably higher. The London correspondent of the " European Mail " thus comments on the matter : — The importance of New Zealand flax as a profitable article of commerce is becoming every day more apparent. It has recently met with a large demand. Should the arrivals prore more regular, it would Dccome a staple article. The chief requisites are, that it be strong, white, clean, and long, in which condition it Avould realise as much as from L4O to L 43 per ton. The average quality of importation of clean mixed lengths, is selling at from L 35 to L3S, while that which is only partly clean obtains from L3O L 35, and the barky and common goes as low as L 25. One of the weak points of New Zealand flax is that if knotted it destroys itself by breaking, although it possesses a much greater bearing strain than the English aHicle, at a straight pull. Another disadvantage is that hitherto no way has been found of freeing it of the gum, except by chemical means, which destroy the fibre; it only requires, however, proper machinery, which has not yet been produced, partly because the supply of the article has hitherto been too doubtful, to overcome its chief drawbacks. It is however said that ib interferes with the shipping trade, as it is stated, to be liable to spontaneous combustion, and to this the loss of several vessels that have been missing, amongst others, the Matoaka, is attributed. Under any circumstances, the flax will always be very useful for the manufacture of paper. At present it can only be prepared roughly in the colony. Flax, in the form oi bales, involves heavy expenses, but if reduced to half-stuff for paper, it would take up very little room, and the cost of freight would be proportionately diminished. It is only the wild flax that comes to us from New Zealand at present, and it must be properly cultivated if it is to regf he the anticipations that are indulged in respecting it by the colonists. Some time ago Sir William Hooker supplied an acquaintance of mine interested in the subject with specimens from Kew of flax of the Scilly Islands, and they were found not to be equil to the New Zealand article.

The "Home News," of October 8, says: — "Flax, judging from its value in the English market, should have received more consideration and attention from colonists in the islands than it has done. The weed that the New Zealand farmer burns down in -order to clear his land, land that he afterwards crops with potatoes to sell at perhaps £10 per ton (? £3), the strong rope-like grass that the bullock driver gathers on the side of the track, and therewith safely lashes his load, the stringy reed that everywhere in New Zealand serves a thousand purposes of usefulness, and that may, nearly everywhere, be gathered for nothing, is here in Lpndon, "in the straw," and without dressing of any kind, readily saleable at from £24 to £25 per ton, and when dressed up into a fashion ££ for

rope-makers, worth £40 per ton, and easily saleable in any quantity at the price. If the Maori can make nets and bags and blankets out of the phormium tenax, if a sample of the grass can be so manipulated that a fabric equal to ordinary French cambric can be woven from it, it ought not to be difficult for the settler to so prepare it, and in such quantity as to make it a permanent and valuable merchantable commodity. Should the expense of dressing prove too great a difficulty, the straw, simply dried and packed, might be made a valuable article of export, and rope makers here would gladly purchase it. If the dressing is undertaken on the island, it is worth doing well. Of two samples sold since the outgoing of the last mail, both equal in original quality, one from Auckland, well dressed and bright in colour, brought £40 per ton against £30 obtained for a badly dressed sample from Otago. If the necessary dressing cannot be done in New Zealand without destroying the quality of the staple, better send it in a state of straw, but in any case it will be found a profitable transaction. For a long time its merits were decried by English rope- makers, but they bought it nevertheless whenever they had opportunity. It was mixed with Manilla hemp, and nothing said about it, but now a large manufacturer announces as one of the staples of his trade, " New Zealand rope," and professes to make it from New Zealand flax, and so he doubtless does, so far as the supply will enable him to do so. No doubt the gummy substance with which the fibre of the phormium tcnax is so strongly coated is difficult to remove, but Messrs. Devitt and Hett, the colonial brokers here, are just now in treaty for the perfecting of a machine that is expected to change all this. In the meantime, there are few better shipments from New Zealand to the English market than the so-called flax. The fibre of the ordinary tussock, when beaten with wooden mallets upon beds of the same material, makes a capital article of commerce in England, the uses of which are not yet precisely defined to the outside public. It is saleable at from £45 to £50 per ton. The " Southern Cross " gives the following calculation as to the productive nature of the New Zealand flax, and the outlay required before it can be put in the market : — " A flax-bush, properly treated, will yield two crops a year,, or, in other words, every acre of ground will produce 15 tons of green flax — of fibre about two tons. This, sold at the low price of £20 per ton, gives £40 per acre, or £40,000 from a thousand acres. Flax, like every other article of commerce, commands a price according to quality, inferior grades beiiii? about £20 per ton, a better quality from dS3O to while extra fine is worth £50 per ton. At the latter figure a thousand acres of flax-bush would produce £100,000 per annum. It cannot be expected, however, that the entire product of an estate will be extra fine. A fair way of arriving at the aggregate yield would be to divide the gross amount into first, second, and .third classes, and accept £40 as the mean price, which would give £80,000 a-year. The following is an estimate of the cost of preparing and putting into market four tons : Depreciation of machinery, 12s ; eight men's wages, 25s per week, £10; one man at engine, £1 15s; twelve lads at 12s, £7 4s ; twentyfour tons of green flax at 15s, £18 ; packing, baling, &c, £4 ; two tons 8 cwt. of coal, at 20s, £2 8s ; freight, and sundry other expenses, say £8 ; making a total of £51 19s for four tons, or £12 19s 9d for one ton. Deducting this sum from £50, the mean price of the fibre, we have £27 Os 3d left as a net profit per ton, or £54,000 on the 2000 tons of fibre taken from 1000 acres of land. The estimated cost of machinery is — An eisfht-horse engine with Cornish boilers, £200 ; four machines at £22, £88 ; scutching hooks, £15 ; one screw press, £12; building, £185; making the total cost of mill £500. All this refers to the manufactory of indigenous flax with present rude appliances and comparatively unskilled workmen. Were it, like many other branches of industry, reduced to a science, the estates cleared off, the best quality of flax planted and properly cultivated, gathered carefully, and manufactured with the view of producing the finest and whitest fibre, the profits per annum would be very largely increased."