4* 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
fJuLY 2, 1894. 
7d. per lb." b, " The samples are the best I have 
ever seen. Very, very, good : a big thing if the price 
is right and regular output can be reled on." c. 
" The combed and mixed spun samples are splendid. 
A demand for Rhea fibre is springing up and we have 
no doubt Rhea will be the article of the future." d. 
'f lean use any quantity of this." e. " There is 
undoubtedly a good business to be done in the fibre. 
I believe it can largely replace Mohair, which is at 
present in great demand and very high in price." 
The combed fibre, which sells in France at from 
Is 2£d to Is 4d per lb., can, all charges included, 
be produced by this process for 7d per lb. "Rhea 
fibre is the strongest fibre in Nature. According to 
the experiments made by Dr. Forbes, it is two and 
a half times as strong as the best Russian Hemp." 
Experiments made for the purpose of testing the 
relative strength of Machine-Roping made from Rhea 
Fibre as against Belting made from solid leather, 
has proved that the Fibre Roping stood, without 
breaking, more than double the strain at which 
the Solid Leather Belting broke. In this connection 
alone, therefore, a large demand for the fibre will 
arise when its strength and endurance become known. 
Answering his own question, " What is Rhea good 
for?" the late Dr. Forbes Watson, for many years 
Reporter on the Products of India, at the India 
Office, London, in a paper which he read before the 
Society of Arts, on the 10th December, 1893, said :— 
',' It is difficult to say what it (Rhea Fibre) is not 
good for." Among many other uses it can be em- 
ployed in the manufacture of sewing cottons, lace 
and other curtains, hosiery, handkerchiefs, muslin, 
sail cloths, upholstery, damask stuffs, plushes, 
and other similar goods. In France it is used for 
the Government Bank Notes, its adaptability for this 
purpose being unequalled. As to its general utility 
and value as a commercial commodity Mr. A. 
Sansone, Director of the Manchester School of 
Technical Dyeing, in an address delivered on the 
2nd February 1886, said : — " Having watched very 
carefully all that has been done in the last few 
years for the advancement of the study of textile 
materials, I have come to the conclusion, that 
there is a brilliant future in store for the fibres 
derived from some of the varieties of the TJrtica 
family," [of which Rhea is a member] " and tuy 
conviction goes so far on this point as to foresee, 
at no very distant future, a new and very important 
branch of textile industry." The experimental works 
at East Row, Kensal Road, the plaut and the raw mate- 
rial, are included in the purchases, and the services of 
Mr. GomesSf as Consulting Chemist, have teeu tecured 
to the Company, 
The only contract entered into is oce dated 2nd 
April, 1894, between William Digby, Sidney Albert 
Crjalk, and Alfred Charles Colebrook Co.td (Me-sr\ 
Wm. Hutchinson & Co ), of the 1st part, Alfred Francis 
Bilderbeck Gcrness cf the 2nd part, and Frederick 
William Fowler, a Trustee on behalf of the Company 
of the 3rd part. A copy of this contract, and of the 
Memorandum and Articles of Association together 
with samples showing the Fibre in the various stages 
of treatment, can be seen at the registered offices 
of the Company, and at the offices of the Solicitors 
of the Company. 
♦ 
a new tea patent. 
739. January 12, 1893, Tea. Leechman, W. 0., 
92, Sinclair Road, Middlesex. 
Tea Preparation.-— In the manufacture of the leaf 
the ordinary drying or firing is omitted and the 
cells of the leaves are broken, preferably by passing 
through a pair of rollers, one of which is driven 
faster than the other. The leaves are then pressed 
to extract the juice, from which the moisture is 
extracted by evaporation, a vacuum pan being pre- 
ferably used.— Patent Journal, May 23, 
TEA BLIGHTS. 
At the iusta'ce of the planting interest in Assam 
the Revenue, and Agricultuial Department, Govern- 
ment of I Lid a suggest) d to tbe Troat«<s of the 
Indian Museum tbe deirability of publishing in a 
aspirate form tbe information already colltcted in the 
Museum npoD the subject of Tea Blight*. Tbe idea 
was favourably received by the Trustee*, and Mr. 
Cotep, the Deputy Superintendent, was deputed for 
the work. Tbe compilation is now ready and in tbe 
pres.*. As Mr. Cotes la- proceeded tc England, ad- 
vantage will be takeu cf his presence there to have 
the illustrations prepared under bis supervision. 
Indian Engineer. 
VARIOUS AGRICULTURAL NOTES. 
"Rhea, Limited." — The prospectus referred 
to by our London Correspondent will be found 
reproduced in full on page 47. We give it 
not only on account of the way in which 
Cejlon is specially mentioned, but because we 
feel an unabated interest in any special improve- 
ment in the means of fibre ex'raction. No doubt 
Mr. Digby and his firm consider they have Kund 
tbe very process long sought after, but so have 
felt many of their predeot ssora, more especially 
Messrs. Death and E.lwood. Tnere are two 
thiogs, however, which require demonstration : — 
(1) that the process when worked on a large scale 
is likely to be sufficiently successful ; and (2) that 
the prospectsof tbe fibre market as a whole 
are proportionately encouraging. No doubt the 
promoters have satisfied themselves on these 
points and they quote Lancashire authorities in 
support of their view. 
Tea-growing in Tasmania.— In his Ieoture 
before the Royal Colonial Institute on " Recent 
Economic Developments of Australian Enterprise," 
our old friend *' Maori " (Hon. James Inglie) 
makes one statement of fact which is quite 
new to us. We quote as follows : — 
AgaiD, in eertain regions on the ooast ol Northern 
Queensland, we have a raii.fall and conditions of vege- 
tation similar i;i character to those ot Ccylou. On 
our northern rivers in New South Wales, we 1 ave 
cue-brakes as moist and luxur.tnt as these of 
Jamaica, and maize fields sb fertile as any in America. 
We have floods, I regret to say, as sudden and strung 
as those of Lower Bengal, and forests *s rank and 
thick as those of Brazil. In the west lands of tbe 
tame Colony, it is now becoming a common sight to 
see along katila or file of camels, laden with bales 
of wool or other merchandis e, much as you would see 
in Sind or the Punjab. In Tasmania you may find 
good Assim hybrid tea-plants growing side by side 
with barley, maize, or potatoes. In New Zealand you 
have every variety of dime and condition, from the 
giant glaciers of Mount Cook, the rolling prairie lands 
of Otego and Canterbury, where farming is practised 
with a skill and success cot excelled even in the 
Lothiacs, to the dense forest lands and rank luxuri- 
ance of Tararaki and Wanganui, where from 80 to 
100 bushels to tbe acre, of oa(s and wheat, is a by 
nomeaDS uncommon yield. Still further north, in 
the Auckland district fruits and ether products of 
the sub-tropics can be grown in the open air. 
We never heard of Assam bjbrid tea plants being 
cultivated in Tasmania of all Colonies? Had 
Mr, Inglis said in Queensland or Northern New 
South Wales or New Zealand, we should not be 
at all surprised ; but Tasmania is perhaps, the 
last of the colonies, we should have chosen for a 
tea growing experiment. However, the tea plant is 
hardy enough to grow almost snvwhere, though 
ot to " flush " profitably. 
