NEW ZEALAND FLAX AND GRASS. 99 



plants, growing at three feet distance from each other, 

 will yield rather more than sixteen hundred weight 

 per acre, a great produce compared with that of 

 either flax or hemp. It has likewise the farther 

 advantage of being cleansed with very little labour 

 or trouble. The leaves are cut when full grown, and 

 macerated for a few days in stagnant water; they 

 are then passed under a roller machine properly 

 weighted. By these means the fibres separate, and 

 if then washed in a running stream will instantly 

 become white. 



Two or three years back some of this material 

 which had been obtained from the Colonial Office 

 was woven into cloth by the pauper children of 

 St. George's workhouse, Little Chelsea. It was soft 

 to the touch and of a good colour. From other 

 trials, however, which have been made, it is sup- 

 posed that this material does not produce very 

 durable cloth, and that it is not well adapted to the 

 purpose of weaving, but every test has proved its 

 superiority for the formation of cordage. 



The leaves of this plant grow in Ireland to five, 

 six, and even eight feet high ; it is propagated by 

 offsets which should not be parted till the parent 

 root is four years old ; May is the most favourable 

 season for this work of husbandry. 



Experiments have likewise been made at Ports- 

 mouth in the application of another product of New 

 Zealand to the manufacture of large and small 

 ropes. A favourable report has been given of the 

 result of these trials. The new material is a strong 

 pliable grass, very silky in its nature, and of very 

 rapid and luxuriant growth, three crops being ob- 

 tained in one year. It may be brought into this 

 country at the estimated price of 8 per ton, which 

 is now about one-fifth of the price of hemp of the 

 best quality. 



