SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
reclaimed Koo-wee-rup swamp; and the other at Buln Buln, some 6 or 7 miles 
distant from Drouin. At the latter place, the Commonwealth Government is 
erecting an entirely new plant, while the Dalmore Company has been supplied 
with a mill purchased from the Victorian Government, and originally installed 
in the Penal Establishment at Pentridge, for the treatment of flax by prison 
labour. 
Owing to the very limited and inconclusive data available as to the cost of 
milling, the. Committee had great difficulty in arriving at an equitable basis of 
payment for the treatment of the crop, but an agreement was at last made 
with the millers whereby the latter treat the flax; and deliver all the products 
to the Committee; while the cost of the treatment is paid for on a percentage 
basis of the net income derived from the products. A system of time-sheets 
has been installed in each mill, whereby the cost of each process of treatment is 
segregated, and next year the Committee should be in a far better position to 
judge what is a fair remuneration to the millers. 
THE 1918 HARVEST. 
Owing to the exceptionally dry spring, the early anticipations of a record 
harvest were not realized, but nevertheless the average yield of flax was, con- 
sidering the very dry spring, a satisfactory one. 
Appraisers were appointed at the time of harvesting fo inspect and value 
each crop, and 1,800 tons were delivered for treatment at the various mills. 
As was inevitable in what was to many growers a new venture, the lack 
of the necessary experience militated in some cases.against the best results being 
obtained, but the average price paid, £4 15s. per ton, is evidence of the compara- 
tively high standard of the crop. 
The treatment of the flax at the mills will not be completed before the end 
of the present year, but it is estimated that flax products to the value of 
approximately £23,000 will-be obtained. 
It is more than likely that, with the experience gained in both the cultivation 
and treatment of the 1918 flax, more profitable results will be obtained from 
succeeding crops. 
THE 1919 CROP. 
As there was every indication of continued high prices for flax products, the 
Flax Committee had no hesitation in recommending the Commonwealth Govern- 
ment to extend the guarantee to the 1919 crop, as it considered that, while last 
year’s guarantee undoubtedly had given a much needed impetus to flax cultiva- 
tion, further encouragement was necessary in order to place the industry on a 
surer footing. At the same time, it was thought that, in view of the high 
returns received by farmers at present for other agricultural products, such as 
hay, potatoes, and-butter-fat) the guarantee of £5 per ton was hardly a sufliciently 
attractive proposition, and an increase of the guarantee to £6° per ton was 
therefore recommended. - 
~~ The Commonwealth Government adopted the Committee’s recommendations, 
and subsequently an agreement was made with the Imperial Government for the 
purchase by the latter of the 1919 fibre on the same terms as previously given, 
viz., £170 per ton c.i.f. 
The area sown this year is approximately 2,250 acres, an increase of over 
50 per cent. on the acréage of 1918. 
The cultivation of flax has been introduced into several new localities, 700 
acres having been sown this year in the Sale and:Thorpdale districts, while in 
the Western and Central districts many farmers are growing this crop for the 
first time on a commercial scale. 
Provision will have to be made for the treatment of crops in those districts 
where milling facilities are not now existent, and the establishment of flax 
mills on a co-operative basis seems to offer the most satisfactory solution. 
364 
