PROGRESS REPORT OF THE FLAX COMMISSIONERS. 11

are used, all varieties being passed indiscriminately through the machines; and young, old, and some-
times half-decayed leaves are mixed up together. This evil will be in great part cured when the
whole of the first crop of old leaves has been cut, for then young leaves of from one to two years will
alone come to the mill; but it will not be entirely got over until mills are supplied with cultivated flax
carefully selected and looked after, and I do not think that it will pay to do this at present. Another
source of uneven quality is owing to the various processes employed in different mills to prepare the
fibre; but this will also gradually disappear as the subject gets ventilated, and the best method adopted
throughout the Islands.

The objection that New Zealand rope easily chafes is one that I am afraid we cannot cure, as it
arises from the gradual separation of the ultimate fibres from one another; but the more the cement
is removed or weakened by retting, boiling in water or in alkali, the more it will be liable to chafe, and
the greater the diameter of the rope the less will be the proportionate wear. I do not, however, see
why New Zealand rope should chafe more than Manilla.

One other objection remains to be noticed, namely, the alleged liability of the fibre to spontaneous
combustion. Spontaneous combustion is caused by easily decomposable bodies absorbing oxygen under
such circumstances that the heat cannot escape as quickly as it is generated, and it accumulates until
it is sufficient to set the substance on fire. All organic bodies which contain albumen decompose spon-
taneously when kept in a moist condition; but those bodies that do not contain nitrogen are much less
liable to decay, and therefore to spontaneous combustion. Well-cleaned fibre, quite dry when packed,
is not in the least liable to such a change; but badly-prepared or unscutched fibre, packed damp, would
probably rot before long, and the heat thus given out might be sufficient to set it on fire. Unwashed
flax, which still contained the mucilage and bitter principle, would be still more liable to spontaneous
combustion; but as moisture is absolutely necessary before decay can commence, even the unwashed
and unscutched fibre, if it was quite dry when packed, and pressed with a pressure of forty or fifty
tons or more, would be free from danger, for if the outside got wet afterwards the damp could not
penetrate further in than it could evaporate out again; and it is only in the centre of a bale that the heat
could accumulate so much as to cause it to catch fire. In my opinion, therefore, any kind of flax, if
quite dry when packed, and well pressed, is safe; but any kind, even the best prepared, if packed damp,
or loosely pressed, is unsafe, but not nearly so dangerous as wool or hay. The proof of this is the large
quantities that appear to be damaged by sea water on its way to England, and yet we have not heard
of a single case of heating or spontaneous combustion with Auckland-made flax.

I will now pass on to the second part of my lecture, in which I shall discuss the different processes
which are known to me to be employed in extracting the fibre from the leaf, and in preparing it for
export. All our accounts from England agree in saying, that what is required is a good white fibre,
bright and fresh looking, and well cleaned from the tissue in which it is enclosed; and from what I have
said, you will see that, in my opinion, we have to aim at a strong fibre, suitable for the manufacture of
rope, and not attempt to produce an article to compete with European flax.

MACHINING.

In preparing New Zealand flax, whatever may be the subsequent processes followed, the first
must always be a mechanical one. This is owing to the tough varnished skin which covers the leaf on
both sides, and which prevents solvents or chemicals acting on the mucilage and fibre until it has been
broken up; this has been clearly shown by Dr. Hector and Mr. Skey in their paper already referred to.
The object, therefore, of this process is to separate as much as possible the cellular tissue of the leaf
from the fibrous bundles, and that without cutting or breaking them. Another object is to remove the
gum which adheres to the leaf.

Many and various have been the means tried to effect these objects, and large sums of money have
been spent in vain endeavours to produce a good fibre that could be sold at a profit. I will not say,
however, that these endeavours were fruitless, or that the money was wasted; for out of them have
arisen the machines so largely used at present in this Province, and which are certainly capable, with
proper management, of producing an excellent article at a sufficiently low price.

It will, I think, be instructive to group together the various methods that have been tried at
different times and pronounced failures; for, judging from letters that occasionally appear in the
papers, it seems to be very little known in the Southern Provinces how numerous have been the
experiments in Auckland, and how many thousands of pounds have been expended in trying them.

HACKLING.

This appears to have been the first method tried, for Mr. Holman, of the Bay of Islands, invented
a machine on this principle in 1849. Subsequently, Mr. Murray in 1865, and Messrs. Macfarlane and
Cox in 1866, all tried different modifications, but without success. Mr. S. Brown, of Newmarket,
advocated, in 1867, hackling by hand.

PERCUSSION.

The next principle tried was that of percussion. In 1850, Mr. Dent beat the leaves with flails, and
in the same year Baron De Thierry used wooden stampers; while Messrs. Purchas and Ninnis intro-
duced iron stampers in 1860.

FRICTION.

This principle was tried by Mr. Whytlaw in 1854.

PRESSURE.

Squeezing the leaves by passing them through rollers under heavy pressure was tried by Baron
De Thierry about the year 1856, and subsequently Mr. Honeyman, of Dunedin, introduced fluted
rollers.

SCRAPING.

This was tried by Mr. Cole, of Papakura, in 1860, who used a revolving drum, scraping the leaf
against wood. Lastly, in 1866, was commenced the invention of the present machine, which combines
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