THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[January r, 1890. 
This would be at the rate of 376 kilos, of wet ribbons 
per day of 10 hours ; or, 276 pounds (avoir.) of dry 
ribbons for the same period. In the second series 
stems, more or less with leaves, weighing 60'350 kilos, 
were passed through the machine in 18 minutes. They 
yielded 18'100 kilos, of wet ribbons. This would be 
at the rate of 603 kilos, of wet ribbons per day of 
10 hours; or 443 pounds (avoir.) of dry ribbons for 
the samp period. 
The ribbons in both cases were well cleaned. There 
appeared to be no waste. The debris under the machine 
consisted almost entirely of wood and pith. 
These results I regard on the whole as satisfactory. 
The somewhat intricate character of the various 
parts of this machine would be against its general 
use by planters in the Colonies, but there can be but 
little doubt it is a great advance on most other 
Ramie machines now available. It might, however, 
be adapted for use in oentral factories or mines 
where skilled labour would be obtainable, and for this 
and similar purposes the Favier machine may be 
recommended. 
Michotte Machine. 
The Michotte Machine, called "La Franchise," at 
first glance resembled the Barbier and De Landtsheer 
(small) machines. It was driven by steam power, and 
consisted of a pair of large rollers, each furnished 
with helicoidal grooves running their whole length. 
The large rollers first crushed the green stems and 
then passed them on to beaters with movable bars 
intended to get rid of the wood and pith. In the 
first trials, 7 kilos, of green stems were passed through 
the machine in 1| minutes, yielding 1 kilo, of badly 
cleaned ribbons. In the second trial 17,400 kilos, 
were passed through in 2J minutes, yielding 6 kilos, 
of similar ribbons. In both cases the ribbons were 
mixed with crushed and mangled st°ras, full of wood 
and pith. The fibres were also cut transversely (pro- 
bablv by the helicoidal grooves) and rendered useless. 
This machine in its present state possesses no merit 
whatever. It is difficult to realise under what circum- 
stances it could have been entered for trial. 
de Landtsheer Machines. 
M. de Landtsheer exhibited two machines. The small 
machine was very similar to that exhibited by him in 
1888, but meanwhile it had received some slight modi- 
fications intended to accelerate its movements. It 
was driven by steam-power and required two men to 
attend to it. It had a horizontal feed platp, and con- 
sisted of a series of rollers and beaters which received 
eight or ten stems at a time. These were cleaned for 
about five-sevenths of their length, and by a reverse 
act'«n (operated bv a long handle pushed bv the work- 
man) then w»re then withdrawn nnd the other ends 
pn l in and cleaned. It wi T l be noticed that each lot of 
stems, under this arrangement, had to be presented 
twice to thp machine before they were cleanpd. This 
involved a considerable loss of time and reduced the 
daily outturn of ribbons. In th° Favier machine, as 
also in the De Landtsheer large machine, this difficulty 
has in a great measure been overcome. The De Landt- 
shepr small machinp was used for green stems in the 
second trials onlv. In these 24*400 kilos, of stem, with 
leaves, were passed through the machine in 10 minutes. 
The yield was 6-500 kilos, of wet rihbons of good 
quality. This would be at the rate of 390 kilos, of wet 
ribbons per day of 10 hours; or 286 pounds (avoir.) of 
drv ribbons for the same period. 
In the first trials this machine was used by de 
Landtsheer to compete the cleaning of ribbons pre- 
viously paospd through the large machine. In this 
instance 15 kilos, of partially cleaned and wet ribbons 
wr» passed through the macbinp in 6f minutes. The 
yield was 10.500 kilns, of excellent fibre worth, accord- 
ing to the opinion of experts, about 70 to 80 centimes 
per kilo. 
The large machine of M de Landtsheer, like the 
Favier machines, bad a continuous movement bv means 
of which the stalks passed through the macbinp, with- 
out withdrawal, and thp ribbons were delivered at the 
other end ready for drying. This is an important point 
gained. Indeed, this was the principal improvement 
noticed in the machines presented at the Paris trials of 
1889, and in all in which it had been adopted there was 
a marked increase in the outturn of ribbons. M. de 
Landtsheer's large machine consists of two pairs of 
cvlinders. The first pair is furnished with grooves 
opposite one another, while the second have the 
grooves alternate. Beyond these are two sets of beaters 
(batteurs a ailett»s) which break and get rid of the 
wood and pith and deliver the ribbons on a revolving 
stage placed beneath, whence they are quickly picked 
up by a workman and laid on one side. The particulars 
of weight and price of this new machine were not 
abtainable. It was driven by a two-horsepower engine 
and required two men to feed it and remove the 
ribbons. 
In the first trial 36 kilos, of stem without leaves 
were passed through the machine in 2J minutes. They 
yielded 10 kilos, of wet ribbons, but these ribbons had a 
considerable quantity of pith and wood lightly adhering 
to them, and in one instance the amount of wood and 
pith probably reached 20 to 25 per cent, of the gross 
weight. Taking the yield of wet ribbons as they 
left the machine, the 10 kilos, above mentioned would 
be at the rate of 2,400 kilos, of ribbons per day of 
10 hours; or of 1,763 pounds (avoir.) of dry ribbons 
for the same period. Even allowing for the presence 
of pith and wood, which, when dry, might be removed 
by a light shaking or scutching, it is evident that 
this machine will prepare more than half a ton of dry 
ribbons per day. It is not at all impropable that 
M. de Landtsheer will be able to effect some further 
improvement in this machine. In any case the machine 
is worthy the attention of planters, who with a single 
instrument could work off about 50 tons of green 
stems per week. This is an exceptionally good result, 
and it serves to show what progress has now been 
made in perfecting machines for treating the Ramie 
plant on a commercial scale. 
In the second trials 46 kilos, of stems with leaves 
were put through the machine in 11£ minutes. The 
result was 15 kilos, of wet ribbons (with particles of 
wood and pith adhering to them as before.) This 
would be at the rate of 783 kilos, of wet ribbons per 
day of 10 hours; or of 575 pounds (avoir.) of dry 
ribbons in the same period. There is a considerable 
difference between the results obtained by this machine 
in the first and second trials. This was also noticeable 
in the Barbier machine. The construction of these 
machines evidently does not enable them to cope with 
stems with leaves attached. On the other hand the 
Favier machine did better with stems with leaves than 
those without leaves. This, however, is not a matter 
of great importance. In the field the leaves could 
be easilv detached during the cutting; and if not 
removed then, they wonld f *U off of their own accord 
after lying in a heap (inducing a slight fermentation) 
for a few hours. 
Fleury-Moriceau Process. 
Only one process was shown. This was singularly 
simple, and consisted of steeping the fresh (or dry) 
stems for a short period in boiling water and re- 
moving the ribbons by hand. An open galvanised 
tank about 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and about 4 feet 
deep, filled with water, was raised on bricks (or 
stones) about 18 inches from the ground over an open 
fire. When the water had reached boiling point a 
crate containing 50 to 100 fresh stems was lowered 
into it (and depending on their age and character) 
left in it for 5 or 15 minutes. At the end of that 
time the crate was lifted out, the stems left to drain 
while another lot was put in. The stems already 
stepped were then taken up by a couple of workmen 
and quicklv and effectuallv cleanpd b" hand. The 
action of the boiling water had apnareutlv thoroughly 
loosened the attachment of the cortex to the wood 
and ribbons were produced perfectly clean and regular, 
and apparently without any loss of fibre. 
This method was tested in the first, trials only. 
The operation began by placing 18 kilos, of fresh 
stems in boiling water and allowing them to remain 
there for 10 minutes. In 36 minutes (or in 46 
minutes including the time occupied in immersing 
