7 



must 



not exceed 35 inches. Consequently, cultivation was only carried 

 on on seven plantations, representing an aggregate area of 

 3,100 acres, of which 1,950 acres were planted up to February, 

 1906. The remaining 1,150 acres will, we are told, be planted 

 during the next rainy season. 



" It is very important to cut the stems at the proper time. If 

 they are cut too soon, they yield a very fine fibre, but in small 

 quantity ; if cut too late, the decortication becomes more difficult, 

 and the fibre is brittle. The best time to cut is when the base of 

 the stem is of a brownish tint for a height of about 10 inches. 



I up immediately they are cut. The 

 decortication is much more readily performed if carried out 

 within twelve hours of the cutting. AVhen they have been 

 allowed to dry decortication is more difficult, and the fibre is 

 inferior. If circumstances render it necessary to defer decortica- 

 tion, the steins, having the leaves removed, are made into little 

 bundles of thirty or forty, and preserved in water, where they 

 will remain unchanged for forty-eight hours. 



" Fibre containing 30 per cent, of gum does not easily dry in 

 the climate of Bengal. The syndicate has, therefore, been obliged 

 to have special drying apparatus constructed in Paris, and installed 

 on each plantation. The fibre on leaving the decorticating 

 machine passes first through a centrifugal drier, made by Dehaitre, 

 which removes 70 per cent, of the water it holds. It is then hung 

 up in a large closed-in straining-room, supplied with a current of 

 warm air set in motion by a fan. 



" The fibre, when ready, must be at once baled, for it readily 

 absorbs a quantity of fresh moisture from the air, which would 

 soon produce fermentation and mouldiness. At Dalsing Serai a 

 hand press is used. 



" A 20-h.p. engine is sufficient to drive all the machines 

 required for 500 acres. As the fibre has to be washed as it passes 

 through the decorticators, a good and sufficient water supply is 

 indispensable. 



" The fibre must not be twisted, as this imparts to it a permanent 

 undulation which depreciates it from the spinner's point of view. 



" Many samples of Ramie fibre produced by the syndicate were 

 sent to Europe to several spinners. They were considered quite 

 equal in quality to China grass, and very shortly orders were 

 received totalling 1,500 tons. Some 20 tons of better quality fibre, 

 more carefully prepared than hitherto, have been lately exported 



from the syndicate's estates. 



(1901)) 



should be in a position to deliver at least 200 tons of fibre from 

 the 1,1)50 acres already under cultivation. This is said to be a 

 very moderate estimate, since the normal production from this 

 area will be, it is estimated, 800 tons when in full maturity. 



" It is the intention of the syndicate, in the near future, to 

 de-gum the fibre as well as decorticate the stems, in order to save 

 the freight charges on 30 per cent, of gummy substance contained 

 in it. But, as every spinner of Ramie has his own particular 

 method of de-gumming, all of them require the fibre to be 

 delivered to them without its having been subjected to any 



