38 



by Mr. Andrews — })robably owing to careless mustering — and as the 

 scab bad been got rid of in a few years by the usual dressing of an 

 infusion of tobacco, sulphur and lime had not since been tried. 



Mr. Travers said that as many good remedial agents were known for 

 scab, it was merely a matter of comparative cost. 



Mr. Andrews said the cheapness of the application was its chief 

 recommendation. 



6.' Dr. Hector exhibited a sample of machine prepared flax, received 

 from Messrs. Rees and Gibson, of Wanganui, by a new process not 

 disclosed. The process entails an additional expense of ,£6 per ton, but 

 the sample possessed considerable lustre, and seemed to be entirely free 

 from gum. He also said that experiments had recently been made 

 in the laboratoiy, on New Zealand flax and Manilla ropes, which 

 went to show that New Zealand rope shrinks uj) more tightly than 

 Manilla, after saturation by fresh or salt water, and on becoming dry is 

 more loose and free in texture, showing that the foi^mer was more prone 

 to absorb moisture. In looking over the laboratory papers, he discovered 

 one by Mr. Skey, which had been overlooked during the enquiry of the 

 Flax Commission, pointing to a solution of salt as being the next best 

 detergent to soap of any solvent that had been tried in 1866 (the time 

 the paper was written) for cleaning the fibre. A circumstance was 

 mentioned by him that would point to the advisability of improving the 

 flax plant by cultivation and selection, as he had seen a strip of flax of 

 the variety known as tihore, grown in Mr. Mantell's garden, stripped of 

 its outer covering by the finger nail, the microscopic examination of 

 which showed that the ultimate fibres were quite as free as in chemically 

 prepared flax. 



7. Dr. Hector called attention to the encouraging fact that a new 

 coal deposit had been discovered a little to the south of Hokitika, a^bout 

 eight miles on the west side of the Kanieri Lake, showing that the coal 

 deposits of that region extend over very large areas. 



