Dec.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
413 
There  is  no  end  or  limit  to  the  possibilities,  ap 
parently,  to  the  uses  to  which  it  can  be  put.  Why 
should  we  not  hasten  to  reap  the  direct  benefit,  as 
well  as  the  incidental  impetus  it  would  give  to  all 
other  enterprises,  employments  and  home  markets  '? 
Ramie  is  now  grown  in  China,  Japan,  India, 
Mexico,  Cuba,  Hawaii,  Samoa,  West  Indies,  Guate- 
mala, Columbia  and  Brazil,  and  in  the  United  States 
in  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Texas,  California,  Washing- 
ton and  Oregon  in  small  quantities.  It  is  also  grown 
in  South  France,  Italy  and  Hungary,  and  is  worth 
in  China  §100  to  §200  per  ton  cleaned  by  hand.  This 
is  done  there  by  scraping  the  pellicle  off  the  outside  of 
the  stalk,  cut  green,  then  peeling  the  bark,  and  with 
a bamboo  stick  rubbing  out  the  mucilaginous  gummy 
matter  over  a log,  and  repeated  washing  and  drying  on 
scaffolds  or  roofs  or  their  houses.  For  export  it  is 
only  partially  ungummed.  For  their  hand-weaving 
they  strip  this  partially  ungummed  fibre  into  threads 
as  long  as  possible,  containing,  of  course,  thousands 
of  fibres,  which  they  fasten,  stick  or  tie  together 
end  to  end,  making  long  threads  in  imitation  of  silk, 
which  they  weave  into  goods,  then  boil  and  bleach 
out  and  color  in  the  piece.  This  primitive  way  of 
working,  which  can  only  be  done  w’ith  the  .cheapest 
of  labor,  has  deceived  most  of  our  experiments  into 
the  belief  that  the  fibre  was  long  as  the  stalk,  like 
flax  and  hemp,  and  of  course  prevented  success  in 
our  working  it  to  manufacture  by  machinery.  But 
now  that  we  have  scientifically  investigated  the  fibres 
before  we  undertook  to  build  machinery-,  and  found 
out  just  what  was  wanted,  it  was  easy  enough  to 
solve  the  difficulty,  which  of  course,  “ was  in  a de- 
corticator”  (if  a decorticator  was  to  do,  or  could 
do,  the  whole  business),  which  never  has  or  never 
will  be  done  economically  by  one.  But  when  only 
decortication  was  wanted  by  a decorticator  (see 
Webster),  and  we  had  a simple  way  to  treat  or  finish 
it  afterward,  success  was  attained.  Tne  farmer  is 
not  bothered  with  the  ungumming,  which  is  the 
difficult  part  of  the  work. 
AS  TO  PLANTING. 
It  can  be  done  in  various  ways,  but  I have  had 
early  and  extended  experience  in  nursery  and  farming, 
as  well  as  machinery  and  manufacturing,  so  looking 
to  the  end  that  the  greatest  success  and  efficiency 
might  be  attained,  1 will  suggest  this  plan.  After 
properly  moistening,  plow  and  pulverize  your  ground 
well  and  deep,  roll  smooth,  mark  out  as  for  corn, 
but  make  the  rows  six  feet  apart,  plant  in  the  fur- 
rows from  one  to  three  feet  apart,  drop  like  potatoes, 
and  cover  like  corn — or  you  can  stick  the  roots,  butt 
down,  slanting  sideways,  two  or  three  inches  deep 
and  cover  the  top  about  one  inch,  or  let  it  come 
almost  or  quite  to  the  surface,  if  the  ground  is  not 
mellow  and  sandy  and  is  moist  to  the  surface,  or 
is  liable  to  bake.  Cultivate  well  between  the  rows 
until  the  sprouts  are  up  two  or  three  feet  high,  when 
layer  out  to  cover  the  ground  in  a bed  four  feet 
wide,  leaving  a space  two  feet  wide  between  the  beds 
to  cultivate,  from  which  you  can  procure  roots  that 
spread  out  into  these  spaces  to  replant  or  sell  with- 
out disturbing  the  beds.  You  will  find  it  will  pay 
you  for  some  years  to  come  to  raise  roots  to  sell 
as  a little  demand  will  absorb  all  now  on  hand, 
and  I have  no  doubt  the  price  will  double  or  treble 
before  the  rush  is  supplied. 
The  first  crop  after  layering  can  be  cut  with  a 
sickle  by  hand  and  all  the  poor  or  branchy  shoots 
can  be  layered  to  fill  up  any  vacancies  or  cut  into 
cuttings  and  planted  like  grape-vine  cuttings. 
Now  these  two-feet  paths  can  be  kept  open  and 
used  for  cultivation,  or,  after  the  four-foot  beds  have 
become  solid,  can  be  allowed  to  spread  fu  1. 
I advise  this  plan  as  a four-foot  bed  can  be  grown 
solid  thick  sooner  than  six  feet,  and  after  that  can 
be  easily  extended.  When  roots  become  plentiful 
and  cheap  you  can  plant  thickly  all  over  the  ground 
at  first  planting,  if  you  choose,  but  with  roots  §3  a 
piece,  as  at  first  in  New  Orleans,  it  could  not  be 
afforded.  Although  one  planting  lasts  for  a life-time 
it  is  supposed  that  five  cents  would  be  high,  but  two 
or  three  cents  is  reasonable,  and  §21‘63  per  thousand 
is  very  reasonable,  delivered  in  good  order,  the 
purchaser  running  no  risk  in  shipping  at  all.  Two 
thousand  five  hundred,  six  feet  by  three  apart,  .or 
7,500,  six  feet  by  one  apart,  makes  the  first  cost 
enough  on  a large  scale,  and  with  layering  and 
cuttings  will  soon  cover  the  beds. 
If  planted  this  spring  a scattering  crop  can  be 
cut  in  the  fall  from  the  layers,  and  the  next  season 
three  or  four  fair  crops  can  be  expected,  and  the 
next  year  your  most  sanguine  hopes  ought  to  be 
realized.  Anyone  puchasing  larger  amounts  or  where 
possible,  can  have  my  personal  attention  as  to  soil, 
prepration  and  care,  I will  contract  to  buy  all  you 
will  raise  from  roots  purchased  of  me,  for  five  or 
ten  years,  at  six  cents  a pound,  in  bales  delivered 
in  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  San  Bernardino, 
Sacramento,  Tulare  or  Bakersfield,  Cal. ; El  Paso, 
Dallas  or  Galveston,  Tex. ; New  Orleans,  La. : or 
Mobile,  Ala.;  Atlanta,  Ga„  or  Jacksonville,  Fla.; 
Salem,  Or-;  or  Seattle,  Wash.  I will  aho  agree  to 
furnish  decorticators  at  a reasonable  cost;  now 
§700  to  §800  for  two  acres  a day,  and  give  freely 
all  necessary  information  and  assistance  possible 
personally ; deposit  a forfeit  of  §50,000  for  every  two 
thousand  acres  planted  from  roots  purchased  from 
me  and  paid  for,  or  leave  that  amount  approved,  due 
on  the  same  at  8 per  cent  intrest  and  accept 
notes  payable  in  fibre;  build  manufactory  and  buy 
your  crop  for  five  or  ten  years  at  6 cents  a pound, 
paying  cash  90  days  for  the  name,  each  crop 
delivered  as  above. 
Ramie  is  not  a noxious  weed,  does  not  spread 
over  the  country  by  seed,  is  not  hard  to  eradicate, 
dies  with  drought,  flood,  or  plowing  out  to  sell 
the  roots  or  replant  As  to  its  injury  or  drain  on 
the  soil  I must  say  that  has  been  over-estimated, 
as  the  comparisons  have  been  made  with  grain 
and  fruit  that  grow  and  ripen,  grain,  wood,  fruit, 
seed  or  pits,  which  make  the  greater  drain  and 
from  the  surface.  The  ripening  of  seed  or  pits, 
hardening  of  stem  or  wood,  is  much  more  exhaustive 
of  the  soil  than  the  first  or  green  part  of  the 
growth.  Ramie  should  be  compared  with  alfalfa 
more  properly,  but  has  some  very  important  advan- 
tages over  that  also.  While  alfalfa  roots  deep  and 
draws  its  substance  not  mainly  from  the  surface, 
but  deep  down  in  the  subsoil  and  far  into  sub- 
terranean depths  for  moisture,  it  does  not  materially 
exhaust  the  surface,  though  in  cutting  green  it  is 
all  removed,  stalk,  leaves  and  all  sold  or  used, 
hardly  if  ever,  returned  even  in  manure  if  fed  on 
the  place ; yet,  if  ripened  for  seed,  it  exhausts  the 
soil  much  more,  while  with  ramie  the  roots  also 
go  down  deep,  not  only  one  tap  root,  but  many, 
each  stalk  supplying  its  own,  every  joint  or  piece 
supplying  them  if  detached  from  the  mother  roots. 
Ramie  is  always  properly  cut  green,  all  the  leaves, 
about  two-fifths  of  the  whole  weight,  being  stripped 
and  left  on  the  field;  the  wood  and  juice  is 
separated  and  burned  in  dryers,  and  the  ashes  can 
be  returned  with  little  trouble,  so  that  nothing 
but  the  pure  fibre  need  be  taken  permanently  away. 
Now  if  an  old  overgrown  stalk  should  be  cut, 
weighed  and  burned  to  estimate  the  loss,  the  result 
multiplied  by  the  number  supposed  to  be  on  an 
acre,  it  might  be  that  “fifty  tons  per  acre” 
might  be  estimated,  which  would  give  a very  errone- 
ous impression  from  the  real  facts,  I think  the 
leaves  and  wood  being  returned  might  add  to  the 
soil,  together  with  irrigation  and  the  air,  all,  or 
nearly  all,  removed  in  the  fibre,  and  possibly  more 
in  some  cases  at  least.  Something  is  taken  from 
the  air  and  water,  and  more  brought  up  from  the 
subsoil,  or  below.  At  any  rate,  I have  seen  as  fine 
stalks  on  ten,  fifteen  and  twenty-year-old  grown 
patches  of  ramie  (that  I have  been  told  have  not 
been  fertilized  and  not  much  watered)  as  I could 
which  to  raise.  About  five  tons  green  stalks  can 
be  expected  off  an  acre  each  cutting,  making  a 
thousand  or  more  pounds  of  fibre,  or  three  to  four 
thousand  pounds  in  a season  of  three  or  four  cuts. 
Ramie  fibre  must  not  be  bleached  before  used  in 
the  factory,  as  it  needs  a different  treatment  for 
different  uses,  and  you  must  not  be  deceived  by  long, 
fine  bleached  or  unbleached  samples,  as  there  is  no 
. practicability  in  them.  Ramie  is  not  ungummed  if 
