| Although the experiment with New Zealand hemp was dear to his heart, Banks was too sensible to put all his trust in this untried plant. The great botanist organised the seeds for the first fleet and he included European flax and hemp in his list of seeds, marking them "for commerce" (ie; for export). Despite the importance he attached to the experiment with New Zealand hemp, the needs of empire dictated that Banks would not rely completely on this new plant alone.
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HARVESTING HEMP: |
Picture: During his period as Governor, King had constructed a manufactory for canvas, sacking, blanketing and rope. |
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As per Royal instruction, the early Governors of New South Wales - Phillip, Hunter and King - did their best to encourage the hemp industry. By 1800, cloth manufacture had begun. On Norfolk island, work continued on phormium tenax, and an experimental planting of European flax was begun. In Sydney, King (now Governor of New South Wales) set dressers and weavers among the Irish convicts to cultivate European flax and hemp, and "every woman that can spin" to manufacture what these others grew. By the end of 1801, these efforts had produced "279 yards of fine and 367 of coarse linen" and he sent samples home. In 1801, King wrote about European hemp which promised "a very abundant return on the lowlands about the hawkesbury and Napean rivers" and "might also be manufactured and sent from hence in cordage". |
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