NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3116, 16 February 1909, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

New Zealand flax, says a correspondent of the "Field," has not yet taken that position among commercial fibre plants to which it is unquestionably entitled. It is unrivalled for its yield of fibre, no less than 15 per cent, of its fresh leaves being pure fibre of excellent quality, and the plant is as tenacious of life as a dock if the conditions as regards soil and climate are suitable. In New Zealand it is of more economic importance than any native plant, except, perhaps, the kauri pine, and the Maoris are very clever in extracting the fibre by hand. The only obstacle to the plant becoming of first importance among the vegetables fibres of the world is the difficulty experienced so far in constructing a machine or hitting upon a process that will extract the fibre at a reasonable ccst. The New Zealand Government, aware of the importance of their flax industry, have collected together all th? forms and varieties,>and are cultivating these side by side, with the object of testing their respective qualities. The employment of labour in New Zealand being more costly than in other ooui.-trie-s where this phormium can be cultivated, is likely to widen the field of this particular industry. The writer, who has put his finger 01 the weak spot which is crippling the industry in New Zealand, goes on to mention that there are many districts in Ireland where the plant would grow well. I» fact, he acids, it is already represented in many of the gardens there by examples equal to any that New Zealand could show. It is also, he says, quite at home in the open air in some parts of Devon and Cornwall.