RAMIE, RHEA, CHINA GRASS, OR NETTLE FIBRE. 



fibre, the latter principally in the United 

 States. Rhea is generally considered to be the 

 green-leaved member of the Boehmeria family 

 and ramie the white-leaved description. China 

 grass was formerly supposed to consist only of 

 the white-leaved description, but a more inti- 

 mate knowledge of the growth of the plant in 

 China has proved that both Boehmeria tenacis- 

 sima (green-leaved ramie) and Boehmeria nivea 

 (white-leaved ramie) grow in China, and the 

 fibre extracted from them is indiscriminately 

 known as China grass. 



The fibre of Boehmeria tenacissima is, gener- 

 ally speaking, not quite as fine as that of 

 Boehmeria nivea ; it is, however, somewhat 

 stronger. It spins well into yarn, but, as the 

 filaments are not so fine, the yarns cannot be 

 spun quite as fine as those of the white 

 variety. On the other hand, the Boehmeria 

 nivea (or white description) although not quite 

 so strong as the Boehmeria tenacissima, has 

 the advantage of being able to be spun into 

 somewhat finer yarn, necessitating a little 

 more careful treating in the manufacturing 

 operations. It is generally considered to have 

 a better colour than Boehmeria tenacissima. 

 The difference in the relative filament length 

 of the two descriptions is not great, and it 

 may truly be said of both that no fibre can 

 compare with them in strength. Both fibres 

 have the same degree of lustre. Some manu- 

 facturers prefer the one, some the other de- 

 scription, partly from choice and partly from 

 habit, this arising from the fact that they 

 have become more familiar with and perhaps 

 more successful in the treatment of the one 

 than the other. 



DECORTICATING . 



The first process which the green stems 

 undergo when cut down is decortication, and 

 although this does not strictly belong to the 

 manufacturing branch, it being in reality an 

 agricultural operation, it needs mention here 

 because of its intimate connection with and 

 influence on the subsequent manufacturing 

 operations. A large number of decorticating 

 machines have been invented and tried, some 

 of them with very disappointing results, 

 arising from the fact that most of the inven- 

 tors, either from ignorance or disregard of 

 the facts, have treated decortication as an in- 

 dependent process, whereas it has a very inti- 

 mate relation to and influence on the subse- 

 quent degumming and combing processes. A 

 really practical ramie decorticating machine 

 ought 



(A) To decorticate the green stems and pro- 

 duce from them fibre fully equal to that pro- 

 duced by the best hand labour in China. The 

 fibre must be free from shieve or woody parts : 

 the outer skin of the stem must be entirely 

 removed and the minimum of gum left in the 

 fibre. China grass (ramie decorticated by 

 hand in China) usually contains gum equal to 

 about 30 per cent, of its weight, but a good 

 decorticating machine ought not to leave more 

 than about 20 per cent, of gum in the fibre. 

 This freeing from the shieve or wood and the 

 skin and the reduction in the percentage of 

 gum are of the utmost importance, because 

 the subsequent degumming operations are 



"thereby greatly facilitated, shortened, and 

 cheapened. 



(B) To avoid bruising the fibre. China 

 grass, as already stated, produces, with a 

 really good combing machine, 70 per cent, of 

 long fibre (top) and 30 per cent, of short 

 fibre (noils), but in many cases the fibre, re- 

 sulting from treatment by unpractical and im- 

 perfect decorticating machines, has shown after 

 the combing process only about from 30 to 50 

 per cent, of long fibre and about from 50 to 

 70 per cent, of short fibre a sure test of the 

 lamentable results of being bruised, broken, 

 and shortened by bad decortication. 



It will thus be seen how intimate ought to 

 be the relations between the decorticating, de- 

 gumming, and combing processes, and how im- 

 possible it is to judge of the efficiency or 

 otherwise of any decorticating machine solely 

 by the appearance of the fibre it produces. 

 Not until the decorticated fibre has passed 

 through the degumming and combing processes 

 can an accurate and reliable opinion be formed 

 concerning the efficiency of the decorticating 

 machine that has been used. This is a matter 

 of primary importance, and yet it has too 

 frequently been ignored by inventors and in- 

 troducers of ramie decorticating machines. 



MANUFACTURE. 



I now pass on to manufacturing operations, 

 commencing with the fibre in the condition in 

 which it is generally sent to market under 

 the name of " China grass " and " ramie," as 

 produced by the best decorticating machines, 

 free from skin, wood, and extraneous matters. 

 DEGUMMING. 



After the bales of ramie or China grass are 

 opened, the filasse is carefully sorted, gener- 

 ally by female labour, into batches, according 

 to the various qualities of length, colour, and 

 freedom from extraneous matters. The batches 



