DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 263 



New Zealand Flax in California. — The plant has been grown in California 

 for several years, and thrives in many localities. I have endeavored to learn the 

 history of its introduction, hut am unable to make positive statements at this writ- 

 ing. Professor Hilgard, the director of the State agricultural experiment station at 

 Berkeley, has grown it at the station for some time, sending plants to substations 

 and to farmers to be grown for leaves that are used instead of rope for tying vines. 

 I fc informs me that the area on which it can be successfully grown is very large, as 

 it seems to require much less water than is currently supposed. A tall variety is 

 common as an ornamental plant in the gardens about the bay ; the one he has been 

 growing and distributing for years is of lower habit, but its fiber seems to be 

 stronger and finer. Once started, it will do without irrigation almost anywhere in 

 the Coast Range where frosts are not too heavy. In the Great Valley it seems to be 

 limited to over 8 to 10 inches of rainfall, unless irrigated, but with irrigation it will 

 grow fairly anywhere within the valley, and up to 2,000 feet in the Sierra foothills. 



Small lots of leaves received by the Department from California were cleaned by 

 W. T. Forbes, and a strong, valuable fiber was obtained from them. An effort was 

 also made to secure leaves in sufficient quantity to obtain enough fiber for practical 

 test, but as the leaves do not stand transportation, and would necessarily be several 

 weeks on the way, the attempt was abandoned. 



About 1890 the Department received (through the State Department) a quantity 

 of seed sufficient for experimental purposes, which was distributed in Florida and 

 other Southern States. The seed must have been injured, however, as it failed to 

 germinate, even in the conservatories of the Department. In future experiments 

 plants should be distributed instead of seeds, as the supply can easily be secured 

 from the Pacific Coast, and it is claimed that seedlings do not inherit the character- 

 istics of the plants from which the seed is derived. Besides, the early growth of 

 plants from seeds is very slow. As New Zealand flax culture is possible in the 

 United States, a full account of the practice in New Zealand is given. 



Cultivation. — Phormium tenax will grow in almost any soil, but the more suita- 

 ble the soil the finer the quality. It grows best on light, rich soil, by the sides of 

 rivers and brooks, where sheltered from the wind. A rich, dry, but not deep, clay 

 soil having yellow clay subsoil, with plenty of light and air, is very suitable, but 

 the greatest crops are reared on deep volcanic soil. A well-drained swamp gives 

 large returns, this fact having been verified by observation in the Upper Waikato 

 and elsewhere. 



Stagnant marshes are prejudicial to the growth of flax, but as soon as they are 

 drained and the water sweetened the same flax will grow rapidly. The drains 

 should he open, and the water therein should flow about 12 inches below the surface. 

 If practicable, swamp land should be plowed as soon as it is dry enough for the 

 purpose, and allowed to remain all summer, or till March, when it should be again 

 plowed, and planted immediately thereafter. The soil will be well pulverized by 

 that time. Should the land become very dry in summer, the drains might be stopped, 

 so as to irrigate the soil; any land that is periodically inundated is very suitable for 

 promoting rapid growth. Alluvial soil should also be plowed in winter or spring, 

 and allowed to dry until autumn, when it should again be plowed and planted — 

 that is, in March or April, or as soon as the autumn rains arrive; in fact, the earlier 

 the better, for the plants make roots all winter, and are ready to come away with a 

 vigorous growth in spring. 



The plants should be sown in rows, and in the same way as trees are planted; but 

 opinions differ as to the distance from row to row, and from plant to plant in a row. 

 It seems to he overlooked that planted Phormium will not be allowed to grow into 

 large bushes, as it does in the uncultivated, state. On the contrary, the constant 

 cutting which Tvill be carried on will confine it within a comparatively limited 

 space. The roots thrown out by the first plants will undoubtedly spread around it, 

 but still it will always be practicable to keep the bunches within small areas. 

 With this view, the rows might be only 4 feet apart, and only 3 feet between plants 



