534 EEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



^Yitll 240 iiounds. Chinese jute was broken at 164 pounds, wMle hemp 

 {Cannabis saiiva) only stood a strain of 158 pounds. A recent experi- 

 ment quoted in an India report shows a still greater difference between 

 this and other fibers, a spun thread of Ilussian hemp having broken 

 with a strain of 84 pounds, while a similar one of ramie only broke with 

 the remarkable strain of 252 pounds, or in the proportion exactly of one 

 to three. 



The first museum samples were received about twelve years ago, 

 from James Wade & Sons, England, and are interesting as showing the 

 various stages or processes of manufacture, as well as the many beauti- 

 ful fabrics that can be made from its fiber. The raw product in this 

 series is India ramie, as imx)orted, and this is followed by the dressed 

 and bleached fiber, some of the specimens of silvery whiteness, and re- 

 markable for brilliancy and luster. Then follows a large series of man- 

 ufactures, principally poplin and mozambique dress goods, figured Orleans, 

 &c., in infinite variety. These are made of pure ramie, of ramie mixed 

 with cotton, and, in some cases, ramie, cotton, and wool. Later, another 

 series was received from the same manufacturers exhibiting a still greater 

 variety of dress goods of various kinds, some of these having the luster 

 of silk. 



Many specimens of experimentally prepared fiber have been received 

 from the South, together with manufactures, the results of experiments 

 by Le Franc, Eoezl, Bonzam, and others. In these manufactures of 

 American ramie there are several specimens of fabrics suitable for 

 handkerchiefs, shirt-bosoms, and the uses for which linen is usually 

 employed. One interesting specimen of fiber (some two or three feet in 

 length) exhibits the stalk as grown, the bark separated into fiber, and 

 the cleaned ramie, all in one piece. There are also samples of finely-pre- 

 pared fiber from other foreign localities than those mentioned, and one 

 of these exhibits American ramie prepared in France. Some good 

 specimens of rope arre also shown, though, doubtless, this use of the 

 fiber need not be encouraged while there are so many coarser fibers 

 better suited to the purx^ose. Paper is also made from this substance, 

 which is white and fine. 



The Japanese series of China grass exhibits the state of perfection to 

 which this industry has been brought in that country. It includes raw 

 material variously prepared, together with textiles of great beauty. 

 They are woven pure or mixed with silk, cotton, or other fiber, and 

 some of them dyed in colors. For best modes of cultivatiori^ prepara- 

 tion, &G., the reader is referred to Part Second of this report, where the 

 latest facts regarding it are presented. 



JJrtica gigas. — Tree Nettle of Australia. — This is also called the gigan- 

 tic nettle tree, and by the natives, goo-mao-mah. It is a native of ^""ew 

 South Wales, and is veiy abundant on the McLeay and other northern 

 rivers. In Bennett's '' Wanderings of a Xaturalist in Australia," the 

 author states that the tree, when in full vigor, rises from its base by a 

 series of buttresses of singularly regular outbne, gradually tapering 

 without a branch, to the height of 120 to 140 feet; "the trunk then di- 

 vides into a regularly formed, wide-spreading head, which excites admi- 

 ration by its extraordinary size. The ordinary elevation of the tree is 

 25 to 50 feet. " The poisonous fiuid secreted fr-om the foliage is very 

 powerful, particularly in the younger leaves, and their sting is exceed- 

 ingly virulent, producing great sufiering." The tree is also indigenous 

 in Queensland, and Dr. Guilfoyle sends specimens of fiber from Victoria. 

 The fiber ivS very stTong and fine, and suitable for fishing-lines, &c. In 

 Kew South Wales its fiber is made into cordage of considerable te- 



