Ill 



(3.) 121bs. 14oza. of stems from Hope Gardens, barely a quarter of 

 an incb thick, were decorticated in 12 minutes, and yielded 21bs. 4ozs, 

 of ribbons. These had been grown in shade. 



(4.) 28lbs. of ripe stems from Hope Gardens were passed through in 

 27 minutes and gave 41bs. of ribbons. 



(5.) 20|lbs. of stems yielded 3^1bs. of ribbons in 20 minutes. 



The summary of these tests is : - - 



Test. 



"Weight of 



Time in 



Weight of 





Stems. 



Minutes. 



Ribbons, Wet. 





lbs. oz. 





lbs. oz. 



1. 



38 8 



22 



8 4 



3. 



12 14 



12 



2 4 



4. 



28 



27 



4 



5. 



20 8 



20 



3 8 



Total 



99 14 



81 



18 



At a later test we were not present, but the Secretary and Assis- 

 tant Secretary of the Society were in attendance, and 501bs. of green 

 stems yielded 121bs of wet ribbons, which were degummed and gave 

 lib. llozs. of dry filasse. 



In the earlier tests many of the stems tapered to points less than 

 a quarter of an inch ; these were not completely cleaned and had 

 to be removed. These points should be - removed with the leaves 

 in the field, a practice which would simplify the work of the labourers, 

 give a better percentage in the yield of the machine and a better 

 class of filasse. 



As there is nothing to get out of order in this simple machine 

 and no possibility of clogging, we do not see why the results on a large 

 scale should not be quite as satisfactory as the tests to which we have 

 submitted the machine. 



We believe we can safely commend the machine to the earnest 

 consideration of planters in Jamaica, but at the same time we think 

 the whole process can only be operated successfully on a large scale by 

 the central factory system. 



W. Fawcett. 

 T. H. Shakp. 



