154 
Similar operations have been tried with the phormium leaf, 
for the purpose of producing its excellent fibre in a pure state, 
and thus rendering it marketable for European commerce. The 
process of the natives, who use only the upper half of the leaf, 
- — above the point, where the two constituent parts of the leaf 
are sheath-like grown together, — and only one side of it, 
simply consists in scraping off the parenchyma with a shell (gener- 
ally Mytilus). This is a kind of work that formerly devolved on 
women and slaves; but which now-a-days, nobody likes to perform. 
In the beginning of this century there was still a chance to barter 
from the natives quite considerable quantities of flax prepared in 
said manner, and according to statistical statements the export 
amounted in 1828 to about GO tons, with a value of £2600, and 
in 1830 already 841 tons, and in 1831 as much as 10G2 tons. 
But. since that time the export has grown less and less every year, 
in the last few years it scarcely amounted to more than GO or 
70 tons per annum. 1 There was no more flax to bo got from the 
natives, and a proper method of manufacturing it at moderate 
prices was not yet known. Although the colonial Government, 
fully aware of the importance of this article of export, had set a 
reward of £4000 on the construction of a suitable machine for the 
production of the pure flax-fibre in quantities large enough for ex- 
portation, yet up to 1859 there was nobody to claim this reward. 2 
It is true , there were some so-called flax factories , but their pro- 
duce was inconsiderable as to quantity , and most deficient in quality. 
The process employed in a small factory near Nelson, which 
I visited in September 1859, consisted in the following : the leaves 
were first boiled in lye- water; then, after having been dried and 
twisted together into a thick rope, they were made to pass be- 
tween ribbed, wooden rollers, until the fibre was laid bare in a 
tolerable degree of purity. The dried and bleached produce the 
manufacturer sold at £ 25 per ton. This raw material is said to 
1 According to the statistical tables the export amounted in 1859: 17 tons, worth 
£1593; in 1860: 48 tons in 64 bundles, worth £1240. 
2 Thomson, Vol. II. p. 260. 
