iH THE TROPICAL 
depencis on delivering to the manufacturers the 
article most suitable for their machinery. 
The treatment when in a dry state necessitates 
full grown stems, which in temperate zones will 
only permit of two crops per annum ; while, on the 
contrary, when treated in a green state the stems 
need not be so fully developed, and several crops can 
be obtained. 
Treatment in the dry state. — It is difficult to explain 
why BO much attention has been paid to this mode of 
treatment. No earlier records give any indication of 
it ; in fact the people of Asia, notably the Chinese, 
who for many centuries have used the nettle fibres, 
have never prepared them jn a dry state like flax 
and hemps are treated ; on the contrary, they decorti- 
cate them absolutely gieer, and remove the bark 
while the stems are growing. It would be a false 
economical basis for one to compare ramie with 
flax and hemp ; believing that unique advantage of 
the dry treatment consists in the ability to store 
it in stacks or sheds, until an opportune time for 
decorticating. The grower might then perform this 
work in the winter time when other labor is slack. 
In France, and even in those parts of Europe most 
favoured by the climate, it would be almosi, impos- 
sible to dry tho stems in ihe open air. Moreover 
as regards France, the growing of ramie does not 
seem to have given very satisfactory results. Even 
in the colonies the moisture of the air is too great 
to enable us to obtain, by open-air dryiug, stems 
Bufficieutly dry to suit the decorticating machines at 
present in use. In India and China where the growth 
of ramie is very abundant, and labour very cheap, 
it is impossible to get the stems, even comparatively, 
dry in the open air, and any attempt at storage will 
lead to fermentation, and consequantly the fibre will be 
spoiled. 
The dry stem is also hygrometrical, and rapidly 
absorbs the moisture in the air, as has been proved by 
experiments with stove-dried plants. 
Insufficiently dried stems cannot be decorticated 
satisfactorily, as the beaters and scrapers of the 
machines actiog upon a soft spongy matter, weaken, 
and soil the fibres, without fully removing the woody 
part, or even the cuticle. When exposed to the air 
this latter becomes of a brownish colour, hard 
and horny, resisting all efiorts to remove it by 
machinery 
The strips thus obtained can only be cleaned and 
deprived of cuticle and gum by means of chemical 
baths, which often have to be so strong that they 
damage the quality and strength of the fibre. 
The machines for dry work require to be fed with 
well-grown stems of fairly uniform diameter, in order 
to produce good strips. 
If the stems are cut before maturity they often 
becomes flat and out of shape in drying, and the 
machine does not act uniformly on all the surfaces, 
but leaves a good deal of woody substance in the 
strips. With well grown and perfectly dried stems, 
certain machines do good work in removing ihe 
bark and woody part, but the strips retain the 
cuticle, which is very difficult to get rid of by the 
chemical baths used for the purpose at present. All 
these objections apply when the stems are passed 
through the machines as a first operation after being 
dried; but we hear of a new method of first submitting 
them to chemical action, and then decorticating. 
So far the decorticating has been found very diffi- 
cult, particularly in tropical humid climates, where 
the crops are very heavy. 
It often involves manipulations very costly to the 
cultivator, and is some times impossible if he has to 
cut the crop and spread it over large areas to dry. 
Some authorities contened that drying in stoves is 
the only effectual mode of getting rid of the moisture 
but that is impracticable, and would greatly increase 
expenses. 
Treitment in the Qrecn 'State. — It is very easy to de- 
corticate the ramie stems in a green state, and the 
Asiatics use ouly thia method iu treating their fibre 
AGiiiCULTURIST. [Sept. 1, 1902. 
nettles. Immediately after the stem is cut there is 
no difficulty in removing the bark and woody part, 
on account of their moist state, without many fibres 
adhering to them. The Chinese, in fact, often de- 
corticate the plant while growing. Many decorticating 
machines have failed to give satisfactory results 
because they have been fed with only comparatively 
green stems, which have already lost a good deal 
of their vegetable moisture. This leads to a ques- 
tion important for both cultivators and manufac- 
turers. At what stage of its growth ought the ramie 
to be cut, or in other words what is meant by 
green stems ? Becent experiments demonstrate that 
the best time is just after the stems have reached 
their full height, when still herbaceous, soft, and 
succulent, and when the bark has formed, but not 
become brown. At this period, before the appearance 
of the eyes at the axila of the leaves, the primary 
useful fibres are ah-eady formed, and have sufficient 
strength ; but afterwards only layers of useless fibre 
are produced. It is therefore clearly a mistake to 
let the bark thicken, hardening the epidermis and 
increasing the woody part. Iq time the fibres lose 
their fineness, flexibility, and whiteness, in short, 
their most valuable quantities, and become more and 
more surrounded by the hardened cuticle and gum, 
two substances which are very difficult to get rid of 
when ancient. 
To minimise the formation of these deleterious 
substances the plants should be pretty close-set and 
well watered, to induce a rapid lengthening of the 
stems. In a thick plantation, there are very few 
leaves at the base of the stem, the ramifications 
are not developed, and the atmospheric influences 
act less directly on the cuticle, which consequently re- 
mains softer and thinner. 
In warm and temperate climates, with good irriga- 
tion, as many as five successive full-grown crops 
have been obtained per annum; and in tropical chmatea 
with regular and abundant rains, still more. The 
use and value of green ramie stems depends entirely 
on their treatment, and if by certain instruments 
or machines, the bark, woody matter, and cuticle 
can be removed without damaging the fibre, and the 
liquid gum pressed out, strips of fibre will bo ob- 
tained divided in numerous filaments, and free from 
a great portion of the useless elements. Care must 
be taken, however, that the beating and scraping 
be not too violent or the fibre will be injured. 
In order to prevent the hardening of the remain- 
iug gummy matter, some authorities recommend 
that the strips should be placed in a chem'cal 
bath, immediately after being taken from the 
machines. Other authorities would soak the green 
stems first, or subject them to the action of a 
certain gas, then dry and work them mechaniially. 
This .preliminary treatment by liquids or gas would 
change the gummy matter to a powder, and when 
the stems were afterwards well dried, decortication 
would be easy, by means of beaters or stripping 
machinery. 
These operations refer to the green stem.", which 
do not require to reach maturity in order to provide 
good fibre, and taking everything into consideration 
are much easier to treat than the dried ones. The 
fibres are of a superior quality, and one may cut 
four times the number of crops— which point is of 
vast economical importance in warm climates where 
the stems reach a height of about 5 feet in thirty- 
five to forty (fays, when well watered by regular rain, 
or irrigated. 
THE WEIGHT AND VALUE OF THE CROPS. 
The results of the crops vary according to the 
localities, the number of cuttings per annum, the 
system of treatment, and the skill of the labourers, 
which makes it impossible to fix a general stan- 
dard revenue per acre. In taking the gross weight 
of the yield per acre of green or dried stems, we 
only obtain a very aproximate estimate of the 
initial value of the crop, as the quantity of useful 
fibre is not in proportiea. Ihe weight of the greei^ 
