REVIVAL OF THE FLAX TRADE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1458, 5 November 1881, Page 2

REVIVAL OF THE FLAX TRADE.

We arc well pleased to loam by reports received fiom different paits of the distnct that the native nax f radc is expenencing a decided lcvivwl. The im[.xovenient is a piogiessive one, the price per tou continuing to show a steady upward tendency. So mar ed is that the case, that within the past few days, the pi ice h.is risen from £20 to £21 for really well prepared samples, Late advices fiom Auckland met chants lepovt that large orders have been received fiom the American market, where it would seem ■-cw Zealand flay has at length obtained a satisfactory footing. 'I he extent of these orders miy be q ithered from the fact that the instruction to mill owners id that the merchants aic prepaied to receive their supplies in any quantity, and they arc further advised to make every possible effenfc for extending operations. The result of these advicei is, ag we have &iiid, renewed vigour in the prosecution of this hopeful bianch of industry. One u"3iilt of this improvement has just come under our notice. In Raglan di>tuct, including Wai te tuna and Tc°Mata, no fcAev than twelve mills were eiected dining what we shall call the p ilmy days of the trade. At, that time the puce per ton realized £30. When the reaction set in, and the price had gone du.vnas low .is £12 and £13, opeiatiom were in eflect, checked, and as our readers aie aware little or nothing waa done, either here or el&cwheie in the colony for utilising flax. More recently still a kind of mixed trade was opened up ; the lion's share of the quantity produced being absorbed by upholsteicrs in Melbourne loi stuffing pui poses. Consequent upon the opening of that branch, the trade revival, still the revival was not sufficient to induce anything like the enteipnse thoietoforc carried on. The late stimulus, however, would seem to have brought it back again to something like it-> early importance. Of the twelve mills fonneily at work in RagLtn, operations h ive already been re&urred by ten, and judging fiom the present prospect of afhui s the number will ere long be supplemented. During the vicissitudes of thetiade raaikecl improvements were effected in the method employed for ti eating the flax, and to that fact we are no doubt, largely indebted for the general improvement we hwe now the pleasure of chronicling. Mr William Mitchell, oftho Karioi mill, furnishes a case in point. He has provided diagonal scrapers, which in found to treat the leaf more effectively than hcrapo'B placed transveraly. The result is that his flax commands the highest market rate. The trade is one which h-is many recommendations for the New Zealand settlers. Where located on flax country, it enables him to clear his land, utilising to advantage refuse thai would otherwise be uselesss or rather difficult to get rid of. Operations in the the districts referred to are for the most part carried on with the assistance of juvenile labor, so that a settler with a family finds remunerative employment for his children within his own operations, which could not otherwise be very well provided. la cases where children are not thus available, the Industrial School — boy hiring— system is largely resorted to. Indeed we are given to understand that but for that class of labour the pursuit might have died out altogether, as it got so low as effectually to preclude the employment of labour of the usual class. As further evidence v of the improved prospect, we learn Mr Charles Bell, of Churchhill, has lately been experimenting to good effect -^joa the adaptability of the fibre for sheafbinding purposes. By a hasty preparation of the leaf which did not occupy more than five hours, and in which bleaching and sontching were almost wholly dispensed with, he produced a fibre which, »pun into a rough kind of rope, makes a capital binder. It can b& produced for 2d or 2|d per lb. ; whereas the Indian jute article hitherto largely in use, ooats at least double the amount. Last year there were 3730 lbs. of the last named preparation imported into New Zealand, so that we have here a ready made home trade for this new outlet to the flax industry. Altogether, we are well pleased to note such a promising future opening out to the fla* trade. o{ $few 3eala&(|i

y ■ ' ' " The difference between a man who digs in fchq ground and one who dig's in books is, that tho former digs for hire and the latter for lore. ArtomuH Ward had the true inwardness of primacy in him when he made his famous ob-ervation • "Ef I'm drafted I shall re/fno." One of Ihe plainest indications of unsuccessful farming is to see manuro going to waste or unemployed. When this is seen there is no need looking beyond the stables and the yards to find out the condition of tho farm, or to judgo of the success of its owner. A Fashionable Quaker Wedding.— The marriage of MiB3 Margaret Sophia Bright, youngest daughter of the Itight Hon. J. Bright, M.P., to Theodore Cash, of 23 Montague -sfcieet, Ruhsoll squaie, London, brother to Pr Midgley Cash, of Torquay, took place recently at the Friends' Moofcing-house, Torquay. Mr Bright, with his daughter and a large number of relatives and fiiends, sfc.iyed at the Victoria and Albeit Hotel on Tuesday night, whence they proceeded next morning to tho Meeting-house, Mr Fowler, M.P., accompanying Mr Bright. The bridesmaids were Miss A. Bright, Mi^s R. Bright, Mis* Jesse Crosfield and Mi-s Juliet Crosfield, all of whom weio attired in pale blue rilk, the bade wealing a handsome whUc silk, with vail and wreath of orange blossoms. Silence having be^n commanded, prayer was offered by Mrs Fox, of Oak hill, Toiquay. after which tho ceremony was gone through in the usual form, and tho biidegroom, taking the bride by the hand, repealed tho following words: " Friend*, in the fear of the Lord and in the presence of this assembly, 1 take this my friend, Margaret Sophia Blight, to be my wife, promising through Divine assistance to bo unto her a loving and faithful husband until it shall please the Lord by death to separate us." Similar words were icpeitcd by tho biide, after which Mr W. llobiii'-ou, of Sc.uboiough, delivered a biicf but impressive addiess to the newly nunied couple. The marriage ccitificate. which was artistically engiossed on vellum, was feigned by about foil y of tho-e present. The marna<<e was afterwards, registered in the usual form by the Di.stnct Registrar, and, the ceiemony over, the wedding party leturned to the Victona and Albeit Hotel, vshcie the wedding bre.ikf.ist was seived. Crowds of per-ons watcl.ed the n nival and departure of the wedding paity, — Couit Citcului.