80 



Major F. S. Hanuah, in the Journal of the Agri-Horticnltural Society 

 of India, describes the India mode as follows : 



Cutting- AND removing thk fujer from the stalks. — The stalks are considered fit 

 for cutting wlien tliey have become of a brown color for about six inches above the 

 roots. To cut them the laborer seizes the leaves at the upper end v?ith liis left hand, and 

 passing the right hand down the root, strips oft' the leaves aud cuts the stalk close to 

 the ground. The stallvs are made up into bundles, and the scraping off the outer bark 

 commences at the same time, or this operation is deferred until the whole crop of the 

 plat has been cut. The scrapiug off of the fiber from each stalk is a very tedious ope- 

 ration, and is performed with a bluut-edged knife ; all tluit is left is tlie filler and woody 

 part of the stalk, which is exposed to a hot sun for two or three days to dry. Tiie third 

 morning, after having been exposed to the dew for several hours, the fiber is drawn off. 

 This is done by breakiug the woody stalk right through toward the thicker end, aud 

 then separating the fiber therefrom, drawing it off slowly toward the small end, some 

 care being required in giving the same a i)eculiar twist so as to draw off' as umch as 

 possible. Having finished with the snuxller end, what remains on the thicker end of 

 stalk is pulled off' in the same manner. It will be seen that this is a vei-y clumsy way 

 of extracting the fiber, and, as far as I can judge, one-fifth of the fiber still remains in 

 the stalk, whicli may betaken off, however, at the second breaking, but the workers are 

 not particular, so long as they get what they requirt;. I'he hanks of the fiber are theu 

 separately twisted at the upi)er end and tied up in bundles of long hanks of about one 

 seer in weight, if kept for sale. As the fiber, however, thus extracted, is quite ready 

 for the purpose of net-making, little or nothing more is done tluxu to open out and pi'e- 

 pare tlie threads for spinning, which is done first by drawing the single hanks several 

 times with a blunt-edged slip of bamboo, held iu the right hand. This softens and 

 etreugthens the fibers, and they are more easily cut to the required fineness with the 

 fingers and thumb uails, and thou made up into small hanks ready for the spinning 

 process, the first stage of which is performed by the women witii the common iakro or 

 epindle, in general use throughout India, the hanks having been well opened out aud 

 spread over the t<jp of a high, circular, open bamboo frame, set end-ways on the ground. 

 The further operation of spinning the first threads to the requisite thickness, aud the 

 weaving of tlie nets, is performetl by the men. 



A MACHINE WANTED. 



Repeated indorsements of the valne of this fiber have been made by 

 tliis department; and tlie urgent necessity for calling in the aid of 

 mechanical invention has been set forth as the only means of arresting 

 l)ractical failure in its extended culture. Fortius animadversions have 

 been freely met«d out by j)arties interested onlj- in propagation for pur- 

 poses of speculation ; but the same difficulty has met the British gov- 

 ernment in India, and the governor general has made the following an- 

 nouncement, and the consul general at Calcutta, Nathaniel P. Jacobs, 

 in forwarding it, says : '' The prize of £5,000 may possibly stimulate the 

 inventive faculties of some American mechanical genius in couipetition." 



1. Tlie government of India, after communications with various agricultural and horti- 

 cultural societies iu India, and with ])erson3 interested iu the subject, has arrived at the 

 conclusion that the only real obstacle to the development of an extensive trade in the 

 fiber of rheea, or China grass, is the want of suitable machinery for separating tlie fiber 

 and bark from the stem and the fiber from the bark, the cost of effecting such separa- 

 tion by manual labor being great. 



2. The demand for the fiber is now large, and no doubt might bo extended with re- 

 duced prices ; and there is a practically unlimited extent of country in India where the 

 plant could be grown. 



3. The requirements of the case appear to be some machinery or process capable of 

 producing, with the aid of animal, water, or steam power, a ton of fiber of a quality 

 which shall average in value not less than £50 per ton in the Englisli market, at a 

 total cost, all processes of manufacture aud allowance for wear and tear included, of 

 not more than £15 per ton. The said processes are to be understood to ineludo all the 

 operations perfomned, after the cutting and transportof tiie plant to the place of manu- 

 facture, to the completion of the manufacture of fiber of the quality above described. 

 The machinery must be simple, strong, durable, and cheap, and should be suited for 

 erection at or near the plantations, as tlie refuse is very useful as manure for continued 

 cultivation. 



4. To stimulate the invention or adaptation of such machinery or process, the gov- 



