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THE LEAF-FIBRE OF NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 23
They were said to be as fine as Belgian flax, capable of beings spun into
the finest cambrics, samples whereof were also exhibited.* As the re-
sult of a series of comparative experiments with Russian hemp at £4
per ton, the writer in the ' Catalogue ' (p. 156) says, " there can be but
one opinion as to the superior strength " of New Zealand flax. He
found trawl warps for fishermen made of that fibre successful in riding
out a gale, while those made of Russian hemp gave way. " Samples "
or selected specimens of the fil«e used by him were valued in London
at £33 per ton.
In the Auckland (New Zealand) market, flax dressed in its vicinity
commands a market price varying from J630 to £30 per ton. In the
Melbourne (Australia) market. New Zealand flax prepared in Otago,
in the mills of Mr. Constable at Dnnedin, fetches £35 to £35 per ton
for "hay-lashing." There it competes with Manilla hemp, which
fetches £35 to £40 per ton. In Dunedin, the same locally-prepared
flax-fibre brings 35s. per cwt. for mattress-making, while the plant is
collected and laid down at the mill for 20s. per ton.
That which really regulates or determines the market demand for
New Zealand flax, however, is the cost of its production. Were this such
that, adding the cost of freightage and the producer's and merchant's
profits, the fibre could be presented to the British and other markets
at a lower price than, or nearly equal price with, common flax, Russian
hemp, jute, or Manilla hemp, it might hope to compete successfully
with these at present cheaper and more abundant fibres. The cost of
production has not hitherto, however, admitted of this. In the case
of some, at least, of the samples of New Zealand flax shown at the New
Zealand Exhibition of 1865, the cost of production exceeded the market
value,—a circumstance, of course, ruinous to all hopes of its competing
for the present with the fibres al)ove mentioned. The Jurors of the
Exhibition, indeed, express an opinion that New Zealand flax cannot
compete with European flax ; and they very sensibly and cautiously
only venture the length of saying that it should successfully rival hemp
for cordage and green cloths.
t
Nevertheless, New Zealand flax at one time formed a very considerable
export from New Zealand. In 1831, this single item of export amounted
to £21,000 in value ; and in the same year a manufactory for the pro-
* 'Jurors' Eeports,' p. 119. t Ibid. p. 118.