18 



dry, and the pink spots on the stems have commenced to appear, 

 it is again tied up in bundles and carried to a barn or rick. The 

 same kind of machinery used for breaking and scutching flax is 

 applicable to hemp, but as the stems of the latter are coarser and 

 tougher than those of the former the machinery must be some- 

 what stronger. 



Hemp or flax crops are well adapted for cultivation by small 

 farmers, especially those with large families, as a great deal of 

 the work of weeding, pulling, drying, &c., can be done by children; 

 moreover, quick returns can be obtained, as from the time the 

 seed is put into the ground till the crops are ready for harvesting 

 or the scutching mill occupies only a few weeks. 



Much has been written of late years conoerniug the cultivation 

 and manufacture of fibre from that near relative of the hemp and 

 member of the nettle family — 



THE "RAMIE," "RHEEA," OR "CHINA GRASS- 

 CLOTH PLANT" (BGEHMERIA NIVEA), 



and although it will grow freely enough in most parts of Victoria, 

 its value here at present as a remunerative marketable crop is, so 

 far as I can judge, extremely doubtful. Unlike the hemp, it is a 

 bushy spreading perennial, averaging from 5 to 7 feet in height, 

 according to the conditions of heat, moisture, and soil. Numerous 

 specimens of the plant may be seen in the Botanical Gardens, 

 where it has been growing for nearly 40 years ; and although 

 during the past twenty years I have freely distributed roots to 

 settlers and others, and have prepared crude samples of fibre for 

 our local Exhibitions, I have never heard of any attempts having 

 been made to cultivate it as a crop ; that, however, is hardly to 

 be wondered at, as will be seen presently. From ramie is 

 produced that beautiful creamy-white fabric known as China 

 Grass-cloth, which is frequently mistaken for silk; indeed the 

 better quahtics of it are often sold as such in England and 

 many parts of the Continent. In Assam, Nepaul, and other parts 

 of India it has been knowji from time immemorial as " Rheea." 

 The Malays call it " Ramie," the Chinese " Tchuma'^ (Chuma), 

 and in Japan, under the name of " Karao," the cultivation of it 

 and hand preparation of its fibre dates back to 1G60. 



The great drawback to the spread of the ramie industry is 

 undoubtedly the want of suitable machinery for treating the fibre 

 in an expeditious and economic way, or of getting rid of the 

 gummy substance which holds together the filamentary portions of 

 the plant. Could that difficulty be solved, ramie cultivators 

 would be counted by the thousand wherever the plant would 

 grow, and its production would ultimately rival the flax, hemp, 

 and jute industries. Although in 1869 the Indian Government 



