221 
The refuse alin pademen the machine, and is removed from 
time to time. In the case of a number of machines working 
apadi an cis s ban qom co Pakia passing inler the machines, 
removes the re itio continually, and s 0 keeps the neighbourhood 
of the machines perfectly free from it." 
MecDonald-Boyle Decorticator. 
This machine, Mn. constructed on the plan of a revolving drum 
and beaters with a reversing process, has been carefully tried in 
Trinidad and JE and appears "i be under trial at the present 
time in Uie m^ lay Peninsula. 
The t of the Filiae ma in Trinidad are given in the 
Proceedings, S the Agricultural Society (1897. pp. 149-153). The 
ing is an extract :— 
“The McDonald machine the committee saw at work simply 
produced ‘Ramie ribbons’ by breaking up and detaching the 
cheaply than could be done by the cheapest hand labour and the 
operation is so easy that the Wei ta cannot get clogged or out of 
order, and requires no skilled labour. The machine was under 
the disadvantage of being run cg a DE engine not under proper 
control, but in ten minutes we saw it decorticate 18 lbs. of stem, 
giving 91 Ibs. of green fibre, which would equal llb. of dry. 
Working under proper conditions, we are of opinion the machine 
with one trained man would be able to treat about one ton of 
a in 12 hours, yielding one cwt. of ribbons, which is estimated 
to e 75 per cent., or 841bs. of eee or cleaned fibre, after 
td si the degumming proce 
*'The Boyle process degums the ribbons by treating them with 
rige simple, and rw i chemicals, and we saw the process 
ca out on a small s 
The results in, Ja nidi are published in the Jowrnal of the 
Jamaica €— — y ne 1, a pp. 211-272.) “The 
summary of five tests eight green stems 
passed through the incide, 99. T gr OZ8.; time nds in 
treatment, 81 minutes; weight of wet ribbons produced, 18 lbs.” 
The Committee added, * We think the whole process can only be 
e ra successfully on a large scale by the central factory 
our 
a ` Report issued by the qoem Office ue. » soni Annual 
Bri, 1898) on the trade of Guatemala, Mr. Trayner 
states experimental trials cia ve been esac by a 
that p enta 
wealthy | inhabitant of that country who claims that, with a machine 
prepared locally, “ the fet anes can not only deco rticated, but 
also degummed without damaging the fibre.” It is impossible to 
offer an opinion on cum merits of this machine with our present 
information, but, if it realizes the expectations of the inventor, we 
shall doubtless hear more about it. 
DEGUMMING. 
No ia gaa can do more than decorticate the stems o 
grass, and m or less clean the fibre. There is still the Heer 
task of sueta iun this into filasse fit for manufacture. 
