24 THE LEAF-FIBRE OF NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 
duction of goods from New Zealand flax was established at Ormisby, 
Lincolnshire, though it was soon given up. In 1855, the value of New 
Zealand flax exports was between £5000 and £6000 ; in 1865, it had 
sunk so low as £75 ; while in 1866 it rose again to £996, whereof no 
less than £949 went from Auckland, and only £1 worth from Dunedin. 
These exports are, of course, iu addition to the quantity consumed in 
home manufactures, no proper estimate whereof can be exhibited. 
These extraordinary fluctuations have been determined by such circum- 
stances as native wars; the gradual decrease of the natives from the 
diseases and other concomitants of civilization; gold digging; the 
introduction of jute, Manilla hemp, and other abundant and cheap 
bres of a comparable kind ; the inferior preparation of New Zealand 
flax by Europeans; the varying requirements of, and consumption in, 
the colony itself; and the varying market demand for fibre of its class. 
Between thirty and forty years ago, New Zealand flax enjoyed in the 
European market a reputation which it has since apparently lost. 
There was a great demand for it, which was met by a corresponding 
supply, the Maoris engaging their women and slaves in the exten- 
sive cultivation of the plant and the preparation of its fibre. 
Successive colonial governments seem to have had visions of future 
wealth and greatness springing from an extensive local manufacture of, 
and export trade in, New Zealand flax. Hence they have endeavoured 
to stimulate the ingenuity and perseverance of settlers by offering sub- 
stantial premiums for success in the preparation of the fibre from the 
eaf. Such rewards are, however, scarcely necessary ; for, from the 
days of settlement to the present time, the anticipations of all classes 
of colonists as regards the future financial importance of the native 
flax have been of the most sanguine kind. Hitherto it has been popu- 
larly supposed that the chief obstacle to the easy preparation of the 
fibre for manufacturing purposes is the difficulty of separating the gum 
of the leaf; hence Government rewards have been virtually offered to — 
the “ discoverer of a method of clearing the flax of its gu." But, even — 
at the present day, there is no unanimity of opinion as to whether this 
is really the chief or only difficulty of the flax-producer. Constable, 
of Dunedin, a flax preparer, professes to separate the gum readily “ by 
strong chemical solvents ;" while Spey, analyst to the geological | 
survey of New Zealand, reports, as the result of a series of special ex- — 
periments, that the difficulties in preparing flax-fibre for use are ofa 
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