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and unbleached fibre, used by the Burmese, Assamese, Nagas 

 and bj the people of Rangpur, Jalpaiguri, Bogra, Dinajpur, 

 Purneah, and Bhagalpur, for making fishing lines and 

 nets, is raised by a few cultivators only, each on a few 

 square yards of land. But in none of these districts could 

 the raw firbe be procured for less than 8 annas a seer; 

 and if any considerable quantity is wanted from any of 

 these districts, the raw article would not be forthcoming 

 for less than Rs. 50 to Rs. roo per maund. A decor- 

 ticating machine could no doubt render the raw produce 

 cheap, and there are now several of these claiming public 

 favour, but more extensive trial is needed before one can 

 say definitely, that the rhea-cultivating industry can be made 

 profitable. 20 or even 40 a ton for the raw hand-stripped 

 ribbons is not a sufficiently remunerative price for this article, 

 and though such prices are being offered for some years, 

 practically no rhea ribbons have been exported into Europe. 

 Besides it is a mistake to suppose that rhea will grow any- 

 where and under any conditions and that crop after crop can 

 be taken in any soil without manure. It is no doubt a peren- 

 nial, but it grows best in shade, on rich loam and the land 

 must be above inundation level, but at the same time suffi- 

 ciently moist to keep the plants in vigour. The crop lux- 

 uriates in fact only on the best tobacco soils of Rungpur. 

 But even in Rungpur, the crop is of so little importance, that 

 the village called Kankurapara (named after this crop) and 

 where only the crop is considered of any importance, has only 

 about 20 cultivators growing it. 



443. In B}gra the ribbons stripped from the stems are 

 boiled in turmeric water for a few minutes or in water in 

 which rice has been boiled. This operation softens the fibre 

 and assists in the subsequent cleaning process. In Bhagalpur 

 the green stems divested of leaves are boiled in water with 

 the addition of 10 chhitaks of saji per maund of plant put in 

 the boiler, and the whole allowed to simmer or boil for \\ to 



