The Seaforth News, 1940-04-18, Page 3THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1940 THE S t t ORrrH NEWS
"I'LL WIN
YOU
PRAISE
FOR
YOUR
TASTY
BREAD"
MADE iN cA11A0A
Flax Is Coming
Back To Life
One or Two Men Stuck to Flax
Business in Huron County
After the Boom Days
(By F, D. Ellis in the Family Her
and and Weekly Star.)
Flax growing and processing in
Canada was one of the real war
babies of the last great conflict.
When the world war started there
were 12 flax mills in Canada. When
it was over there were 54. Previous
to 1914, processors figured that they
were doing well if fibre sold for $345
a ton. Then opened a great new
market. The great linen industry of
Belfast, which previously had secured
at least 95 per cent of its fibre from
Russia and the Baltic states, was that
market. When this great European
source of supply was closed by war.
prices for the small supplies of fibre
available elsewhere climbed to dizzy
heights. When a maximum of $2,000
a ton was reached the industry went
crazy. In those sections of western
Ontario that border on Lake Huron
everyone was talking flax, thousands
of acres of grass land were broken
for the crop and mills sprang up in
every town. "Those were great days,"
said an old flax man to me recently.
"Why, the fibre you could carry under
one arni was worth a hundred dol.
!ars,"
Then came the debacle. The war
ended. Fibre again came in a steady
stream from pre-war sources, Irish
manufacturers, perhaps antagonized
by the hard -fisted contracts that we.
had (Niven with them in their hour
of need, placed their orders in Eur•
ope. Fibre in Canada dropped from
$1 a pound to 20 ccs, and then 12 its.
Processors went: bankrupt. Mills were
closed. Producers were net paid the
rent for their laud, The industry had
been given a black eye with everyone
concerned. --financial men, mauufac•
tus'ers and farmers. A. feeble attempt
was utade at revival hut this was
scarcely tinder way when the depres•
elan of 1929 dealt Canadian flax its
final knoekeut blow. A few mills con.
PAGE THREE
Untied to operate for the production
of tow for the stuffing of upholstered
furniture but Canadian fibre had Elis'
appeared from the market.
And now the world is at war again.
111 many particulars, the conditions
011914-18 are being duplicated. There
is still some fibre coming from coutin•
ental Europe for the great hills at
Belfast but it is only a fraction of re.
quirements. Fibre is not required now
for the covering of aeroplane wings
but there is a great demand for tents
and tarpaulins of the same material,
If tate industry Is to meet the de-
mands made on it, flax production
must be speeded up somewhere:
"And where is there a country, out-
side of Russia, where conditions are
more suitable to this speeding up
than right here in western Ontario,"
inquires T. A. G. Gordon, of Seaforth.
Mr. Gordon was active in promot•
ing the flax business in its early days
when prices were normal. He was
doubly active during its boom days.
Now, with opportunity, seeming to
again invite, he has purchased a flax
mill in Huron County, Ont., and is
studying the situation with the ad-
vantage of a long experience in the
business. 1t was .2. C. Shearer, Agri.
cultural Representative in that coun•
ty, who took me to see Mr. Gordon.
"Any district that can grow fall
wheat, can also grow flax," we were
told. "The best flax fibre is produced
where there is a lot of cloudy wea-
ther and in this stretch of country,
through the counties of Lambton,
Perth, Huron and Bruce, we have
more cloudy weather, along with
other desirable conditions, than any
other' part of the North American
continent. We have also another re•
quirement, which is cheap land,"
"Do you expect such a boom as the
Inst war brought," we asked.
"The government is not going to
allow prices to get as completely out -
of -Hand," replied Mr. Gordon. "The
Imperial Government has its buyer in
this country right now and the price
has bean set at 0 level that will en•
courage production but does not pro•
Mise inordinate profits. This is iv
line with their policy in connection
with all commodities, in the long run
it will be better for the industry here
in Canada. It is a policy that will de.
velop at permanent flax industry. I
look forward to the day when we will
have 12,000 acres of fibre flax grow -
in in. Huron county alone, instead of
loss than 1,000, as at present. To
handle this acreage, farmers will
come to look on flax as a regular crop
in their rotation and not as an occas-
ional crop when plowing old pas-
tures."
"But does not fibre production call
for a lot of cheap labor," I inquired,
"Isn't the flax pulled by hand?"
"The future of flax, In Ontario at
least, is dependent on the use of
machinery," said Mr. Gordon, "There
is now machinery for everything.
Pulling machines are doing a better
and cheaper Job than the Indians,
who have done most of the pulling in.
this country. The same is true at the
manufacturing end,—machinery is dis•
placing hand labor,"
"And !how about the market," I
ventured again,
"At .the peak of our production we
have 'produced just one per cent of
the world's requirements, was the
rather conclusive answer.
Anderson Weathered the Depression
I have said that the 1929 depression
gave Canadian flax a "knock -out
blow." Well, not quite. J. G. Ander-
son & Son, with headquarters at
Lucknow, on the county line between
Huron and Bruce, have continued to
operate on an extensive scale and;
for the most part, profitably. The
original mill was at Ripley, in Bruce
but now they have four plants at
Lucknow, Seaforth, Mitchell and Tay.
istock• The elder Anderson has pass•
ed on and It was Junior member of
the old film, W. B. Anderson, who
showed us through the Lucknow mill
and gave to Mr. Shearer and me n
real picture of the working end of
the business,
Among other things we learned
that there are two distinct types of
flax. The fibre type has a long straw
but Is a slay seed -bearer and the seed
produces oil of an inferior quality.
The flax most commonly grown is
short in the straw and seeds abui(d•
aptly. It is this type that produces
the seed for the oil mills and the oil -
cake steal that reaches the stock
feeder. This fibre wilt mance uphill•
steriirg low but not export fibre, Dur-
ing the last war, the Anderson film
Produced fibre ehiefly. With the ex•
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a:•
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•
An ELECTRIC CLEANER
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Average family's
monthly consume-
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in Kilowatt -Hours:
pverag° cost (i° '. 1.51 cauls
Kilo- 1:61 seals
Kilo-
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thus, the average Ontariosteady reduction in Y .. •,,. ..
But due to the OT �1� times --buts: •:::<:g::`12 ;;; •;Sd<e:
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Port market closed, small-scale open
atton was continued producing tow
for the domestic market,
"But this alone would not h
kept us going," admitted Mr. An
son. "We shifted ot11' emphasis
went into the production of cerci
seed for the Irish producers. Pei'h
I had better explain that the Irish
mate is not suited to seed product
Only once in five to seven years
their seed mature sufficiently,
they prefer to harvest the fibre
fore seed matures, Irish flax grow
therefore, buy imported seed.
purchased our foundation seed fr
Sandringham, the King's estate
England, It is of the Liral strains,
finest in the world. We import t
tons of seed annually. This will s
80 acres and supply us with half
our seed requirements. We have k
our strains pure and command
good market." Incidentally, Mr. G
don informed us that Mr. Anders
produces the finest fibre seed in 1
world and commands the high
price of any grower. This year t
firm had several thousand bushels
this fine seed for sale. Over half h
already been sold when the gove
men commandeered the whole of
Some of it will be used for the
ponding acreage in Canada but t
larger portion has already been
ported to Ireland.
"And where does the farmer co
in, Mr, Anderson?"
"Generally,. he just rents us t
land," was the reply. "Occasional
the farmer plows and prepares 1
land for seed but we have found th
generally there is tendency to negle
the fax till other crops have been a
tended to and it is more satisfacto
for us to do the work ourselves,"
With Sou acres of fax required f
each of his foul' plants, 1 decided 1i
Anderson must be one of Ontario
most extensive farmers, -and so Il
is, A fleet of tractors takes rare
the field.. work. I3nt that is j11,-1 th
start. In the past, flbre flax was pun
ed by hand, tied into bundles, th
seed threshed in inaeliines speciall
designed to remove the seed withou
injuring the fibre, bundled again act
taken out to sod fields, the 05(010
again broken and the straw spree
out to•rot,—"retting" this process !
called, This straw has to be turtle
when retting anti bundled again fo
av
der
and
fled
aps
011
ion
will
Also
be,
ers.
We
om
fn
the
wo
eed
of
ept
a
0r•
on
he
est
he
of
ad
1'n•
it
ex•
be
ex•
me
he
ly
he
at
et
t•
m
(
uI
3,
1
"scutching," the process by which
the fibre is separated from the wood)
Pith of the straw,
It is cheap and abundant labor that
gives European countries their great
est advantage in fibre production
Machinery can overcome this advent
age. Last season the Dominion Gov
ernment aided in bringing from Bel
glum two pullers and two scotching
machines, Mr. Anderson got one of
each, paying cash for his machines.
The others went to Quebec on favor
able repayment terms He told us
that the puller harvested the crop on
100 acres at a cost of $1 an acre ascompared with $10 an acre with hand
pulling. Also the machine did a better
job. It paid for itself in one season
Later, at the Seaforthplant, we saw
the seuti'hing machine take in the
rette1 straw at one end and send out
fibre ready for baling at the other.
Eight 1(1(11 with the nlacl1ine were do•
ing the work that 30 men would do
with old-fashioned ]land snatchers
Speaking of the' future lIr, Anderson
seta: -If the industry is given too
00 011 wai'•time encouragement, thenethen! 501 sure that we are only !heading
for another such debacle ns We wit
flossed in 1920. If we can keep sane
however. acid costs do not get (110 of
line, 1 believe the in 1115117 van be
Horde (1 permanent one ]fere in (3133
aria with the Belgian machinery note
available. The difTieulty, with the de•
velopinents threatening in Europe
will he to ((((('tare shipment of this
equipment.
At the little village of Walton we
dropped in to see the -family-sited
plant - o1' Herbert Kirkby l tions.
Here is a type of plant that caul 8111
vire any depression. Seventeen years
ago Mr. Birkby. who then had live
sons at home on his 400 -acro farm
decided that the fax business would
giva whiter work for the fancily. An
old barn supplied the accommodation.
A small amount of capitol supplied
the machinery for threshing the +-ed
and a leaning it and for Processing thtc
straw into tow. He is not equipped to
make fibre, Most of the flax that 0,
handles is of the oil varieties :mil
seed for the oil mills is a aurin line
At the time of our visit he was pro-
cessing 'aa specially soft tow for a
brass works in Connecticut. The bus
Mess has grown beyond his own farm
and Olt his own and rented laud, 300
acres of flax is handled.
And what of the future? War de-
mand wi11 create a much larger in•
it s1•y. It would 80e1, However; that
flax has -a partite -Mu- place in the
flaming prograltt of this part of 00•
carie. 1t is a beef country with numb
land in permanent pasture. Every
fevv yeah however, these pastures
are the better for plowing cropping
and reseeding• Old sod is very apt to
be infested with wire worms (111(1
white grubs. These pests may destroy
or seriously Injure ordinary cereal
coops, Flax is Immune to With. Also
flax can be grown to best advantage
only on an old sod, plowed and work
ed. Occasionally two crops are taken
in succession but not often as there
is apt to be a wilt on the straw the
second and certain to be in succeed
ing years. The processors pay tae•
cording to the quality of the land, As
nearly as I could ascertain, $b an
Beres is an average rent for good glass
land and It would seem that this is a
profitable price to the farmer, as his
responsibility ends when the land is
rented.
"But is fax hard. on the land?"
"Nat any harder than any (-fillet
crop," replied Anderson. "It does not
take any more out of tate soil than
wheat or ttmothy." replied Mr. -Gar•
clue; "in fact, not as much but you
have to remember that flax is remov
ed from' the farmroot, straw and all
and nothing returned,"
l
have here dealt only with the
fibre flax industry, as it is the type
BOW in the limelight. In the Province
Of Quebec an industry of similar pro•
portions to that io Ontario has been
developed .on a co-operative basis,
More recently g. family from Germ
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