THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. i, 1894. 
place has been rather neglected. Perhap3 the 
most valuable coconut estate in the country is 
that of Mr. W, H. Wright at Mirigama which 
is already coming into liberal bearing with the 
trees seven years old. Mr. Wiight would not sell 
this property at any price under R6C0 an acre. 
But then he has given the greatest possibV justioe 
to bis p-'vlms in selection, planting and cultivation. 
We hear from the Kurunegxla district very good 
accounts of the prospects of the ooconuts on the 
Delgolla eotate. There have been fine ruins cn 
tho place and in two years' tirne, it is said the 
palms on this estate will be very fire. There 
oan be no doub* that as a permanent investment 
in Oeylon, nothing approaches the caoonut palm 
under suitable conditions; and the Ceylon Tea 
Plantations Coy., Ld. have shown a wise example 
in investing their surplus funds in " coconuts " 
under the direotion of so experienced a veteran as 
Mr. Wm. Jardine. 
FIBRES : — RAMIE AND NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 
In view of the reported glut in the Euiopean 
markets, it seems superfluous to write about fibres. 
And yet what oan be the meaning of the activity 
we notioe in the Australian Colonies and aho in 
forming Companies even in England ? Indeed, we 
may suppose that fibre production is erelong to 
attraot inoreascd attention in Ceylon, if it te true 
that a Company has been formed in London (with 
Mr. Digby among the Directors) to promote the culti- 
vation and manufacture of ramie more particularly 
in this island. So far as production is concerned, 
this country may well be considered to be a 
paradise for fibre plants : the question hitherto 
has always been bow to seoure the profitable ex- 
traction of the fibre. From a paper recently pub- 
lished in the Australasian we extract Rome in- 
formation bearing on this point and also a refer- 
ence to New Zealand flax which grows well in the 
hill country of Ceylon — specially on the Uva eide :— 
CULTIVATION. 
The planting and cultivation of ramee, or rhee, 
resembles somewhat that of tho raspberry, and the 
plant is also similar in appearance and manner of 
growth. Plants are set out in rows at convenient 
distances for working the Und. They are pkced in 
rows about 15in. apTt; these soon become one con- 
tinuous eourse of young canes, and they may be cut 
12 to 18 months from time of planting, and, with 
proper cultivation and attention, should give two or 
three cuttings annually. AooorJiug to eoino experi- 
ments made with the plants by the firm referred to, 
one hundred stalks with leaves weighed 32 lb., which 
yielded, when stripped of foliage, 16 lb. ; when 
decorticated and the fibre separated from the woody 
portion of the stilk, there remained 1 lb. 7£ oz. of 
green decorticated fibre. After the final treatment 
there were 10 oz. of dressed fibre, and, according to 
these experiments, the yield per aore would bs about 
2,235 lb. of good fibre and 395 lb, of tow. The good 
fibre is estimated at id. to 5d. per pound, the two 
at 2d., and, aocording to tha prices named— 4d. for 
good fibre and 2d for two — tbe returns per acre would 
be £40 10s. This fibre is one of tbe strongest known. 
It has many times the strength of hemp, and is said 
to withstand a greater jerkiDg strain than a steel strand 
of the same thickness. It is grown largely in Cbiua, 
Japan, and also India to a more limited extent. It is 
known in the trade as Chinese grass. It is largely 
need at present for adulterating silk fabric, and enters 
into competition with the finer class of cotton material. 
The price debars it from coming in 10 a more general 
use. The opinion of those who are most acquainted 
with the various fibres is that, when more perfect 
machinery is available, rhea will beoome one of the 
most valuable commercial vegetable products we have, 
jU oan be propagated in various ways, either by 
eeed, cuttings, or shoo's ; t' e latter ia the most 
gen ral. and those who are entering into th>- colli* 
vat on of fibre will r!o we'l to secure • If w sets, and 
gra ually extend their ar^a from these. The mirktt 
at presen* is liccitid, aid it would be adv. sable to 
wor« cauiiou-ly, a« tho?o «-jgaged iu the mauu'actur - 
of the fibr e a r e cautious io deptr.mjj from tbe 
usual 1 ne-. a? it it a re-i •>» m tier for tt em to 
run; rl-.-ra io :8 iu *t<- extien ive rjacbir.ery which 
is fonu : i- tl ose maiu - acu r i'ig establishments. 
Io many parts f Am- re* ram •• 11 t'ulliva>t< d to a 
limited ex'en , ! ut the 'rjublfc Which is m-t wiih 
th«ie is rdsj found here, utniely, ' tie ««ut of pro- 
per luach ntry tor treating tha product io a uicrd 
expeditious manner. According tu the returns of 
tbe Patent* Office of the United States there have 
been upwards of 300 pa'eu's registered recently frr 
tbe treatment of this a -1 other libre-pro iaeitg pfauts. 
Mary of these hav<; considerable ruerit, but cannot 
be said to reach tint stage of perfection that is 
desired. 
One machine used in Australia is known as 
the " Keir," and is capable of treating 500 lb. of 
decorticated fibre at a single operation, and of beiDg 
charged twice per day of eight or ten hoars. 
Then as regards New Zealand Flax (PHormium 
tenax) we are told : — 
METHOD OF PLANTING. 
From the root system of the plant eaeh shoot 
strikes cut from tbe parent root and forma, as it 
were, a perfect system within itself. In planting on t 
each one of these forms a set or plant. The dum- 
ber taken from each depends ou tbe variety, and 
also as to whether it is intend' d to deitroy the 
par.nt plant or nat. It ia a good system to have 
one known rarety planted, as the class of fibre pro- 
duced will probibly be of a more uniform quality, 
and also the treatment will be more easily carried 
oat; and where the parent plants can be allowed to 
remain it is wise to do so. The syttem adopted by 
those who have planted differ* somewhat, bat tbe 
following may be taken as a criterion. It i* given by 
a Mr. Hirst, who has planted out 24 acres. He states 
as follows:— " The fltx is planted in rows 6 ft. apsrr, 
with a space lor carting of 10 ft. at every fourth 
row. Three p a t? are plaoed in each hole, well 
rammej, and the holes are 6 ft. apart. The contract 
for digging the holes and planting — the ground having 
been previously cleared, but not ploughed— was 9s 6d 
per 100 ho'es. Tho plants cost 6s per hundred for 
procuring, and were gathered under the direction of 
an experienced garJener, who devoted some time to 
atla ; ning a knowledge of his business," The returns 
from a plantation of Ne* Zealand flax depend on 
conditions. It theee be favourable a small return may 
be expected in two or three years from planting, but it 
bhould continue to increase for several jeirs. 
CUTTING. 
In cubing, tbe oentre of tbe plant is usually left, 
and only the outside or matured leaves taken. This 
course should ht recommended, as whea the plant is 
deprived of all foliage its growth is seriously onecked, 
and rometimes totally destroyed. Many useful experi- 
ments are recorded as to the effect of cutting, and 
the univertal opinion is that the plant should not be 
deprived of all its foliage for the reason given. The 
usual price paid for cutting the leaves is from 10s 
to 12s per ton of green leaves, but much depends on 
the condition or charocler of the crop worked on. 
As we have before s:ated, the flax is gathered from 
self-sown crops principally* and where this is found 
evenly grown the labour of gathering is much less 
than if scattered or intermixed with defective samples. 
The after-treatment of the raw product is one that 
has given considerable trouble and anxiety to the New 
Zsalanders, and does so to tbe present day. The 
fibre is ona that is capable of being brought to a very 
fine state, and may be svoriei up in many forms, even 
to tbe spinning of coarse, strong clothing, but .little 
of this olass 01 material U manufactured from it, its 
chief use being that of cordage making. The method 
of extracting the fibre from the raw material differs 
