47 



planters in various parts of the world regard this material, and the 

 numberless processes and machines which inventors have set forth 

 for its manipulation, the result of this sale must be viewed as dis- 

 tinctly discouraging. It would almost appear as if no true demand 

 exists for this interesting fibre, and that, in the present attitude of 

 the manufacturing interest, the application of skill either to cultiva- 

 tion of the plant or extraction of the ' filasse,' is premature and mis- 

 placed." 



In order to understand the present position of the Ramie industry it 

 would be useful to adopt some kind of classification of the details con- 

 nected with it In the first place we have the mere business of culti- 

 vating the Ramie plant, and of producing stems with the fibre in the 

 best possible condition. This is purely the work of the planter. 

 Secondly, we have the process or processes necessary to separate the 

 fibre from the stems in the form of ribbons and filasse. It is necessary 

 for many reasons that this should be done either by the planter on the 

 spot, or by a central factory close at hand. Thirdly, we have the purely 

 technical and manufacturing process in which Ramie filasse is taken up 

 by the spinners and utilized in the same manner as cotton, flax, and 

 silk are utilized for the purpose of being made into fabrics. 



For our present purpose we may take it for granted that the cultiva- 

 tion of the Ramie plant presents no insuperable difficult3 r . Also that 

 if a suitable selection of soil is made, and the locality possesses the 

 necessary climatic conditions as regards heat and moisture, there is no 

 reason to doubt that Ramie could be grown to greater or less extent in 

 most of our tropical possessions. As regards the second stage — in 

 which is involved the decortication of the Ramie stems — the problem 

 is by no means completely solved. 



On this really hangs the whole subject The third stage is dis- 

 appointing and unsatisfactory, because the second stage is still un- 

 certain; and being thus uncertain the fibre is necessarily produced in 

 small and irregular quantities, and only comes into the market by fits 

 and starts. It would appear that Ramie fibre differs so essentially from 

 cotton and flax that it can only be manipulated and worked into fabrics 

 by means of machinery specially constructed to deal with it. Owing 

 to the comparatively limited supply of Ramie fibre hitherto in the 

 market no large firms of manufacturers have thought it worth while 

 to alter the present, or put up new machinery to work up Ramie fibre. 

 If appliances, or processes for decorticating Ramie in the colonies were 

 already devised, and the fibre came into the market regularly, and in 

 large quantities — say hundreds of tons at a time — there is no doubt 

 manufacturers would be fully prepared to deal with it. At present the 

 industry is practically blocked by the absence of any really successful 

 means of separating the fibre from the stems, and preparing it cheaply 

 and effectively. This, after all, is the identical problem which has 

 baffled solution for the last fifty years. (Kew Bulletin, December, 1888). 



The result of the Paris trials last year [1888] naturally discouraged 

 Ramie growers, and little if any extension of Ramie planting has taken 

 place since that time. The result of the recent trials will no doubt be 

 closely scanned by those interested in the subject. The first aim of 

 planters should be to produce ribbons of good quality at the lowest 

 possible cost. In other words, planters have to solve the question how 



