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pound, and draws it up between the peel on the left and the wood 

 and adhering peel on the right, removing on its way branchlets, 

 leaves, and tip. He then draws down the peel on the left with 

 his left hand to the root, where it is readily detached. In like 

 manner the peel and wood on the right are removed at the root, and 

 the wood, being but loosely attached, can be readily separated 

 from the peel. The whole operation is simplicity itself, and can 

 be conducted with the greatest rapidity. The result of repeated 

 timing is that 100 stems can be peeled without haste in fifteen 

 minutes, that is, at the rate of 400 an hour. The peeled stems and 

 the discarded leaves, &c., remain on the field as manure. . . . 



" The next process is the removal of the cuticle and the bleach- 

 ing of the fibre. The ribbons are made up into loosely tied bundles 

 which are placed in a tub of cold water. When the workman is 

 about to remove the green cuticle from the fibre, he places on the 

 thumb of his right hand a wide copper ring, on which a small flat 

 piece of bamboo has been fixed, the piece of bamboo resting 

 against the face of the thumb. In the same hand he holds an iron 

 instrument like a shoe-horn, in such a position that he can grasp 

 anything between the piece of bamboo and the blunt inner edge of 

 the hand instrument. A bundle of the ribbons is then taken from 

 the tub and unfolded. Taking ribbon by ribbon from the bundle 

 with his left hand he grasps it about 6 inches from the wide or 

 butt end, — the cuticle or outside of the ribbon against the piece of 

 bamboo, — and scrapes it to the tip. After a couple of scrapings 

 the whole of the cuticle, with the exception of the 6 inches or so 

 at the butt, is removed, and when ten or a dozen ribbons have been 

 treated in this manner, the workman reverses them, and removes 

 the cuticle at the butt ends. The fibres, which remain in his left 

 hand, are hung out over bamboos in the sun to dry and bleach for 

 six hours, when they are white and ready to be packed into 

 bundles for market. One man can extract some 81bs. weight of 

 fibre in a day of ten hours, and an English acre of land yields 

 about 900lbs. of fibre." 



Retting: — Mr. W. J. Hollier, who addressed the Jamaica public 

 in 1894 on the merits of a Ramie Decorticating machine invented 

 by S. B. Allison, recommended retting before passing through the 

 machine. This could be done simply by soaking in water, but the 

 process he stated, could be improved and hastened by using chemi- 

 cals. Retting is a process involving but a nominal outlay, no 

 technical knowledge, and but little care. It could be carried out 

 by each settler for himself. 



If chemicals are used the following is the process : — A tank 

 or trough is required of six cubic yard capacity (i.e., about nine 

 feet long, six feet wide and three feet deep) lined with cement, or 

 made of pine-board, with a clay backing. This tank will hold 

 about 3,000 lbs. of green stems with the leaves on. Enough water 

 should be added to immerse the stems. To every 1,000 lbs of stems 

 should be added 5 lbs. of flour of sulphur, 5 lbs. caustic potash and 

 5 lbs. of good charcoal ; but if ashes from a furnace be added. 



