8 



chemical treatment. It is hoped, however, that tiax spinners will 

 some day take up Ramie as well, and will accept the fibre 

 de-gummed on the plantation." 



In connection with this account of the operations of the Bengal 

 Rhea Syndicate, the Queensland Agricultural Journal publishes 

 certain critical remarks on the prospects of successful cultivation of 

 Ramie in Queensland. But Queensland is not the only colony where 

 there are considerable areas with climatic conditions approximat- 

 ing to those that are known to prevail in Tirhut, and the questions 

 raised in the Journal deserve consideration by those who con- 

 template the extensive cultivation of Ramie elsewhere. These 

 remarks are therefore reproduced below. 



"From the above account of the operations of the Bengal 

 syndicate, we can form some idea of the initial difficulties to be 

 encountered in entering upon Ramie cultivation. After six years' 

 work the company has 1,950 acres under cultivation, from which 

 hey have obtained 20 tons of fibre, and, possibly 200 tons will be 

 the result of the 1906 crop. Two hundred and twenty tons is not 

 a large return from such an area. The expenditure on over 3,000 

 acres must have been very considerable during six years. With 

 cheap and abundant and reliable labour, the necessary humid 

 2V abundant water supply, and cheap water carriage, one 



STton^T '^^ gl : eater reSult8 - Ribbons are worth £14 

 £50 Zv Jr ^ ni lg m i ,ket ' Clean ' de-gummed fibre is worth 

 worth nlw>9i lean > + un ^mmed fibre from the plantation is 



wouh\ t wofh 4 S^ or ^urn PEtt* ** ^ ^ 

 ovpr tVm a ; v ,-„„ •' ' return of £^80 per annum spread 



motive ™ler Tn. 06 con ' me "<*">ent Decorticating machines, 

 have all K deducted m ^ e ' aen, < lab °« r . &&*, &c, 



maM the ^T^l^f » ^ ,* C °" Lrad »> eSti ' 

 Planting to extract!™ rfVe ntTV^?" r 7™"°" ,'T 

 machinery at £6,775. at ib ' 4 ' 7 J7s -» and the 



450ton*Vell°„ t flte fi ldv a L th t e K PrOd ' ,Ct might be e8timated at 

 Per lb., amounts ? , £1 8 §^0 nedn^ anU i aCtUrer - This ' at 4 ^ 

 f above, also £900 for freight and W rn g f \ °T ° £ P r0(lu '=« on 

 dentals, a working profit remains offffoe? ^° kerage ^ ^ 



^^tJ^i. 8 T i ^'" ba8ed on a fchree 



begins operations si X months^ J?/"}*' l? n ' Yet Mr - Macdonald 

 crepancy. Practical X ^n won M &**** I An obvious dis- 



well-considered moderate stal ml. * , better P lease(i to Bee a 

 £5 per acre than to be met tth l?2 Tl ° at a P ° 8sible P rofit of 

 and well nigh £50 in the seconrl f.l P1 ° fit per acre tne fil ^ year, 

 as we knoW) no Qne «£ second^: rom a cultivation which, so far 



above described, on a scale suffii ^ the Ben « al syndicate 

 estimates for a plantation Tat ^y^WT f° ^^^^ 



" Queensland planters wn„u . 1 E&Stern World ' 



pmea Pp i es , ^ f ~tuTn^ jg^ "** to dro P ■«**. cotton, 



and f rom which — ^^^^i^z^zsr^ 



