OTHER FARM CROPS 579 



drilling, harvesting, breaking, and baling, and also make it possible 

 to ship the fiber in full car lots. Before undertaking the cultivation 

 of hemp on a commercial scale it is advisable to try some prelim- 

 inary experiments with half an acre or less, to determine whether 

 the local conditions are adapted to the crop. (B. P. I. B. Cir. 57.) 

 (Additional References. Y '. B. 1895, 1903; U. S. Fiber Inves. 

 R. 6, 8, 11 ;U. S. E. S. R. 1.) 



RAMIE. 



Probably no fiber in the vegetable economy has attracted such 

 widespread interest as ramie, for nearly every government on the 

 face of the globe, in countries where the plant will grow, has en- 

 couraged the establishment of the industry in one form or another, 

 or capitalists in these countries have liberally aided invention and 

 private experiment in the hope of securing the golden reward it has 

 offered. Through these unremitting efforts, and the lavish use of 

 private capital, there is now a flattering prospect that the industry 

 will ere long be fairly established, and ramie fabrics will be found 

 in the markets of the world side by side with those from silk, from 

 cotton, and from flax. European concerns even now are running 

 thousands of spindles, turning out hundreds of tons of yarns an- 

 nually, and are enlarging their works. 



Ramie is a plant belonging to the nettle family (Urticacece) , 

 which from time immemorial has been cultivated in China, and 

 known to botanists by the name Bcehmeria nivea, frequently called 

 the stingless nettle. It is also known as "China-grass" and "Rhea." 

 It has long been cultivated, also, in Japan, in Java, Bornea, Suma- 

 tra, and in the East Indies, and during the present century has been 

 introduced into other countries. Its introduction into the United 

 States dates back to the year 1855. 



When fully grown the plant attains a height of 4 to 8 feet, 

 clothed with large ovate-acuminate leaves that are green above and 

 whitish or silvery beneath, the fiber being formed in the bark which 

 surrounds the stalk, this having a pithy center. It is of rapid growth 

 and produces from two to four, or even five, crops a year without re- 

 planting, dependent upon the climate where cultivated. In China 

 and Japan, where the fiber is extracted by hand labor, it is manu- 

 factured not only into cordage, fish-lines, nets, and similar coarse 

 manufactures, but woven into the finest and most beautiful of fabrics. 

 In England, France, and Germany the fiber has also been woven into 

 a great variety of fabrics, covering the widest range of uses, such as 

 lace, lace curtains, handkerchiefs, cloth, or white goods resembling 

 fine linen, dress goods, napkins, table damask, table-covers, bed- 

 spreads, drapery for curtains or lambrequins, plush, and even car- 

 pets and fabrics suitable for clothing. The fiber can be dyed in all 

 desirable shades or colors, some examples having the luster and bril- 

 liancy of silk. It is one of the strongest and most durable of fibers, 

 is least affected by moisture of all fibers, and from these characteris- 

 tics must take first rank in value as a textile substance. It has three 

 times the strength of Russian hemp, while its filaments can be sepa- 

 rated almost to the fineness of silk. In manufacture it has been 



