268 
THE TftOPICAL 
AGKlGULTLTHtST. 
[Oct. 1, 190;:^. 
RHEA riBKE. 
A NASCENT INDUSTRY FOR INDIA 
(AND CEYLON.) 
(FROM " PIONKER'S " CORRESPONDENT.) 
London. — The ofc-debated question whether 
planters in India in search of pi-ofitable 
forms of cultivation can grow rhea i'ibre for manu- 
facturing purposes or a quality enabling them to 
compete with ihe China i^rass grown in the Far 
East has, you recently informed your readers, been 
put to practical test by the Bengal Rhea Syndi- 
cate, who already have some 5,000 acres under 
cultivation, and have been exhibiting' in Calcutta 
sample underclothing, velvets, tray cloths, incan- 
descent gas mantles and other articles made there- 
from. These goods were manufactured, I believe, 
on the Continent, but at a time when the problem 
*of developing inter-Imperial trade is uppermost 
in the public mind it is a matter for gratification 
that the pioneers of what is, I believe, destined 
to be a great industry are to be found in this 
country as well as on the Continent. I paid a visit 
to the factory of the Syndicate the other day. 
The works are situated on the outskirts- of the 
- developing town of Romford, within very easy reach 
of London. 
1 was conducted over the factory by Mr Frank 
Bird wood, who as Secretary to the concern has 
given a great deal of time and thought to its inter- 
ests, and has made himself much at home in 
discussing the intricacies of textile manufacture 
and the relative advantages of this or that 
machine. The Syndicate have hitherto mainly 
reliefl on the China market for raw material, but 
are very desirous of bringing the Indian planter 
into the benefits of co-operation in their enterprise. 
The planter should master the facts as to the 
climatic conditions and soil best suited for ramie- 
growing, and as to the best methods of cultivation, 
given in the Agricultural Ledger, No. 15, by Sir 
George Watt. He should make sure, by sending 
home samples, that the fibre he can produce is ot 
the right class ; and in preparing the raw material 
for export to the mills he mast be abreast of the 
times. 
Many planters are fully aware of the need for 
careful study and well thought oxit methods on 
the lines indicated, but they are doubtful of the 
capacity of the market to take large additional 
supplies of the fibre. When larger quantities of 
the fibre are available and the outturn is eorres- 
pon'lingly increased, the ratio of the co?t of 
proi! notion will be lessened. The boot and saddlery 
thread were, in the first instance, only introduced 
into the London market, but a demand is now 
growing up in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, 
the centres of the boot trade, and there can be no 
doubt that the combination of strength and cheap- 
ness will ensure the growth and stability of this 
trade against the competition of the most powerful 
combines manufacturing linen thread. 
In pursuance of the wise policy, in the initial 
stages of a new industry, of festina lente, the 
Syndicate have not as yet undertaken their own 
spinning. The processes 1 saw at the mills were 
those of degumming, cleaning, drying, separating, 
equalising lengths, weaving and dyeing, and thread 
maiiufaccure. The machinery is of the most modern 
type, and so far as a casual visitor could judge, 
the methods of working, no less than the general 
supervision, are most efficient. I bad previously 
been shown at the otlices of the Syndicate, samples 
of the spun foods manufactured from the woven 
fibre turned out at Romford by the Bunbeg Mills 
Company. There can be no doubt that ramie- 
made cloths and other goods are not only far 
superior to linen but will, ere long, compete with 
silk, by reason of their being very much cheaper, 
and with cotton, by reason of their greater strength 
and durability. There are very few articles, if any, 
among manufactured textiles with which ramie- 
made goods cannot and will not enter into competi- 
tion, from khaki and sailcloth to dainty dresses and 
tapestries and curtains. Among the advantages 
of ramie-goods are that they are rot-proof, that 
they bleach a pure lustrous white and that they 
are unshrinkable. My tour of the Romford factory 
convinced me that there is a great future before 
this industry, and that Mr Bird wood had solid 
ground to rest upon in expressing the conviction 
that the Indian planter need not be apprehensive 
of flooding the market with raw material, inasmuch 
as the demand is bound to keep fully abreast of 
the supply. 
The question whether India is or is not to parti- 
cipate as a producer of the raw material in this 
nascent industry, has a wider bearing on her in- 
dustrial future than that which relates to the 
initiation of new avenues for the employment of 
planting capital, at a time when, in some directions 
it has been hard hit by currency changes and 
excess of production, * There can be no doubt 
whatever that if the raw material is extensively 
grown in India for utilisation by the English and 
Continental manufacturers, ramie spinning and 
weaving mills will in course of time spring up in 
the great commercial centres of the country, and 
thus India will participate in ramie manufacture, 
as she participates today in the production of cotton 
goods made from her own raw material. Thus a 
great step forward will be taken in the industrial 
development so essential to adequately relieving 
khe pressure on the soil which, though temporarily 
retarded of late by an unusual succession of famines 
must become more and more acute with the growth 
of population and the rise in the standard of com- 
fort now being witnessed. Even in the early years 
of ramie cultivation we may expect to see some of 
the preliminary processes of manufacture, parti- 
cularly that of degumming, carried out on the 
plantations before shipment to Western factories, 
in order to reduce the cost of freight. On economic 
grounds, therefore, every encouragement should be 
given the Indian planters to grow ramie of the 
right kind and in the right way. There is reason 
to believe that the plant can be cultivated success- 
fully in other countries besides China and India, 
and it behoves the captains of the planting indus- 
try in the latter Empire to establish her share in 
this promising industry before the ground is occupied 
elsewhere and India is put out of the running. 
TEA FOR RUSSIA. 
Exports of Indian Tea direct to Russia are 
again going well ahead. La^t year's shipments to 
date are nearly doubled, with eleven hundred 
thousands odd, against six hundred thousand. 
This is a trade we seem likely to hold, as the 
Russians really care for good tea arid the taste 
for Indian once established will take care of itself 
in all but the commonest grades, which the 
Russians do not take. — Indian Planting and 
Gardening. 
