6o8 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, 1890. 
complete record of Ramie experiments which have 
been undertaken during the present year, and of 
affording information that otherwise would not be 
available to persons interested in the subject in India 
and the Colonies. 
The Doty System. 
A system brought forward by Captain Doty (inventor 
<5f the Doty light) is based on the assumption that 
no decorticating machine, however meritorious, will 
fully meet the requirements of Ramie planters, who 
are obliged, with the aid of unskilled labour, to 
deal with a large quantity of green Ramie stems 
within a short time. Captain Doty is of opinion that 
where labour is cheap women and children might be 
employed to strip the fibre from the freshly cut 
stems by hand, and leave 80 per cent, of the weight 
of the crop (the wood) ou the field. Under such 
ciroumstances the ribbons alone would be carried 
away, either to be dried for exportation or to be 
treated at central factories or usines, firstly by a 
process of fermentation, and subsequently by chemical 
cleaning and washing to produce filasse ready for 
spinning. 
" Notwithstanding," says Captain Doty, " the 
failures of all previous attempts to deal with this fibre 
by fermentation it is almost self-evident that a fer- 
mentive treatment is the only possible solution of 
the problem. No mechanical process that can be 
devised will ever eliminate the gum by which the 
fibres are cemented together, and without the elimina- 
tion of the gum the division and sub-division of the 
fibres necessary to produce a delicate filasse can never 
be obtained." 
A trial of the Doty system recently took place 
near Rome, and a report thereon was prepared by 
Signor G. Trombetta, Secretary to the Italian Ministry 
of Agriculture, and published in the Bolletino di 
Notitie Gommerciale, Sept. 1st, 1889, pp. 689-690. 
In this report it is stated that the system is based 
on the disintegration to which the gummy substance 
in the Ramie ribbons is exposed by an acid fermenta- 
tion. The ribbons are first of all tied up in bundles 
and placed in fermenting vats, where they remain 
for about a week. They are then taken out and 
washed. Afterwards they are boiled with certain 
chemical ingredients for two hours, washed in cold 
water, and dried and combed. The report concludes 
by stating that the fibre was in some cases of unequal 
character as regards colour and quality, due to the 
provisional nature of the appliances used ; but the 
results obtained on a small scale gave hopes that 
with larger quantities and suitable boiling vessels, 
properly closed, and with proper machinery to agitate 
the mass, the fibre would be obtained in a more satis- 
factory condition. 
The Till Machine. 
As far as can be gather ei from a description pri- 
vately communicated by the inventor (Mr. C. G. Till), 
this is a large machine, weighing nearly two tons, 
driven by steam-power, and costing about 150Z. It 
is furnished with rollers and beaters, about 3 feet 
long ; it has a continuous action, similar to the Favier 
and De Landtsheer (large) machine, and takes about 
36 stems of green or dry Ramie at a time. It has 
not yet been fully tested for the outturn of ribbons, 
but the inventor estimates that it will clean between 
half-a-ton and a ton per day. 
Papleux System. 
In consequence of letters which appeared in the 
Melbourne Argus at the time of the Centennial Ex- 
position held at Melbourne, inquiries were addressed 
to Kew respecting the Papleux system for cleaning 
Ramie. 
This system was at one time in operation by 
Messrs. W. H. Spencer & Co., of Hitchio, Herts, but 
is now abandoned. Recent experiments have been 
carried on with a formula invented by Messrs. Spencer 
themselves, and by means of this they have been 
successful in preparing small samples of fibre of 
excellent quality. It is probable that Messrs. W. H 
Spencer & Co. will eventually be able to treat Rami 
ribbons on a large scale and convert them by me 
chanical means into filasse or finished yarns. It is 
understood, however, that at present the process is 
not avilable to the puulic. 
Plaisiee Machine. 
A machine, the invention of a Dutch engineer 
named Plaisier, is the subject of an extended notice 
in de Indische Mercuur of the 19th January 18»9, by 
Van Gorkom. This machine, driven by an engiue 
of 1J horse-power, has been successfully worked at 
Deli, in Sumatra, for some months, and it is stated 
to treat 5,000 kilos, of green stems per day, yielding 
125 to 150 kilos, of ribbons. 
General Remarks. 
In the Diplomatic and Consular Reports, Series 
1889 i p. 37), there is given an account of an experi- 
mental planting of Ramie at a Colony in the Pro- 
vince of Santa Oatharina, Brazil. This Colony obtained 
the first prize for a collection of Ramie fibres at 
the Antwerp Exhibition. 
In the same Reports, No. 525, on the trade of 
Hankow, attention is drawn to the facilities which 
exist there for procuring and manipulating Rhea fibre 
on a large scale. The Consul adds, " it would give me 
much pleasure to know that a good business in this 
article could be started here. But until machinery for 
preparing it is perfected, exports would be premature." 
On the 23rd August last a despatch was forwarded 
by the Foreign Office from the Acting Consul at 
Caracas, dated the 25th July 1889, giving an account, 
of the formation of an Italo-Veuezuelan Company to 
plant Ramie on a large scale. Experimental planta- 
tions had already proved so successful that machinery 
bad been imported to begin the operation of pre- 
paring the fibre. 
As described in the Kew Bulletin, 1888, pp. 145-149 
a Ramie factory established in Spain, at Toncella de 
Montgri, Gerona, in the neighbourhood of Krge Ramie 
plantations, appear to have proved successful. This 
factory employed the Favier decorticating machines. 
In a letter dated the 19th October 1889, Mr. Wooldridge, 
Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Barcelona, informs 
me that " Ramie is still being cultivated with im- 
portant results near Torroella, and that they continue 
to use the Favier machines, which 'are believed to be 
the most perfect machines ef their kind." 
It may be meutioned that these factories are being 
worked privately, and probably the methods and 
machinery are not available to the public, except 
under a special arrangement with M. Favier. The 
fibre prepared is utilised in France, anl does not 
come into general commerce. 
In British tropical possessions, both in the East 
and West Indies, Ramie is being grown experimentally 
in the hope that some machine or process will even- 
tually be produced to enable the fibre to enter into 
commerce and become a regular article of trade. 
The results of the Paris trials last year naturally 
discouraged Ramie growers, and little if any extension 
of Ramie planting has taken place since that time. 
The results 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 goods quality at the lowest possible cost. 
In other words, planters have to solve the question 
how to produce Ramie ribbons, that is, to secure the 
complete removal of the cortex (which contains the 
fibre) from the green stems, at such a cost as will 
prove remunerative to themselves and at the same 
time allow sufficient margin for the cost of convert- 
ing these ribbons into filasse ready for the spinners. 
Hitherto the want of success in the production of 
libbons has apparently been the only obstacle to the 
development of a Ramie industry. And probably on 
this account the Paris trials were wholly devoted to 
the production of ribbons and not of filasse. The 
conversion of ribbons into filasse is a subject believed 
to be more easily dealt with. In fact there are 
several systems exclusively devoted to this department 
which appear to accomplish it. Some machines, it is 
true, have attempted to produce filasse by a single 
process from the green stems, The result has no 
