■73 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [September i, 1884. 



tint particular fibre, that it has been proved, that it 

 will compete fairly with Manilla hemp, which oc- 

 cupies a very important place in this market. Here 

 is a sample of cord made from it, and you can all 

 see how beautiful and white it is. This cord is made 

 by one of the principal makers in the kingdom, and 

 his report is, that it is T 4 stronger than the best 

 manilla, and over 4 per cent lighter." 



The sample exhibited on the occasion was taken 

 from two tons of this fibre prepared in 1882, by 

 Messrs. Staues & Co., of Coimbatore, which soil in 

 London at the rate of £40 per ton. An expedition 

 is now being arranged to thoroughly survey the Bow- 

 any Valley Ghaut,- and arrange for the erection of the 

 machinery, to treat the enormous natural supply of 

 this fibre-yielding plant in that locality. The Glen- 

 rock Company has £35,000 of its capital still at its 

 disposal, and is in a position to test the profitable 

 cultivation of rhea grass with the beBt prospect of 

 success. Systematic cultivation is, however, uecces-s iry 

 to produce the best results. A light soil, lying over 

 a deep permeable sub-soil, sandy but rich, naturally 

 damp, or easily irrigated, is well adapted. Swampy 

 or excessively damp soil will cause the roots to perish 

 as they are very sensitive, and will rot in stagnant 

 water. All these conditions are fulfilled in the Glon- 

 roek estate, which possesses variety of aspect, as well 

 as diversity of soil, with ample facilities for irrigations 

 — Madras Weekly Mail, 12th July. 



In continuation of the remarks in our last issue, 

 we may now say a few words on the profits of cult- 

 ivation. For India there is nothing to guide us, as 

 systematic culture has never been pursued, and data 

 are wanting to frame an accurate estimate ; but. all 

 the authorities on the subject are agreed, that the 

 «:nat in India is certain to be less than in Alegeria, 

 where, notwithstanding the fact that land is more 

 expensive, and wages high, the cultivation has proved 

 to he remunerative. With land in Southern India, 

 good, abundant, and cheap, and with the cost of 

 labor almost nominal, there is no reasonable possibility 

 of the cultivation proving a failure. Dr. Forbes 

 Watson thinks that those who believe they are going 

 to grow fibre for little or nothing are mistaken. It 

 needs expensive cultivation, both manure and irrig- 

 ation. All the authorities, however, are decided on 

 one point, that in India the experiment will be carried 

 on under the most favorable conditions. The cost of 

 opening 500 acres of land is quoted at £10,000, or at 

 £20 per acre ; and in this is included £S for plants, 

 an item which may be considerably curtailed by pro- 

 pagation which, as has been shown, can be proceeded 

 with rapidly, and economically. Suppose we accept 

 the cost of opening at the figure cpioted, up-keep will 

 not exceed £5 per acre, and will diminish with the 

 age of the plantation, while preparation at the highest 

 rate will not exceed another £5 per acre. In the 

 topics four cuttings can be attained at the rate of, 

 say, 250 lb. of fibre per cutting per acre, which is 

 nearly at the rate of a ton of clean fibre off two 

 acres per annum. The present price of marketable 

 fibre is quoted at £50 per ton, and higher prices have 

 been obtained, but in the prospect of extensive pro- 

 duction, and a regular supply, we shall take no more 

 than £30 as the selling price, which will leave a clear 

 profit on the capital outlay of £10 per annum of 

 every ton of fibre produced, or at the rate of £25 

 per cent, as a regular and steady return. Few other 

 agricultural products can show such remunerative re- 

 sults, and no other cultivation needs so little special 

 qualifications for carrying it on successfully. In al- 

 lowing £10 for the cost of preparing a ton of fibre, 

 we provide for skilled supervision, which is necessary 

 to obtain maximun reBults from the machinery. 



The patents provisionally secured for the Qlenrock 

 Company are : — 



I. — Messrs. Death and Ellwood's machine (Smith's 

 patent) for the decortication of every description of 

 fibre-producing plant by the action of water. 



II. — Messrs. Ekman's patent for the preparation 

 of ultimate fibre from raw fibres, by boiling under 

 steam pressure, in water containing sulphurous acid 

 in combination with magnesia. Also for the conver- 

 sion of all refuse into pulp for paper-making. 



N. B. — The exclusive right to use the above machine 

 and process has been secured within the limits of the 

 south-east Wynaad. 



III. — M.Favier's process for the decartication of rhea 

 by subjecting the green steins to the action of steam. 



IV. — MM. Fiemy and Urboin's process for the 

 treatment of textile vegetable fibres by subjecting 

 them to the action of caustic alkoli, and pressure in 

 certain exact proportions according to recjuiremeut. 



N. B. — The rights to use the above two processes 

 have been secured for the whole of Madras, and for 

 the Province of Mysoi-e. The Lini Soie Syndicate 

 are the vendors of the two latter patents, which are 

 described as follows: — The green sticks of rhea, after 

 being stripped of their foliage, are laid in a st.uit 

 deal box, or trough, 8 feet long, 2 feet wide, aud 

 20 inches deep. A false bottom is provided, inside 

 which runs a j inch perforated iron steam pipe con- 

 nected with a steam generator. At one end ;A the trough 

 is an outlet for the condensed water from the steam. The 

 lid is closed, and steam turned on for 20 minutes at a 

 low pressure, n that time the steam has acted on the 

 gummy matter, which binds the epidermis to tho 

 woody stem, aud dissolved it so completely, that the 

 " ribands," which is the technical term applied to the 

 fibre with the bark adhering, can be stripped off by 

 hand. Here the first process, or decortication, the 

 patent of M. Favier ends, and the seeond operation, 

 the patent of MM. Fremy and Urboin begins, which 

 consists also of a treatment with steam to further 

 separate the epidermis aud mucilageuous matter from 

 the fibre or filassc. The " ribands " are now laid on 

 metal trays, which are placed one above another, 

 in a verticle perforated metal cylinder. When fully 

 packed, the cylinder is placed within another strong 

 iron cylinder, containing a known quantity of water, 

 to which an alkali has been added. Inside the 

 cylinder is a steam coil, which on steam being turned 

 on causes the water to boil. The boiling is allowed 

 to continue for four hours, when the cementitions 

 matter readily parts- from the fibre, on the mass be- 

 ing transferred to a centrifugal machine. Tho fibre 

 thus cleansed, is laid in a bath of hydrochloric acid, 

 after which it is washed in cold water, then in another 

 acid bath, and finally in cold water, and dried for 

 market. 



The Lini Soie Syndicate contemplate granting ad- 

 vances on crop of ryots who would undertake the 

 cultivation of rhea, and the employment of an agent 

 to itinerate, provided with their steaming apparatus, 

 to work up the material iu the field. The time, how. 

 ever, has not yet arrived for the executiou of this 

 part of the programme. The ryot must have ocular 

 demonstration of the profitableness and simplicity of 

 the industry, before any general progress in the growth 

 of rhea in the districts can be expected to take place. 

 The Glenrock Company, now the transferees of 

 these patents, do not propose to use them, until tho 

 cultivated rhea, for which they are specially adapted, 

 is ready for treatment. Their attention will be con- 

 fined to the treatment of indigenous fibres by the 

 Death and Ellwood's Double Machine (Smith's patent) 

 of which Mr. J. VV. Minehin, their manager iu this 

 country, has' brought out ten. The invention con 

 sists of an iron framing, about 3 feet high, 2 feet 

 wide, and 3 feet deep, from front to b ack, provided 



