February i, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



n 



persistent drought gives a thin and sickly crop : therefore it will be 

 found necessary, where the plant is grown under the influence of 

 great heat, to facilitate the vegetation by frequent irrigations, ac- 

 cording as the soil is more or less of an absorbing nature. At least 

 two weeks previous to the cutting of the plant, the irrigations 

 ought to be discontinued, to allow the stalks to gather sufficient 

 strength, ripen, and dry sufficiently for use. In order to secure a 

 good crop, and avoid fermentation of the stalk, it is preferable to 

 cut in dry weather. The manner of planting is quite simple. In 

 the soil already prepared, furrows at least three feet apart should 

 be ploughed (similar to those made in planting potatoes). The 

 plants are then placed in the furrows at three inches depth, so that 

 they alternate with those of the next line. Each plant requires a 

 square yard for its development. This space will be occupied by 

 direct shoots or rhizomas from the end of the second year. 



In the third year it will be necessary to thin the plants. In order 

 to secure a free circulation of air, the soil should be carefully 

 weeded during the first year of the plant's growth. In the second 

 year it will be found unnecessary, the ramie overgrowing the weed. 

 It is advisable in spring, or after the first cutting, to dig up a little 

 of the soil about the roots. As the plant is perennial, the better 

 the soil is prepared, the better will be the results. Quoting from 

 the analysis of Dr. J. E. Tornidge, the composition of the fibre is 

 as follows : — 



Potash 32.37 



Soda 16.33 



Lime 8.50 



Magnesia 5.39 



Oxide of iron 17 



Chloride of iodium 9.13 



Phosphorus 9 60 



Sulphur 3., I 



Carbon 8 90 



Alumina and silica 660 



Ramie, like flax and hemp, exhausts the resources of the soil 

 rapidly : therefore careful manuring is necessary. The above 

 analysis may be a guide in selecting the fertilizer. In Europe 

 only two cuttings a year can be depended upon ; for, even by the 

 use of liquid manure with irrigation, it has been ascertained that a 

 third crop is extremely sickly and weak, even under the most favor- 

 able circumstances. In countries where the climate resembles that 

 of regions to which the plant is indigenous, as many as five crops 

 can be obtained if great care be given to its cultivation. The best 

 time for gathering it is when a red-brown color is visible in the 

 lower part of the stalk. 



The stalks should be cut at about four inches from the ground, 

 by a clean incision, to avoid damage. It is then necessary to dry 

 them quickly in the sun ; and they should be peeled within at least 

 forty-eight hours, after which time peeling would be difficult. 



If stored for winter use, it should be kept in a dry place. In the 

 process of drying, the leaves should be stripped. If used for cattle- 

 forage, as is often the case, they should be given while still green. 

 This, however, is an expensive proceeding. When the stalks are 

 dried with the leaves remaining on them, they can be easily shaken 

 off at the end of two days. They can be usefully employed in the 

 manufacture of paper, or left on the ground, for which they form a 

 good manure. The produce of the stalk is, as shown, dependent 

 upon the climate and proper treatment. As no statistics have yet 

 been made in countries where its growth is indigenous, it is neces- 

 sary to make an estimate from the results obtained in countries 

 less favorable to its growth : therefore the estimates are probably 

 too low. In Italy, in the third year, when the plantation reached 

 its definitive state, the produce of one hectare (3.471 acres) of 

 ramie amounted to about 80,000 kilograms (i kilogram = 2.2 

 pounds) green stalks, of which one-half is attributable to leaves. 

 The first cutting gave 41,200 kilograms, the second 39.700 kilo- 

 grams, green stalks, which together makes S0.900 kilograms. De- 

 ducting fifty per cent leaves, there remain 40,450 kilograms of green 

 stalks, or 1,600 kilograms harl. Two thousand kilograms of harl 

 have even been obtained, and 1,800 is not an exaggerated average, 

 per hectare. 



Labor, manure, rent, pruning-machines, and general expenses 

 are of course to be counted ; and, as such expenses would in 



America be highly in excess of those in Italy, it could only be by 

 practical trial and experiment that the cost of its cultivation in the 

 United States could be ascertained. The results show, however, 

 that the cultivation is extremely remunerative, and in the United 

 States it would prove still more profitable. 



The greatest difficulty yet experienced in the industry is that of 

 properly peeling or decorticating the stalks. With a view of pro- 

 moting this industry, the Indian Government, in 1 870, offered a prize 

 of ^4,000 for the best machine manufactured to peel the raw fibre ; 

 subsequently a prize of ;£5,ooo was offered in England for the same 

 purpose; and quite recently an exhibition has been decided upon, 

 to be opened on the 25th of September, by the minister of agricul- 

 ture in Paris, for machines for the purpose of peeling ramie stalks. 

 As in the case of all textile plants, the object is to separate the 

 ligneous part from the herbaceous part ; that is to say, the stalks 

 from the bark. The ligneous part is used for manure only. The 

 bark, on the contrary, contains the fibrous matter for the manufac- 

 ture of harl. Its manufacture is possible in several ways. First, 

 during the first two days after the cutting of the stalk, the viscous 

 liquor which is found between the ligneous part of the stalk and 

 the bark allows it to be peeled with facility. The Chinese and 

 Indians simply employ their forefinger and thumb to peel the bark 

 while in that state. This is of course primitive, and machines 

 based on that principle have always been found unsatisfactory. 

 Second, many inventors proceeded, as in the case of flax and hemp, 

 by a kind of previous maceration called "retting;" but this also 

 has proved unsatisfactory, on account of its speedy putrefaction, 

 hemp being capable of greater saturation than ramie. Third, 

 chemical operation has at all times proved prejudicial to ramie 

 fibre, causing loss of weight and brilliancy of appearance. Fourth, 

 other manufacturers constructed machines with a view to abandon- 

 ing retting. These are constructed so as to peel the harl, and do 

 the least possible injury to the textile qualities of the plant, and, by 

 working the plant when dried, to completely disaggregate the fibre 

 so as to render it of greater value. When working green, there is 

 apt to be a great loss of fibre, as it is impossible to perfectly peel 

 the stalk. The disaggregation is poor, the fibre leaving the ma- 

 chine in strips, which necessitates its being worked by chemical 

 substances, to obtain the division of the thread : hence a machine 

 working dry, with little loss, is of greater advantage. 



Among the machines working green, that of the American, Mr. 

 Berthel, gives a waste of more than one-half of the textile fibres. 

 Requiring a force of two horse-power, it is able to work 150 kilo- 

 grams (330 pounds) of dry harl per day, the price being S500 for 

 this machine. The machine built by Felix Roland, a French engi- 

 neer, is somewhat better ; but the waste still amounts to two-fifths 

 of the whole. The machine of three-quarter horse-power works 

 150 kilograms of dry harl, and costs $250 ; that of one horse-power 

 works 200 kilograms (440 pounds) dry harl, and costs §360. The 

 machine of Messrs. Moermann-Laubuhr, Belgian engineers, which 

 is really an old flax machine, requires a previous maceration of the 

 plant, necessitating thereby inconveniences. It requires four horse- 

 power to work 200 kilograms of harl per day, and its price is 

 $1,200. Among dry-stalk working machines is one manufactured 

 originally for flax by Arthog, which works 100 kilograms (220 

 pounds) at two horse-power, and its price is $800. Until recently 

 (1875), the best machine originally built for flax was manufactured 

 by Cardow & Son, and improved upon by Huet Lagache, for the 

 treating of ramie ; but the harl often rolled up around the cylinder, 

 the brown epidermis was often left, and considerable loss ensued. 

 The produce is 200 kilograms for four horse-power, the price being 

 ij{;2,ooo. Felix Roland, who was mentioned above, also built a 

 machine for working dry stalk. Little injury, as well as little loss, 

 was experienced by the use of this machine. Of these machines he 

 has three different sizes. No. i produces 60 to 70 kilograms (130 

 to 154 pounds) a day, worked by a man, the price being 8300 ; No. 

 2 produces 150 to 160 kilograms (330 to 352 pounds) a day, three- 

 quarter horse-power, the price being $440 ; No. 3 produces 200 to 

 250 kilograms (440 to 560 pounds) a day, one horse-power, price 

 $600. 



Peeling expenses do not exceed three per cent by this system, 

 wages being reckoned at $1.25 per day. This machine was con- 

 sidered the best, as is shown by the fact of the minister of the 



