62 
ideal  place  for  growing  this  fibre.  There  is  a question  about  the 
growing  of  it  that  you  will  know  better  than  I can  possibly  do  and 
that  is  as  regards  cutting  at  the  proper  time.  This  I consider 
ought  to  be  done  only  when  the  flower  is  beginning  to  fall  and  the 
seed  to  form  on  the  plant.  It  ought  not  to  be  a matter  of  height 
of  stems  or  the  time  those  have  grown  and  should  be  solely  one 
of  maturity  of  fibre.  This  that  you  send  me  seems  to  want  this 
but  possibly  this  arises  from  the  plants  being  young.  From  all 
that  I have  seen  it  appears  to  belong  to  the  black  variety,  the  worst 
that  can  be  grown.  I arrive  at  this  Irom  a quantity  that  I have  of 
the  wild  black  variety  which  only  differs  from  this  in  its  length 
which  is  two-thirds  less  than  this  of  yours.  In  that  letter  of  Mr. 
BaxendaLE’s  in  the  October  No.  of  the  Bulletin  he  mentions  the 
Iflack  variety,  and  the  fact  of  its  having  been  sent  to  the  public 
destructions  at  Liverpool.  Through  the  firm  that  he  represents  1 
was  aware  of  this  as  they  told  me  no  one  would  take  it  at  a gift. 
Why  Mr.  Baxendale  or  any  one  else  should  persist  in  growing 
this  stuff  is  a mystery  to  me  as  1 am  of  opinion  it  is  as  easy  to  grow 
the  best  as  the  worst,  that  is  to  say  if  the  best  can  be  got.  Nothing 
that  1 have  seen  can  e(]ual  the  beauty  and  quality  of  the  China  grass 
ribbon  and  I somehow  think  that  no  European  grower  has  ever 
got  the  genuine  roots  of  this  finest  of  the  ramies.  Good  as  some  of 
it  is  that  I have  handled  it  cannot  compare  with  this  for  quality  and 
length  of  fibre.  The  waste  on  it  too  is  only  about  a half  as  com- 
pared with  good  fine  ramie  and  only  about  a quarter  of  what  this 
sample  of  yours  will  lose.  In  removing  the  black  skin  on  this  of 
vours  1 lose  fully  22  ounces.  After  this  I have  the  gum  to  get  rid 
of  so  that  the  sample  will  lose  not  less  than  50%.  By  this  you  will 
see  how  e.xpensive  and  wasteful  it  would  be  to  grow  this  if  better 
can  be  had.  At  the  same  time  it  could  be  freely  used  if  put  on  the 
market  at  a low  figure  as  it  could  be  used  easily  with  the  bark  re- 
moved similar  to  the  enclosed  sample.  It  says  much  for  Mr. 
BaxE.ND.VLE’s  [)erseverance  that  with  such  meagre  results  he  has 
not  lost  faith  and  hope  of  ultimate  suc'cess.  To  get  2\%  of  ribbons 
only  = to  56  lbs.  from  one  ton  of  stems  would  have  disgusted 
most  men.  Such  a result  as  this  in  its  [tottering  insignificance 
proves  the  uselessness  of  any  machine  for  such  a purpose  and  if 
better  result  than  this  could  not  be  obtained  the  growing  of  ramie 
would  be  better  left  alone.  I enclose  sections  of  stems  that  were 
grown  in  the  Glasgow  I>otanic  Gardens  and  which  came  off  quite 
clean  and  the  ribbon  did  not  shrivel  in  the  way  that  most  of  it  does 
that  is  taken  off  when  green.  In  taking  it  oft  1 get  every  particle 
of  fibre  that  one  can  get  when  the  stem  is  green  as  there  is 
always  an  inner  peel  that  adheres  to  the  woody  portion  of  the  stem. 
As  you  want  to  know  the  selling  value  of  the  fibre  1 enclose  a sam- 
ple of  some  for  which  /,37.iO  a ton  is  asked.  I also  enclose  a strip 
of  the  cream  of  this  fine  fibre  which  I lecognize  as  China  grass  which 
no  effort  ought  to  be  spared  to  produce.  Most  that  has  come  here 
is  that  black  stuff  which  has  simply  damned  the  fibre  and  disgusted 
all  who  have  taken  it  in  hand.  As  to  getting  an  outlet  and  mar- 
ket for  the  fibre  if  it  could  be  had  in  (juantity  and  delivered  ready 
