Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1893. THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4524, 15 September 1893, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1893. THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

The appointment by tho New Zealand Flax Millers' Association of an, expert grader, who will have sole control of the flax manufactured for export, should be the beginning of a new and successful era for the flax industry of , the Colony, sad this district in particular. Hitherto matters have been oarried out in a haphazard fashion, and as a natural result the industry has materially (offered all round either from the . culpable negligence or the wilful dishonesty of * very . few, It will be the duty of the grader now appointed, to carefully sort into various qualities the whole ' of the flax sent to (he port of Wei- [ lington for shipment. By this means ' an uniform and steady price will be received all the year round in the ' markets of the world. There can be no "booms" and no"bursts" if : once the trade is put on a solid basis by the. grading system, A certain grade will be worth so much, and another grade will have a different , price, and so on. The market price in fact'of the fibre will be ascertain--1 able at once in Wellington, and not dependable on the rise and fall of the European and American markets. The Russians have for' years past recognised the necessity for grading their hemp in order to secure steady prices, and now New Zealand, better late than never, has come to (he same conclusion. No more fitting acknowledgment of the long years of advocacy and support of the New Zealand fibre trade could be given to any one than accorded to Mr John Holmes, the firm of Holmes and Go, Wellington, by theN.Z. Flax.Millers' Association in seleoti/ig him for the important position of grader, an appointment wbioh, we feel sure, will be approved of by all connected with the industry. Mr Holmes has for. man} years consistently supported this important branch of the exports oi the Colony, and we congratulate the Association' on seonring the services of a gentleman so well qualified to fill the poiition. His general knowledge of the manufacture, sale, and ship* ment of t.bo fibre is probably not surpassed in the Colony, and bis long experience and admitted ability 'in a guarantee that the duties entrusted to his care will be carried out to the Satisfaction of both producer and exporter. We confidently look to see the flax industry advancing by <1 leaps and bounds " as the result of the appointment, and once more affording profitable investment to many millers who have felt " the slings and arrows of outrageous, fortune " in the past,