64:9 



in the form of hand-cleaned or macliine-cleaned fibre, when it 

 is known as China Grass or more rarely in the form of strips 

 with bark and woody matter adherent to tliejn and known as 

 Rhea, or Ramie, ribbons (Rep. Inter, Exhib. Brussels, Rome, 

 Turin, 1910 & 1911, p. 323)— the London market report for 

 " China Grass " (1913) was '' Quotations 405, to 55^. [per cwt.] 

 at which but little business can be done " (Mon. Circ. Ide & 

 Christie, Jan. 15th, 1913) and (1919), '' Continues in good 

 demand and stocks diminisliing : Value [per ton] £95 to £120 " 

 (I.e. Dee. 15th, 1919); but for ''Rhea'' the report of this 

 reputable firm in their monthly circulars from January 1904 to 

 December 1919 has almost invariably been *' no stock " or ''no 

 business." 



Tlie fibre is used for the manufacture of *' Grass Cloth " in 

 China and for various purposes, similar to those of linen and 

 cotton, and incandescent gas mantles, in Europe. 



May be propagated from seed, layering, cuttings and division 

 of the roots, the last-mentioned being the best method. Rich 

 well-drained soil is essential, with continual applications of 

 manure during the whole life of the plantation, which under 

 favourable conditions may last many years giving tMO or three 

 crops a year. Failing intensive culture the only way to keep the 

 plants vigorous is to re-plant new areas as the soil becomes 

 exhausted. 



Full particulars as to cultivation, preparation of the fibre 

 &c. are given in the Kew Bulletin, " Fibres " and other works 

 mentioned below. 



Rel. 



<( 



Kew 



284-287 



149; pp. 273-280; pp. 297-298; 1889, pp. 267-278; pp. 



— " Ramie as food for Silkworms," I.e. 1890, pp. 174^175. 



*' Paris Ramie Trials 1891," I.e. 1891, pp. 277-278. ■*' Ramie 



Machine Trials at New Orleans," I.e. 1892, pp. 304-306. 



''China Grass: 1891 Onwards." I.e. 1898, pp. 209-224; Re- 

 printed in Kew Bull. Add. Ser. II. '' Vegetable Fibres" (1912) 

 pp. 52-95.™ — ^Traite, Scientifique et Industriel de la Ramie, 

 Micholte, pp. 1-360 : App. pp. 1-107 (Lib. Centrale des Sciences, 



Paris, 1891). Recent Facts regarding the Ramie Industry in 



America, Dodge, U.S. Dept. Agric. Fiber Investigations, Rep. 



No. 2, 1891, i)p, 1-16. Rhea Fibre and On the Rewards 



formerly offered by the Govt, of India for Machinery to be 

 employed in Its Separation^ Watt, Agric. Ledger, No. 6, 1894, 



pp. 1-7. Report on the Cultivation of Ramie in the United 



States, Dodge U.S. Dept. Agric. Fiber Investig. Rep. No. 7, 1895, 



pp. 1^-63. " Ramie " in Cons. Rep. Msc. No. 401, 1896, 



Mexico, pp. 21-24. ^Rhea (Riha) or China Grass, Watt, Agric. 



Ledger, No. 15, 1898, pp. 1-129; Ibid. I.e. No. 18, 1900, pp. 191- 



194. Le Congres International de la Ramie, Paris 1900, in 



Revue des Cult. Col. vii. July, Aug. Oct, and Nov. 1900; Ibid. 



pp. 1-107, ff. 14 (Bureaux, Revue Cult. Col. Paris, 1901). 



Baxendale, in Agiic. Bull. Fed. 



<( 



Ramie 



55 



X 13721 



H 



