MANILA HEMP NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 39 



The experiment of utilising these fibres for commercial purposes is 

 said to have been tried in Italy. This tree is much cultivated in France 

 and other countries for its leaves, which are used for the feeding of 

 silkworms. The leaves are stripped off the young shoots for the 

 purpose of sericiculture. The black mulberry is a native of India, 

 and the white mulberry of China. 



New Zealand Flax, Flax Lily (Phormium. tenax, Liliacese). A 

 native of New Zealand, resembling an agave. It belongs to the order 



Fig. 25. New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax). 



Tiliace.se,. The leaves are developed in a kind of rosette, are ensiform in 

 shape, and have an erect or equitarit habit. 



Fig. 25 is an illustration from a group of these plants growing in 

 the Temperate House at Kew. The leaves are made into matting, and 

 the fibres obtained from the leaves are used for cordage and for weaving 

 a coarse linen-like fabric. 



The fibres will bear a fair strain, but are wanting in flexibility, and, 

 as a rule, cannot be relied upon for cross-straining effects. The character- 

 istic features of the fibres from this plant are greatly dependent upon 

 the kind of soil in which the plant grows. A moist soil rich in humus 



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OF THE 



UNIVERSITY 



