January i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



459 



mjujed by woiins, he needs, therefore, to seek for and 

 destroy them as they appear by picking them off. It not 

 unfrequeutly happens that the crop is in some places re- 

 markably small, and sometimes the produce is very great 

 without assignable cause. 



CiittiiKj the Jill. — It yields three crops every ye^r. The 

 fast cutting takes place in June. Care is to be taken not 

 to cut the young shoots, keep therefore an inch fi-om the 

 gi'ound. In" a month or two the shoots are seven or eight 

 feet high, -when t)ie second cuttius takes place — do not 

 cut the original stem. During the latter I'art of Sep- 

 tember, or in Octoljer, the last cutting i.s performed. 

 from which the finest cloth is made, the first being in- 

 ferior, coarse, and hard. After each cutting, the plant 

 is to be covered with manure and watered, I ut not day 

 by day unless it be cloudy. At Canton, the plant is 

 pulled up by the roots every year, from which it is evid- 

 ent that it differs widely from the '• Ma " just described. 



Peeliuf/ the " .J/n."— On being cut, the leaves are care- 

 fully taken off with a bamboo knife, by women and 

 children, generally on the spot. It is then taken to the 

 bouse, and soaked in water for an hour, unless it is al- 

 ready wet by recent showers ; in cold weather the water 

 -should be tepid. After this the plant is broken in the 

 middle, by which the fibrous portion is loosened, and 

 raised from the sfcilk; iuto the interstice thus made the 

 operator, generally a woman or child, thrusts the finger 

 nails, and separates the fibre from the centre to one ex- 

 tremity, and then to the other. The steeping process is 

 very easy. It appears to be difficult to remove the fibres 

 from Canton "Ma" as it is soaked in water for more 

 than forty-eight hours before peeling, which is done by 

 men. They first cut off the roots, and then, separating 

 the fibre from the stalk, strip it oft" by drawing it over 

 gbpin fixed in a plauk. In either process half of the 

 in re is taken off at one stroke. The next process is scrap- 

 ing the hemp, to facilitate which the fibre is first soalied 

 a water. The knife or scraper is about two inches long; 

 its back is inserted in a handle of twice its length. This 

 rude implement is held in the left hand; its edge, which 

 is dull, is raised a line above the index finger. Strips of 

 hemp are then drawn over the blade from within outwards, 

 and being pressed upon by the thumb, the pilous portion 

 of one surface and the mucilaginous part of the other .ore 

 thus taken off. The hemp then "rolls up like boiled 

 tendon." After being wiped dry, it is ex-posed to the 

 sun for a day, and then assorted, the whitest being se- 

 lected for fine cloth. 



Bhadiiny and IHciilini/, — .\ partial bleaching is effected 

 on the fibres before they undergo further division, some- 

 times by boiling and at others by pounding on a phmk 

 with a mallet. Tliese are in some places repeated. After 

 being dried in the sun, an important operation then succeeds 

 by women anil children, to whom is entrusted the tedious 

 process of splitting the fibres, which they do with their fin- 

 ger nails. Expert bands are able to carjy this division very 

 far. When this process has b en preceded by hackling, the 

 shreds are finer and softer. The ttixeads are foi-med iuto 

 balls, and subjected to frequent soakings and washings. 

 The a.shes of the mulberry leaf are reconunended to be 

 put into the water with the hemp, others use lime for a 

 whole night. Rome simidy expose it to dew and sun. In 

 rainy and cloudy weather it should be exposed to a cur- 

 rent of air in the house : moisture darkens it. The threads 

 are now i-eady for splicing, the work of women and 

 cliUdi'en, the labours of the agriculturist being concluded 

 when the threads are rolled into balls, after being sized 

 or .stiffened with rice-water. Before the thread is ready 

 for the weaver, the balls are steamed over the vapour of 

 boiling water in a closed oven. They are then sinead out 

 to dry. The subsequent stages, until the cloth is removed 

 fi'om the loom, includes nothing which interests, or at least 

 instructs artisans in the west. 



II.— On the Eheea-s, ok Nettle Gbasses, of Assam. 

 By Major F. S. Hanuay. From Vol. VII, Part I, of 

 the " Journal of the Agii-Horticultnral Society of 

 India." 

 Cutlhiy mid Jlfiioriiiff the Fiire from the Stalks. — The 

 stalks are considered fit for cutting when they have be- 

 come of a brown colour for about six inches above the 

 roots. To cut them the Doom seizes the leaves at the up- 

 per end with his left hand, and, passing the right hand 

 down to the root, strips off the leaves, and cuts the stalk 



close to the ground. The stalks are made up into bundles, 

 and the scraping-off the outer bark commences at the same 

 time, or this operation is deferred until the whole crop of 

 the plot has been cut. The scraping-off of the fibre from 

 each stalk is a very tedious operation, and is performed with 

 a blunt-edged knife ; all that is left is the fibre and the 

 woody part of the stalk, which are exposed to a hot sun 

 for two or three days to dry. The third morning after 

 having been exposed to the dew for several hours, the 

 fibre is drawn off. This is done by breaking the woody 

 stalk right through towards the thicker end, and then 

 separating the fibre therefrom, drawing it off slowly towards 

 the small end, some care being required in giving the same 

 a peculiar twist, so as to draw off as much as possible. 

 Haring finished with the smaller end, what remains on the 

 thicker end of the stalk is pulled off in the same manner 

 It will be seen that this is a very clumsy w.ay of extract- 

 ing the fibre, and, as far as I can judga( one-fifth of the 

 fibre still remains in the stalk, which may be taken off 

 however, at a second breaking ; but the Dooms are not 

 particular, so long as they get what they require. The 

 hanks of the fibre are then separately twisted at the upper 

 end, aud tied up in bmidles of long hanks of about one 

 seer in weight, if to be kept for sale. Asthe fibi'c, however 

 thus extracted, is quite ready for the purpose of net-making, 

 little or nothing more is done than to open out and 

 prepare the threads for spinning, which is done first by 

 drawing the single hanks several times with a blunt-edged 

 slip of bamboo, held in the right hand. Tliis softens and 

 strengthens the fibres, and they are more easily opened out 

 to the required fineness with the fingers and thumb-nails 

 and then made up into small hanks ready for the spinning 

 process, the first stage of which is performed by the 

 women, with the common tahro, or .spindle, in general use 

 throughout India, the hanks having licen well opened out 

 .and spread over the top of a high circular open bamboo 

 frame, set end-ways on the gronnd. The further operations 

 of spinning the first threads to the requisite thickness, and 

 the wearing of the nets, is performed by the men. 

 Wo may add from the Dictinnanj of Eeomomic Plania : — 

 " Gi'ass Cloth, a name given to the woven fibre of 

 Bahmeria nieea, a perennial of the Nettle family ( Urticacea;), 

 native of China. It sends up numerous rod-like stems 4 

 to 6 feet high, having heait-shnped leaves, silvery-white on 

 the under surface. The stems contain a quantity of fine 

 fibre, which is now imported in con.siderable quantity from 

 China and India, and woven into the fine linen-like cloth 

 known as China grass cloth. It is now extensively cultivated 

 in Jamaica, as also in the Southern X'nited States ; and the 

 British Government have lately become interested in its 

 cultivation in such of the co'onies as iu'e favour.ible to its 

 growth. There is, however, some difficulty in separating 

 the fibre from the bark and wood, which has led the Go- 

 vernment of India to offer a reward of £5,000 for the best 

 mode of overcoming the above difficulty. The plant 

 grows freely in this country, but in severe winters the 

 roots are liable to be injured ; it might, however, be pro- 

 fitably cultivated in Cornwall and the western counties. 

 The fibre in Assam called Khi a i^■ .I'.so the produce of this 

 species. Puya Fibre (Boshmeria / .'.'(J is a plant similar to 

 the preceding in habit of growth, but has longer leaves. 

 It is extensively cultivated iu I'pper India; the fibre is 

 used for making ropes and sail-clotiis." 



An even more elaborate account of the cultivation 

 and preparation of China grass has been lately pub- 

 lished in the ImUsche SIcrcuur from which we 

 quote the ioUo-ndug as to the range of this most com- 

 mon of Eastern plants : — 



Kmnc : Lat. Boehmcria uivea (ITetica nivea, V. TENA- 

 CISSUIA) : Dutch, Hama ; Fr. Ortie ite Chine ; Germ. China- 

 iji-as ; Assam, Xheca : Malay, Mamie ; Simiatra Caloie ; 

 Jnpan Tsjo Kama ; China, lihou ma Chii. — Exogcn ; shrub, 

 .5-5!ft. 'the range of tliis plant is very wide, especially 

 if we admit the identity of several locally distinguished, 

 species or varieties. As n n.ative it occurs abundantly in 

 China, Japan, the Phihpnmcs, Java, Sum,i.ti-a, and the 

 Eastern Archipelago generally ; in Siam, Burma, Singa- 

 pore, and Peuang ; as well as in Assam, Nepal, aud in 

 some parts of the Lower Provinces of Beugal, as Bang- 

 pore and Dinagepore. Its natural limits appear to be about 

 36 oN. lat. iu Corea and Japan, and between 9o and 



