CULTIVATION OF THE NETTLE IN GERMANY. 561 
Tt is possible that the culture of the nettle has already been tried in the United 
States, in which case, whether the experiment has been successful or not, a perusal of 
Frau von Roeszler’s pamphlet is certain to encourage or incite to new attempts. 
The pamphlet gives the result of the author’s experience, and her success has been 
far beyond her expectations, and one is compelled to say with her that it is incom- 
prehensible that a plant possessing such a great variety of merits should, for ages, have 
been regarded merely as a noxious and troublesome weed. 
Lam, sir, your obedient servant, 
EDGAR STANTON, 
United States Consul. 
[From Illustrate Zeitung, September 28, 1878. ] 
THE NETTLE AND ITS FUTURE. 
The consideration of the question whether the nettle, heretofore re- 
garded as a noxious weed, shall be included in the list of useful com- 
mercial plants, has recently engrossed the attention of German agricult- 
ural circles in the liveliest manner. No new discovery is here referred 
to, but a new trial solely of the practicability of utilizing a fibrous plant 
whose excellent qualities have lain in seclusion long enough. 
_ The nettle was known as a fibrous plant more than a thousand years 
ago. Itis still esteemed as cattle-fodder and is employed remedially 
for many ailments of both man and beast. 
In spite of this diversity of uses the nettle has always been treated as 
one of the most troublesome of weeds. In the last century the intro- 
duction of cotton caused it to be forgotten and entirely ignored by the 
industry it has every right to serve. 
Only when the German agriculturist was forced to seek some new 
plant to cultivate was the weed by the wayside, the despised nettle, 
remembered and brought to light once more that its many excellent 
qualities might be magle use of. 
Inspector Bouché, Dr. Grothe, Professor Reuleur, and others have 
called attention to the nettle. Dr. Holzach, of Entritzsch, deserves also 
great credit for his defense of the nettle in agricultural circles, which 
has caused the nettle-culture to be taken up in the Leipzig district, but 
to Frau von Roeszler Ladé belongs the unqualified merit of having 
restored the falsely judged plant to the estimation of the public. 
The success in experimental nettle-culture, which has exceeded all 
expectations, causes every one to feel more or less interested in the 
matter, and there are already many sanguine natures who believe that 
nettle-culture will render the import of cotton superfluous. 
If the nettle were able to reduce the import of foreign fibrous plants 
it would be the attainment of decided progress in a direction we are all 
energetically working to reach. 
The statistics of hemp culture, for which the nettle is a perfect sub- 
stitute, exhibit how much greater is the import into than the export 
from Germany, the excess value being’ in— 
Marks. 
DE cee ste eer Ta eet nse ne! 2) 1h SUE IRS SOEs oY 10, 833, 000 
De ae ee Ba Cu ee UR aaa pe gar a 13, 731, 000 
Peete ene ee on EE, See a eon ee ae cee 15, 860, 000 
mF OR 8, 050, COO 
anlar Veare? Seer s,s) TARY eee Tes 46, 474, 000 
36 AGR 
