126 RAMIE 



an excess of moisture is present the plant grows 

 rapidly but produces a fibre of poor quality. If, on 

 the contrary, the plant is unable to obtain sufficient 

 water, its growth is retarded and it becomes stunted. 

 When these two opposite conditions both occur 

 during one season, the plant yields a fibre of mixed 

 quality and irregular strength, which is liable to suffer 

 considerable loss in its extraction and preparation for 

 spinning. 



PREPARATION OF THE FIBRE 



The methods of preparing ramie fibre differ con- 

 siderably from those employed in the case of flax and 

 hemp. The encrusting substances are not removed 

 by a retting process, but are extracted by chemical 

 treatment. 



The fibre known in commerce as " China grass " 

 is prepared in China entirely by hand. The stems are 

 first stripped, and the outer skin is removed by 

 scraping and washing, different methods being em- 

 ployed in different parts of the country. The 

 process is tedious and expensive, as the preparation 

 of a few pounds of the ribbons constitutes a day's 

 work. In the resulting product the fibres are firmly 

 embedded in a gummy substance of a pectose-like 

 nature, which must be removed before the fibre can 

 be spun into yarn. The operation of degumming 

 is not carried out in China, but is effected subsequently 

 in Europe by chemical means. 



The preparation of China grass by hand-stripping 

 can only be made remunerative in countries where 

 labour is exceedingly cheap and plentiful, and con- 

 sequently numerous attempts have been made to 

 invent suitable decorticating machinery. In 1869, 

 the Government of India offered a reward of 5,000 

 for the best machine for decorticating the green 

 stems, and a trial was held in 1872. No machine, 

 however, completely fulfilled the requirements, and 

 the full prize was not Awarded. The reward was 

 again offered, and a secon'd official trial took place in 

 1879, but with no greater success. The effect of these 

 competitions was to stimulate invention, and, in 



