227 



At the annual sale of Mr. Milne, of Kiualdie, Aberdeenshire, Scot- 

 land, prices ranged from 14 to 30 guineas for bulls, and from 11 to 40 

 guineas for heifers. The bulls averaged £2^ per heatl. 



EHEEA FIBER. 



A letter to the Commissioner of Agriculture from A. H. Bleelynder, 

 jtecretary of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, gives 

 some information concerning the cultivation in India of the rheea 

 fiber, which he says is identical with China grass, the Uriica tenacissima 

 of Roxburgh and the Boechmerla nivea of Latin botanists. He says : 



The "rheea" of Assam {Boechmerla vivca of botanists) is indigenous to Cachar and the 

 northeastern districts of Bengal, Kungpore, and Dinagepore, where it is known under the 

 name of " kuuchoora." It is also indigenous to Bnrmah, and is the " pan " of the Shan 

 countiy, the " calooe " of Sumatra, and the " ramee " of the Eastern Archipelago. It is 

 identical with the " chunia " of the Chinese, from which the well-known China-grass 

 cloth is manufactiu'ed. 



About thirty years ago ColonelJenkins, the commissioner of Assam, sent a few rheea 

 plants to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India. From this a nucleus 

 was formed in the economic portion of their garden, and retained in cultivation till 

 last year, when the entire garden was resumed by government. From this cultivation 

 of about half an acre many thousands of cuttings have been distributed over the 

 country. 



Like several other plants which are readily multiplied by suckers, layers, and cut- 

 tings, the rheea does not yield fertile seed ; but this is of less consequence, for, as 

 already observed, it can be readily propagated by other means. From a small plot of 

 ground sufficient stock can be obtained in one season to plant a large area. If the soil be 

 good and care is bestowed on the plants by keeping them clear of weeds, and irrigating 

 when necessary, and the ground carefully drained when too wet, three cuttings may be 

 annually obtained. 



The time for cutting is when the x^lant is in flower ; if delayed beyond that period 

 the stalk becomes hard and the fiber liarsh. 



The most extended cultivation that has been brought to the notice of the society is 

 that of the Messrs. Morrell, at Morrellgunge, in the Jessore Sunderbunds. The plant 

 thrives most luxuriantly in that locality, and the fiber prepared under their superin- 

 tendence is, as respects quality and strength, all that can bo desired, precisely similar 

 to the chuma, and such as would command a fair price, say £70 per ton in the English " 

 market. But I am giveu to understand that even this figure will not allow a fair mar- 

 gin of profit after deducting the cost of preparation, and allowing for all other con- 

 tingent expenses in the shape of land carriage, freight, custom duty, &c. 



The rheea possesses this advantage over other well-known fibrous-yielding plants — 

 flax, hemp, smin, jute — that it is a perennial. On the other hand, there is this disad- 

 vantage, that water-steeping or maceration destroys the strength of the fiber. The 

 dry process, by hand, has been the mode hitherto adopted in ladia to remove the fiber 

 from the stem. The process adopted by the Chinese is tedious. The Assamese process 

 is so exceedingly slow and expensive, a man not being able to separate more than one- 

 half a pound of 'fiber from the stalks per day, that the cost of preparation has hitherto 

 jtreveuted the export from this country, except to a very limited exteat, of a fiber 

 which is probably the strongest in the world, and which is capable of being worked 

 into the most beautiful fabrics. Several attempts have been made to substitute ma- 

 eliinery for hand labor, but, so far as I am aware, all have hitherto ijroved inefiective. 



TRIALS OF HARVESTING MACHINERY. 



The Missouri State Board of Agriculture have ordered a field trial of 

 reapers, mowers, horse hay-forks, hay-stackers, hay-rakes, and all kinds 

 of machinery germane to harvesting, to be held near St. Louis during 

 the harvest of 1870. The trial will be conducted under the immediate 

 supervision of the board, some of the members of which will serve on 



