1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



87 



From the leaves of these plants, with very little 

 preparation, the natives aiaUc all their common 

 apparel ; and they also nuinulacture their strings, 

 lines and cordaije tor every purpose, which are so 

 much stronger than any thing we can make with 

 hemp, that they will not bear a comparison. From 

 the same plant, by another process, they draw 

 long slender fibres, which shine like silk and are 

 as white as snow ; of these, which are also sur- 

 prisingly strong, the finer cloths are composed ; 

 while of the leaves, without any other preparation 

 than splitting tiiem into proper breadths, and tying 

 the strips together, they make their fishing nets, 

 some of which are of an enormous size. A plant 

 which with such advantage might be applied to so 

 many useful and important purposes, would cer- 

 tainly be a great acquisition to England, vvhere it 

 would probably thrive with very little trouble, as 

 it seems to be hardy and to afi'ect no particular 

 soil, being found equally in hill and valley, in the 

 driest mould and deepest bog. The bogs, howe- 

 ver, it seems rather to prefer, as near such places 

 we found it to be larger than elsewhere." 



The seeds brought home by Sir J. B. in 1771, 

 <lid not succeed ; but the New Zealand Flax Lilly 

 was introduced to ihe Royal Garden at Kew, 

 through the medium of the same enlightened in- 

 dividual in 1789 ; and thence has been liberally 

 distributed to collections in England and on the con- 

 tinent. Mr. Alton sent it to the garden of the 

 Museuna of Natural History of Paris in 1800; has 

 been cultivated in the open air of many districts, 

 and first produced flowers in the department ot 

 Drome, 1812, but it bore no fruit. Messrs. Labil- 

 lardiere, Faryas de Fond, Desfontaines and Frey- 

 cinet have devoted much attention to the cultiva- 

 tion and manufacture of this plant. It has even 

 withstood the severe winters of Paris, but in the 

 south of France it has been propagated with con- 

 siderable success, and survived the winters with- 

 out the smallest protection. In the departments 

 of the west, particularly in the environs of Cher- 

 bourg, it has perfectly succeeded and yielded ripe 

 fruit. 



It is readily increased too by dividing the roots. 

 Allen Cunningham, a very intelligent botanist and 

 traveller, gives the following account of the flax 

 lilly. "The Phormium tenax is indigenous to the 

 Islands of New Zealand. On the northermost of 

 the Islands [Equaterward] which has been tra- 

 versed almost in every direction by Europeans, it 

 is found in greater or less abundance, as well on 

 the immediate coasts in low situations, subject to 

 be overflowed by the tide, as in the inland country, 

 generally, in grounds more or less swampy. Ex- 

 tensively difl'used as this valuable plant is over the 

 surface of the Island, it is along its western coast; 

 to the southward of the parallel of SS'', and in 

 Cook's Streight, that the greatest quantities have 

 been found, where it is said to grow in fields of in- 

 exhaustible extent. The indigenous growth of the 

 Phormium is not limited simply to New Zealand ; 

 for it was long ago discovered in a wild state at 

 Norfolk Island, where it forms long tufts along the 

 clifls, within the influence of the salt spray rising 

 from the heavy surfs which ever and anon lash 

 the iron-bound shores of that small but truly beau- 

 tiful spot of the Pacific. The preparation of the 

 flax for their own use, or for exchange with Euro- 

 peans, is eflfected by the native women; and their 

 method of separating (he silky fibre from the long 



flag-like leaf of the plant, of which it forms the 

 under surface, appears sim[)le enough. Holding 

 the apex of a recently cat leaf between their toes, 

 they make a transverse section through the suc- 

 culent matter at that end with as/te//, (which they 

 still employ, although they possess every species 

 of iron edge tool) and inserting the shell (said to 

 be of the Genus Ostrea) between that substance 

 and the fibre, readily eflect its separation by draw- 

 ing the shell through the whole length of the leaf. 

 It is to be observed that the separation is always 

 perlormed by those people when the vegetable is 

 freshly cut; as the leaf contains a gum which 

 causes the fibre to adhere more strongly when dry. 

 Nor have the attempts of Europeans to extract 

 the filaments from the leaf by maceration, been at 

 all successfiil ; the experiments that have been 

 made at Sydney, showing that the large propor- 

 tion of the succulent matter, (for so the failure was 

 accounted for) rendered it impossible to effect the 

 separation by decomposition in water, without 

 materially injuring the strength of the fibre. Sim- 

 ple as appears this mode of separating the flaxfirom 

 the leaf by a shell in the hands of those savages, 

 still the European has not succeeded in his endea- 

 vors to prepare the fibre lor himself either by that 

 or any other means that have been tried ; nor has 

 any instrument or piece of machinery yet been in- 

 vented to enable him to strip off and prepare this 

 valuable filament for the English market. The 

 Port Jackson Traders must sFill be dependent oa 

 the native women and their shells for the cargoes 

 they obtain. The flax thus obtained by the mer- 

 chants of Sydney, undergoes no heckling, clean- 

 ing or other preparation previous to its being ship- 

 ped for the English market ; but it is merely made 

 into bales by being put into a press and screwed. 

 It is manutiiictured into every species of cordage 

 excepting cables, and JVlr. Bigge, the Commis- 

 sioner ol Enquiry to New South Wales, observes, 

 in his Report, pp. 52-53, "that its superiority of 

 strength to the hemp of the Baltic, has been at- 

 tested both by experiments made at Sydney, and 

 by one that was eflected under his own observa- 

 tion in the King's Garden at Deptford." 



An experienced captain of a merchant vessel, 

 who had been 35 years at sea, and many years in 

 the trade between Liverpool and Mauritius, spoke 

 much in commendation of the ropes made of the 

 New Zealand flax, having employed them in the 

 ships he had commanded. He had proved its su- 

 periority to hemp in ropes upon which there is al- 

 ways a great strain on shipboard ; such as stays, 

 braces, tacks, sheets, &c. and such were the 

 strength and elasticity (hence its value for stays') 

 and durability of fibre of the New Zealand flax, 

 the ropes could be made of less dimensions, and 

 theretbre more convenient to use than those of 

 Baltic hemp required for the same purposes. A 

 new main sheet, (which in a cutter is a rope on 

 which there is ever much stress,) after a nine 

 months' voyage, was still good and serviceable, 

 whereas had the rope been made of Baltic hemp it 

 would have been so worn by strain and friction, it 

 would have been necessary to bend another for the 

 return voyage of 7 or 8 weeks' duration. 



For many years past, some communication has 

 been kept up by individuals residing at Port Jack- 

 son with the natives of New Zealand : but it is 

 only of late that the trade in flax has been found 

 to be a profitable speculation. Of this the mer- 



