The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1889. The Flax Industry.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3179, 13 April 1889, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1889. The Flax Industry.

The enormous strides which have of late been made in the production of tho Phormium fibre may well make ' us pause to consider what may be the possible consequences to the colony. That tho industry is paying remarkably well at the present time, is, of course, well known to everybody, Wa believe that we are pretty 1 near the mark when we say that the cost of producing a ton of first-class fibre is, at the presont timo, about £l6 or £l7. Lato cable advices ; give the selling price in London at 1 about £37 per ton, which would leave, at the higher rate of the cost i of production, a balance of £2O per • ton, out of which have to be met the expenses of local transport, freight to London, insurance, commission, and tho smaller expenses incidental to trade. Whatever there is over would be profit. Although the rates of freight and insurance may be high, i there is not the slightest doubt that tho margin would be a considerable one, and that, if a man could pro : duce two tons of fibre weekly, whicli is a reasonable quantity, ho would bs in receipt of an income which, while it lasted, tvould put tho salary ; of a Minwtor of tho Crown into the shade. He would, as a matter of fact, bo iu receipt of over a thousand a year. But the question is, will the present high prices last ? If we go back in the history of the industry we find that a rapid rise in value and a corresponding increase in production took place in 1870 to '73, when as |i)!ich as £54 was obtained for a small pawl 0? exceptional quality. The best that was put i|) flip market in any quantity only fetoliod from £3G to £4O, aud such was the proportion of inferior fibre produced that the ayerage price was pulled down to only' a little oyer £22, which, it appears still lsft a fair pwrgin of profit, owing, probably to tho smaller expenditure in the production of the inferior article. After 1873, prices fell pipidly, and they continued to fell till 1886, whfli the ayerage was down to £l4. tjiaf yfiar the quantity exported to 16,177 tons, so that it would appear that even that low price pajd. In 1888 there was 1 a rapid rise, bo that in November a 1 ton was wortji £.8.0, the tinuing till last month,'when prices | seemed to be a little irregular, the | rsCTlt i slight dpslfae, Since :

then the first quotations given by us lmve, prevailed with little alteration. The rise early in the seventies appears to have been duo to two causoß; Ist, a soaroity of jute, and 2nd, a belief that such strong, fibre as that of Now Zealand flax was certain to prove valuable for many purposes for which it had not theu been tried. By degrees, however, it was found out that it possessed drawbacks, and as jute again became plentiful, flax fell into the background. Continued working with it since theu has shown manufacturers how to overcome the most important difficulties; it has quite lately been found that the fibro is the best material known for the manufacture of binder twine, and with this came another short supply of jute and sizal. With such a string of circumstances in its favor tlie'ro was bound to be an improvement in the domand for the New Zealand article. The reasons for tbo rise which we have stated famish fair material for an answer to the question whether prices are likely to remain high, It seems but natural that the shortness in the supply of jute and sizal is, as on the first occasion, merely of a temporary character; but against this has to be set the fact that New Zealaud flax is now better understood, and the new use to which it is being put in the manufacture of binder twine. As to whether the onormous increase which has taken place in the production may not swamp the market, we have but little data to go upon. It is quite certain that the Colony possesses four or five mills at the present time for every one that was at work six months ago, and we hear of new ones being started almost daily. So far, the demand has certainly not exceeded the supply: but it must be remembered that only a small proportion of the increased output has reached the manufactures; centres. Latest advices from Home tend to show that a decline is expected. If it does take place, will it be permanent, and will it be very serious ? We are inclined to think that flax millers have nothing very serious to apprehend. The almost phenomenal iucrease in the production must of necessity give a check to the market, but the increased demand is certainly of a permanent nature, except in so lar as it has been affected by jute and sizal, and that demand is certain to increase. Millers would still have a good margin left to them if the price should fall very consider- | ably, though for their salies, and for that of the colony, we should be glad to see the present rates maintained. A fall to rates which pre--1 vailed in 1886 would bo a most serious ' disaster, as it would throw thousands of men out of employment, and lock up a large amount of capital lhat has been invested in machinery.