1 907. J 



New Zealand Flax. 



tenax ; like the latter, it is also well-known in several varieties 

 in English gardens ; none of the varieties of Phormium Cookia- 

 ipum appear to be of much, if of any, importance from the 

 economic point of view, so that except in so far as it appears at 

 times, in the absence of the flowers and fruits, to be difficult 

 to distinguish between certain kinds of Phormium Cookianum 

 and of Phormium tenax, Phormium Cookianum may be neglected. 

 In New Zealand, and the same is true of this country, some of 

 the varieties have the leaves variegated in a riband-like manner 

 with white or creamy-yellow bands ; others have a bronzy 

 foliage. Such varieties are largely cultivated as ornamental 

 foliage plants, but in New Zealand it is found that these 

 varieties are not usually capable of being reproduced by seed, and 

 if they are to be increased, must be propagated by root-cuttings. 

 In Britain, as has been explained, the attempts to extract 

 fibre from Phormium tenax have been mainly tentative, and 

 there has not been occasion for organised inquiry into Phormium 

 from the economic point of view. Nor, if this had arisen, could 

 such an inquiry have been entirely satisfactory until a 

 preliminary collection of the various kinds had been made in the 

 native country of the plant. Even in New Zealand, where 

 the fibre of Phormium is regularly extracted and exported, 

 such an investigation has never yet been completed. In the 

 Manual of the New Zealand Flora, which was issued in 1906, it is 

 stated (p. 716) that "no systematic attempt has been made 

 to collect the whole of the varieties and cultivate them side by 

 side." This work has, however, now been undertaken by the 

 New Zealand Department of Agriculture, which has formed 

 experimental plantations with the view of ascertaining the best 

 varieties to grow. 



If the experimental cultivation of Phormium tenax were to 

 be undertaken in this country the following points should 

 receive consideration : — 1) So far as is yet known, no variety 

 of Phormium is likely to thrive luxuriantly except on the west 

 coast ; (2) hitherto Phormium has been grown in Britain only 

 as a foliage plant and the attempts to extract its fibre have been 

 casual ; (3) Phormium appears to vary as greatly in regard to 

 its fibre-producing qualities as it varies in regard to its qualities 

 as an ornamental plant, and it seems certain that the variations 

 in these two respects are in no way parallel ; (4) in consequence 



