THE LEAF-FIBRE OF NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 23 
They were said to be as fine as Belgian flax, capable of being spun into 
the finest cambrics, samples whereof were also exhibited.* As the re- 
sult of a series of comparative experiments with Russian hemp at £40 
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 fibre 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 £30 to £50 per ton. In the 
Melbourne (Australia) market, New Zealand flax prepared in Otago, 
in the mills of Mr. Constable at Dunedin, fetches £25 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 ewt. 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 above 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. 
Nevertheless, New Zealand flax at one time formed a very considerable 
1 export from New Zealand. In 1831, this single item of export amounted 
E to £21,000 in value; and in the same year a manufactory for the pro- 
* ‘Jurors’ Reports,’ p. 119. T Ibid. p. 118. 
