51 



cial instruction, and any kind of stem, green or dry, short or long, could 

 be treated by it. but it would be difficult of application in a rhea planta- 

 tion, where the stems of many acres of land would have to be worked 

 off quickly. Having regard to these circumstances, the Committee re- 

 commended that a grant of 5,000 rupees, each be made to Messrs. Nagoua 

 and Vander Ploeg, and another of 1,000 rupees, to Mr. Cameron. 



The Government of India reviewed the above facts in a Eesolution, 

 dated March, 1881, and decided, in concurrence with the Committee, 

 that as none of the fibres produced came up to the conditions prescribed, 

 the prizes offered in 1877 could not be awarded. At the same time the 

 Government of India agreed in the Committee's opinion that some recog- 

 nition of their efforts was due to the three gentlemen whose machines 

 yielded the best results or appeared to possess superior merit, and sanc- 

 tioned the grants to them of the sums recommended by the Committee. 

 The Government of India further stated that ' from the low valuation 

 put by the English firms on the samples of fibre produced at the late 

 competition, it does not seem probable that India rhea fibre will be able, 

 for the present at least, to compete successfully with the Chinese pro- 

 duction, while the experience which has so far been gained also points 

 to the conclusion that in most parts of India the cultivation of rhea can- 

 not be undertaken with profit. Rhea is naturally an equatorial plant, 

 and it requires a moist ah', a rich soil and plenty of water, while ex- 

 tremes of temperature are unfavourable to it. Such conditions may be 

 found in parts of Burma, in Upper Assam and in some districts of 

 Eastern and Northern Bengal, and if rhea can be grown in such places 

 with only so much care as is required in an ordinary well-farmed field 

 for a rather superior crop, it is possible that it may succeed commer- 

 cially. Until, however, private enterprise has shown that the cultivation 

 of the plant can be undertaken with profit to these or other parts of the 

 country, and that real need has arisen for an improved method of pre- 

 paring the fibre in order to stimulate its production, the Government of 

 India thinks it inadvisable to renew the offer which it has now made for 

 the second time without result, of rewards for suitable machines. But in 

 order to aid persons who are anxious to try the cultivation of the plant 

 in localities which are prima facie suitable, the Government will be will- 

 ing to place roots at their disposal. A plot of about two or three acres 

 will, therefore, continue to be kept under rhea in the Botanical 

 Gardens at Howrah for the supply of roots for intending growers. — 

 (Dictionary of Economic Products of India.) 



The withdrawal of the reward offered by the Government of India has 

 not checked invention, and numerous processes and machines have been 

 brought forward. 



There was a public competition at Paris in 1888, and again in 1 889, 

 in connection with the Exposition Universelle, and Mr. D. Morris, As- 

 sistant Director at Kew Gardens, was deputed by the Indian Govern- 

 ment to attend the trials and make reports. These reports have been 

 published in the Keiv Bulletin for 1888 and 1889. Mr. Morris's general 

 conclusion was : " It is quite possible that some machine or process will 

 eventually solve the problem, but at present the exploitation of ramie, 

 in spite of years of labour and the expenditure of large sums of money 

 upon it, cannot be said to have yet emerged from the experimantal 

 stage.' 



