NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2283, 30 April 1886, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

The following letter by Mr Chas. J. Pownall appears in the New Zealand Times:-

Your correspondent "0," in your issue of Tuesday,. repeats the oft-told tale of the danger of using this fibre where exposed to moisture, and, moreover, suggests that it should be altogether prohibited for seafaring purposes. Permit me, before this condemnation is effected, to be the interpleader in the cause of, .this unfortunate material. What has ever been done hitherto to discover and realise any true, merits it possesses 1 Absolutely nothing.. The leaves" have been; indiscriminately cut from their native bed, and submitted to the action of a most barbarous machino called a "stripper," in which, by the concussion arising from the enormous speed of the-cylinder, they are separated into thin threads. These threads are washed and passed for many days in order that from atmospherio bleaching their appearance may be improved. Lifted when dry, more like a bundle of straw than fibre, they are submitted to the action of a scutching machine which, after losing a large quantity in the shape of "tow," loaves the remnants ready for the market at a cost which _ barely covers expenses, The phormium tenax may therefore be quoted 88 ft victim to the idiocy, stupidity, and therefore maltreatment of all who have been engaged in its attompted manufac ture, and to myself more particularly as being the worst of that lot, because I am about the oldest hand in it. Caustic romarks of this nature require some explanation for adopting them. The matter is of more than general importance to this country in these timeß of depression and low prices for our other exports j and, if you will permit me the necessary ipace, I will state why I have made use of them. What is tho leaf of .the phormium tenax composed of 1 Tho under surface of it (when split) is thickly covored wifchsilicrous matter containing acid, while the outer or exposed side contains cellular tissue charged with coloring matter, and, as the most vital agent in its future growth and consistency, " essential oil" in considerable Bupply, Lying between two surfaces is a mass of brilliant white fibre, As a result of the barbaric stripping machino I have quoted, not a particle of this silicia is removed either then or by the after processes named. It is allowed therefore to dry upon it, and then be[comes of a consistency similar to piaster or stone. "That no after process can ever remove," for the fibre attached perishes with it. Exposed to tho atmosphere for many days, tho coloring matter disappears, but by the same action all tho essential oil likewise evaporates, and with it the very heart and life of the fibre. Your correspondent "o,"' I notice, attributes its failure in this state, to the gum dissolving .by the action of the moisture, whereas it simply decays and rots rapidly away, It it a compound brittle mass of fibr» and silica, which when knotted or twisted cuts itself; all its vitality has been destroyed. This explanation of the result of the existing process so far shows no cause »j?ainst it* condemnation unless another mode of treatment can bo suggested. Supposing, therefore and I will treat it at present as a supposition only, that the silica on one side of the leaf, and the coloring matter on the other, can be removed mechanically, without any disarrangemgnt of the fibre, all the present after-operations disp»nsed with, and the operation from green leaf to fibre ready for baling completed in a few hours, what would then be tho result obtained and the value of the material}' The result would bo the production of a bright fibre, silky in its appearance' from being charged with essential oil, and therefore Impervious to moisture, and of a relative strength that would bear comparison with any of thohempclasstowhich.it belongs, not excepting manilla, and finally of all round value over present production of at least 75 per cent., while produced at less cost. Experiments alone lead to practical results, but so far the proposed operation appears perfectly feasible, and the whole fact may shortly be realized, and my present statements therefore fully so. The time,-however, for supposition only about this fibre is thoroußuly exhausted, and nothing lest than th» stvta reallty wiU b» »ay le'ng«r Mwp'tW.