6 



various localities, notably from Assam, and from sundry Indian 

 botanical gardens, but these supplies were insufficient in quantity, 

 and often of bad quality ; it therefore became necessary to establish 

 on each farm a nursery for the multiplication of rhizomes. 



" The plantations suffered much from the attacks of white ants, 

 which rapidly destroyed the young roots, and especially the 

 cuttings. The planting of cuttings, however, during the rainy 

 eason obviated to some extent this inconvenience, but still tht 



season 



best method of r 



Portions of the rhizomes may be taken from one- to two-year-old 

 plants without injuring them. 



"It was evident from the commencement that successful planta- 

 tions could only be established on light, porous soils; saltpetre 

 and alkali soils are not conducive to the successful production of 

 Ramie. On well-cultivated lands, where noxious weeds had been 

 carefully eradicated, every root produced annually 15 to 30 stalks, 

 about o feet in length, whilst in a field left as an experiment 

 without cultivation produced only from two to five stems per 

 plant ; the plot in the same field, called the ' control plot,' which 

 had been weeded and cleaned, gave 10 to 15 stems. It will thus 

 be seen that a Ramie field must be well cultivated, in spite of the 

 increased expense, the field having to be cleaned by hand labour 

 to avoid (I am Age to the roots and young shoots. 



"In the three-year-old well-cultivated fields, no sign of soil 

 exhaustion has yet been observed, although the upper part of th. 

 root has a tendency to become woody, to the detriment of the 

 development of new stems. To overcome this, it is intended to 

 remove the lignified portion every year, in order to rejuvenate the 

 plants. Experience alone will decide if this is a good idea. 



" Ramie is a very exhausting crop, and, therefore, the question 

 of manure must be carefully studied, for unmanured plants yield 

 a very poor crop Good results were obtained by the use of 

 indigo refuse. It is said that the refuse of Ramie itself such as 



;Strl tt 1 ' c r itutes a * erfect ~^l: 



to restore to the soil the constituents taken out of it bv the cron 



possible '"a h n P whn nt ' ?° TT^ in this *»M** b2» 

 Soninllt! t™ the dec °rticatio D of the steins been 



is 



™C^°^V^^*T?> «« acVes^re 1 il 

 will be utilised ' loi manure tL^I femented materi: ^ which 

 stems when the latte^r n,\ ? }^\ separated from the 



form a good mulch fa Z T ¥ n° n the gl ' ound ' an < 1 <*"** 

 manure * f ° F the roots ' at the «™ time supplying a 



«i the rotting of t he roots wo 1 Tn *? long 0n th * ^n I. 

 was the unfortunate ex^ri^ l^obably be thus caused! This 



tow, flat eouSntS^S!^^ 1 **^ ^abliehed on ,he 



low, flat country TheTe ATS ♦ "ff'SKS 8 «*»»li H l,e 

 acres were destroyed in ^^Ptemberfl !M );",), many hur 

 quires £ IS °8* 'iS^TB** of l ^ h«avy Jains. 



h c 



ndreds of 



Ram i e 



ntatioM 



fall .lid 



