Belgium,  but  without  success.  The  stem  is  so  full  of  sap  that  it 
causes  a putrid  fermentation  which  attacks  the  fibre  as  well  as  the 
gum.  'My  results  were  merely  a repetition  of  the  experiences  in 
C'outrai,  30  years  ago,  when  the  specialists  in  the  treatment  of  flax 
utterly  failed  to  do  anything  with  ramie. 
5.  Faiire  Decorticator. — 'I'he  Faure  was  the  first  machine  we 
tried.  It  was  sent  out  at  the  end  o:  i8g8.  Our  produce  from  this 
was  valued  at  from  ■£\']  to  £20  a 101.  It  was  somewhat  difficult  to 
manipulate.  The  variation  of  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  the  adju'^t- 
ment,  made  the  difference  between  an  over  cleaned  fibre  (and  con- 
sequently heavy  loss  in  output)  and  a fibre,  which  through  the 
presence  of  epidermis  and  an  excess  of  gum,  compared  badly  with 
the  best  quality  of  “China  Grass” — as  the  hand  prepared  article  is 
called  in  Europe.  Our  Malay  coolies  with  experience  became  more 
adapt  in  adjusting  'the  machine  and  in  handling  the  fibre  but  the 
daily  result  wa^^  too  small  to  admit  of  profit  at  £20  a ton.  I re- 
turned to  Europe  and  visited  M.  Fatre:  at  Limoges.  I saw  his 
machine  worked  by  skilled  French  artisans  and  I realised  that  it 
would  take  some  time  before  I could  bring  my  Malays  up  to  the 
same  degree  of  efficiency  and  even  then  the  output  compared  verv 
poorly  with  that  shewn  in  the  prospectus.  M.  F.AURE  was  at  that 
time  constructing  a machine  which  he  estimated  would  double  the 
output.  This  invention,  I learn  from  Mr.  A.  S.  Baxendale,  who 
was  present  on  the  occasion,  was  worked  at  the  last  Paris  Exhibi- 
tion and  was  awarded  the  highest  honours.  Mr.  A.  S.  Baxendale 
informs  me  that  each  machine  required  two  men  to  feed  it,  and 
that  it  then  only  dealt  with  two  stems  simultaneously.  The  treat- 
ment was  very  effective  but  costly.  In  justice  to  M.  Faure,  I must 
say  that  the  prospectus  referred  to  above,  was  not  issued  by  him 
but  by  his  English  Agent  and  I do  not  think  he  was  acquainted 
with  its  misleading  contents. 
6 Eke  Decorticator. — While  in  England  *I  received  the  loan  of 
an  Eke  Decorticator  from  a gentleman  who  had  taken  over  several 
moribund  concerns,  which  included  not  only  this  decorticating 
patent  but  a degumming  process  and  a large  silk  and  ramie  mill.  He 
was  anxious  to  round  off  his  interest  by  erecting  a degumming  factory 
on  this  estate,  and  we  discussed  the  details.  His  bankruptcy  in- 
tervened before  we  come  to  terms  but  not  however  before  we  had 
shipped  to  him  several  bales  of  produce  from  the  Eke  machine. 
This  decorticator  turned  out  a considerably  greater  percentage  of 
filasse  than  the  former  but  it  included  all  the  epidermis  and  a suf- 
ficient amount  of  pith  to  make  the  combing  difficult.  There  was 
no  loss  of  fibre.  As  the  lender  of  the  machine  had  no  use  for  our 
produce,  we  sent  a trial  bale  of  it  to  another  mill,  where  it  was 
turned  into  yarn  and  sold  to  one  of  the  largest  saddlery  manu- 
facturers in  London.  The  Secretary  of  the  spinning  Company 
showed  me  a letter  from  the  manufacturer  in  which  he  referred  in 
enthusiastic  terms  to  a recent  purchase  of  yarn  from  them  and  the 
Secretary  said  that  the  particular  order  has  been  entirely  fulfilled 
out  of  our  bale.  The  Company’s  expert  adviser,  the  .Mill  Foreman 
