■'j^";^] Excursion lo Nobelitis's Nursery, Emerald. 125 



A flax mill has been installed, and the manager was most 

 courteous to our party, showing and explaining every opera- 

 tion. The flax plants are ready to cut at three years old, and 

 subsequently every three years for an indefinite period. The 

 leaves are graded according to length by an ingenious and 

 yet simple method. A bundle of the leaves is dropped into a 

 cask sunk into the ground. The longest leaves are bunched 

 out first as grade i, then the second longest are taken out for 

 grade 2, leaving the balance for grade 3. The grades are passed 

 into the scutching machine, which, in the space of about a 

 second, very cleverly and forcibly removes both upper and 

 under surfaces of the leaves, reducing these surfaces to a 

 coarse powder, leaving the leaves on the floor a heap of green 

 fibre. This fibre is passed between revolving rollers under 

 water, which process washes out the gum-like sap. It is then 

 dried and bleached for three weeks by laying it out on grass. 

 The fibre is then ready for baling and for despatch to the rope 

 mills. The powdery leaf surfaces are washed into a drain, 

 the sediment being cleared out from time to time for use as a 

 medium for raising young flax seedlings and for manure in 

 the nurseries. Millions of young flax seedlings, looking just 

 like young seedlings of grass, are being raised at the present 

 time in the nursery for planting out so as to increase the area 

 of flax. It was very interesting to be told by the manager that 

 while it took from eight to ten tons of leaves to produce a ton 

 of fibre in New Zealand, the same amount of fibre was being 

 produced here from seven tons of leaves ; that in New Zealand 

 the best flax grew in swamps, while all of Mr. Nobelius's was 

 hill-grown ; and that every sample of local flax fibre was graded 

 at the rope mills as " special." Leaving the nursery at about 

 4 p.m., the party was entertained at afternoon tea, in his 

 mountain home, by Mr. Scott. Our old and esteemed member 

 has succeeded in establishing in his garden paddock quite a 

 number of terrestrial orchids, including Thclymitra longifolia, 

 Prasophylliiin brcvilabrc, Microtis porrifolia, Dipodimn pniictcitiim, 

 and others, and these were much admired by the party. 

 Leaving Mr. Scott's home we walked to the tourist track along 

 the Menzies Creek, finding our way ultimately to the Paradise 

 station, along the tourist track. In some of the glades the 

 great clumps of the Silver Wattle were very fine, and in full 

 seed. At flowering time the sight must have been gorgeous. 

 The creek scenery, the tree-ferns, the musks, clematis, asters, 

 and other Ix'autics were greatly admired, the time liiMng all 

 loo short t(t allow us to spend much timi; tlirre. l^'roui tin; 

 creek to the station at Paradise is a fairly still hill climb, being 

 about 300 feet. Two entomologists were among the party, 

 who made some very interesting captures.— E. E. Pescott. 



