114 Transactions. 
Arr. XVII.—On the Utilization of the Phormium tenax. 
By W. T. L. Travers, F.L.S. 
[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 1864.*] 
Iw eonsidering the natural resources of this colony, there is nothing more 
calculated to arrest attention than the abundance and general distribution of 
the plant popularly known as the New Zealand Flax ; and we find, in effect, 
from a perusal of the various works which have been published on New 
Zealand, that this plant has always been looked upon with very great 
interest both in the colony and in Europe. The interest thus created is due 
to the presence in the leaves of the plant of a large quantity of woody 
tissue, analogous to that produced from the hemp ; and many attempts have 
accordingly from time to time been made to utilize this tissue. I will not 
venture to go into the causes which have hitherto rendered these attempts 
abortive, but I may remark that they have had the unfortunate effect of 
checking further enterprise, by creating an opinion that the fibre cannot be 
separated from the leaves, in a state fit for manufacturing purposes, except 
at a cost far exceeding its value. One cause of failure, however, I will 
notice, namely, that the capital hitherto employed in our local flax-works has 
been too small to test its value in a satisfaetory manner; for it may be laid 
down as a postulate, that no article of commerce requiring new appliances to 
render it useful will find a market in England unless manufacturers there 
can be assured of a large and continuous supply. 
In using the word “flax,” as applied to the Phormium tenax, it must not 
be supposed that the plant belongs to the natural order Linacee. It belongs 
to the order Liliacee of Jussieu, and is botanically described by Dr. J. D. 
Hooker in his work on the flora of New Zealand. In this description, Dr. 
Hooker particularly notices the existence of the fibre which gives its principal 
interest to the plant, and the gummy exudation which has been looked upon 
as a detrimental quality in the leaf. Now, in considering whether this fibre 
can be turned to useful commercial purposes, we are led to inquire, in the 
first place, into the question of supply of the raw leaf.. Those who have had 
any opportunity of travelling over these islands, cannot fail to have been 
struck with the extensive distribution of the Phormium tenax. In almost 
every locality, whether on the mountain side or in the river bed, in the 
narrow valley or on the broad plain, we see it growing more or less abun- 
dantly. In many places, thousands of acres continuously are covered with it ; 
and it would not be too much to say that within a few miles of Christchurch 
* The exact date of the reading of se and the two following papers before the 
d veces nortan Alor: rtained at the time of their being 
