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THE LEAF-FIBRE OF NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 27 
probably the most complete and valuable were the exhibits of the Messrs. 
Davis, of Otaki, Wellington ;* my friend Walter L. Buller, F.L.S., of 
Rangitiki, Wellington, also, showed an excellent series of flax-fibres, 
hand-prepared (scraped by mussel-shellst+) by the North Island Maoris 
for the manufacture of their mats or cloaks.{ These exhibits prove 
that the Maoris are still the best flax-dressers in New Zealand ; no 
machinery, no chemical manipulation of the skilled or educated Euro- 
pean, is yet able to compete with the hand-labour and the mussel or 
cockle-shell of the primitive native. It is indicative of the firm, un- 
shaken faith of the colonists in its value that, notwithstanding a con- 
tinuous series of failures and disappointments, experiments continue to 
be made, and capital sunk, in the attempt to render New Zealand flax 
applicable to the manufacture of cordage, textile fabrics, and paper. 
The failures in question have mostly happened in the North Island,— 
a circumstance that seems to inspire with hope the experimentalists of 
the South Island, for several of the most recent essays have been, or 
are being, made in the southern provinces of Otago and Canterbury. 
Not only so, but the northern colonists appear equally undaunted. A 
flax-mill was erected in November, 1866, at Whangamarua, Waikato, in 
the midst of a country as yet wild and abounding in flax-swamps ; and 
various similar efforts have been made from time to time in the pro- 
vince of Auckland. Nay, even at home there are still enthusiasts 
found to engage in the manufacture on the large scale of New Zealand 
flax produce. In the ‘ New Zealand Examiner’ of June 13th, 1863, 
there is an advertisement or prospectus of a “ New Zealand Flax, 
Hemp, and Cordage Company, Limited," to work the patent of Lieut.- 
Col. Nicolle, in Jersey. It does not appear whether, in this case, the 
plant operated on is grown in Jersey, or is imported from New Zea- 
land, for it thrives vigorously as a hardy plant in our Channel Islands. 
Among the most recent local experiments, are those of Ed. M‘Glashan 
and W. S. Grieve, in Dunedin, Otago, in March, 1867, on the appli- 
cability of New Zealand flax to peri ties A New Zealand flax 
* * Exhibition Catalogue,’ pp. 75 and 125. 
+ Apparently the Mytilus conaticuatu, M artyn (Dieffenbach, vol. ii. » 
Other authorities describe the C . disci d ? as the shell u 
found both shells abundant in ond w Zeala They are pn in 
the numerous “ shell-mounds ” that n asta on its coasts. In all Lato 
bability, sometimes the one shell, am the other, is or was used in 
ferent districts and by differen 
I ‘ Exhibitio a Didala: si — 
