Agricultural and Commercial Society. 45 
brush fibre along with mat fibre, tried several shipments, 
and found the mat fibre did not pay for freight and other 
charges. I got nothing for the making. I have to 
make a large quantity of mat fibre along with the making 
of brush fibre, before I can get a good brush fibre. 
Your quotation £i^ per ton for brush fibre seems to me 
small, the last shipment I made of brush fibre was in 
1892, I got a much larger figure per ton, but of course 
the price may have come down since then. In my 
opinion brush fibre won't pay here until we can get a 
large outlet for mat fibre (there is a very small quantity 
of fibre sold locally.) However I still intend giving the 
brush fibre another trial, when I get all my machinery in 
place at Park, which I have been removing from Forti- 
tude. 
Yours truly, 
W. SMITH. 
It was agreed on the suggestion of the President that 
the letters be published for general information and that 
a copy of Mr. Smith's letter be sent to the Secretary of 
the Imperial Institute. 
The President said that as the Imperial Institute had 
been brought to their notice he would refer, in advance, to 
a communication which the Society will soon receive from 
the Government. They would recolle6l that certain 
timbers were sent in 1897 ^^ ^^ exhibited and they 
were tested by an expert whose report was very dis- 
heartening. At that time it was thought that the results 
were unfavourable, because the woods were green, or 
not carefully sele6led. Now, however, matters had 
changed at the Institute and they could rely upon its 
help. As a result of a further examination of samples 
of the same woods which had been condemned, another 
report of a most favourable nature had come out. 
