45 



cultural and mechanical treatment, it is likely that only a certain part 

 of the crop will be suitable for fine uses, whilst a considerable propor- 

 tion will only be available for rougher purposes. So that, unless the 

 method of preparation allows of utilising this rougher portion of the 

 crop also, the remaining portion suitable for fine purposes will always 

 be disproportionately dear. 



It is clear, therefore, that a rapid development of the ramie trade 

 cannot be expected, until the bulk of the raw fibre can be supplied at 

 a price much below that which it will eventually attain when its higher 

 qualities have been more fully developed, and below that which the 

 finer portion of the crop is likely to command even now. It may finally 

 come to be applied to the manufacture of damask, cambric, and lace, 

 but for some years to come, even if its use for such purposes should 

 prova successful, it will have to be worked up by manufacturers only 

 gradually discovering its properties, and on machinery with processes 

 imitated from those used with other fibres, and therefore not specially 

 adapted to ramie. The consumption of the fibre for fine purposes dur- 

 ing that experimental stage will be necessarily small, and restricted 

 only to the best qualities. No real outlet, therefore, will have been 

 obtained for ramie unless it be applied for purposes for which, in the 

 opinion of some of its sanguine advocates, it is far too good, such as for 

 cordage, as also for canvas, mixture with rough wools, lower kinds of 

 carpets, hangings, linings, certain kinds of linen, &c. It is also to be 

 remembered that only by becoming suitable for the manufacture of com- 

 paratively cheap articles produced in large quantity, is there any hope 

 of its becoming a great staple. If it were able to compete with only 

 the Courtrai flax, and no cheaper fibres, however successful it might be 

 in this respect, it would never develope into a large trade. 



It will appear clearly from this discussion, that in all probability the 

 standard price of £50 per ton for machine-prepared ramie in the Lon- 

 don market, which was considered sufficiently low in 1870 to ensure 

 its extensive introduction, is in the present condition of the market 

 too high to effect this object. Such a price of raw material for fibre 

 available for spinning would correspond, as already calculated, to a 

 price per ton of £75, with the addition of the cost of chemicals, a price 

 which would amount to rather more than that of the finest variety of 

 flax, which enter extensively into the commerce of the country. If 

 ramie, with all the disadvantages attending the introduction of a new 

 staple, is to compete successfully with the fibres which already have 

 possession of the market, there must be some likelihood of obtaining 

 steady supplies of the rough fibre at prices which correspond more 

 nearly with the prices of the other vegetable fibres, such as flax and 

 hemp, that is, at an average price of (at the outside) from £30 to £40 

 per ton for the better, and from £20 to £25 per ton for the lower, 

 qualities. Even with such prices, the fibre freed from gum, and in a 

 condition similar to that of undressed flax, could not be prepared at 

 less than from £35 to £60 per ton, plus cost of chemicals. Considering 

 its superior qualities, however, such a price would seem sufficiently low 

 to bring ramie into competition with flax and hemp, even if the latter 

 were somewhat cheaper. It has also to be considered that the limits 

 of prices for ramie will, of course, always depend on the state of the 

 market with regard to fibres generally, and that, at present, the values 



