On the Royal Society of New Zealand website, this booklet by Judith Jones describes the many uses of flax, and the development of the New Zealand flax fibre industry (PDF, 565 KB).
On the Techhistory website, an article by Ian Matheson on the history of flax milling.
An article by Rhonda Bartle on the history of the Taranaki sawmills of the Rutherford family.
Hindmarsh, Gerard. ‘Flax: the enduring fibre.’ New Zealand Geographic 42 (April–June 1999): 20–53.
Matheson, Ian. ‘Flax town.’ In Foxton 1888–1988: the first 100 years, edited by A. N. Hunt. Foxton: Foxton Borough Council, 1987.
Salmond, Anne. Between worlds: early exchanges between Māori and Europeans, 1773–1815. Auckland: Viking, 1997.
Scheele, Sue, and Geoff Walls. Harakeke: the Rene Orchiston Collection. Rev. ed. Lincoln: Manaaki Whenua Press, 1994.