D^c. i, 1903.] ,THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST; 
405 
— 
To the Editor: 
THE OULTIVATIO.V OF RAMIE FIBRE 
25, Birchington Road, West Hampstead, 
London, W.S., Oct. 7. 
Dear Sib,— As you have published a letter 
of September 10th, sent to me from your 
Government, I hope you will, in all fairness, 
p\iblish niy reply. I feel the misstatements 
made by gentlemen, who have no commercial 
experience or practical knowledge, but are 
based on mere laboratory experiments, are 
misleading and likely to do great harm. The 
fact that Ramie is and can be used is de- 
monstrated by the Chinese and Japanese— to 
say nothing of many other states where it 
is worked in a primitive way by the natives 
for clothing, fishing lines, nets, &c., &c. If 
these peoples can use it, it stands to reason 
with more advanced methods of obtaining the 
fibre a very vast industry is possible. Here 
in Europe the manufacturers are keenly alive 
to its merits and il' only supplies were as- 
sured any number of mills would be started 
and you would do well to bring it before 
the planters who certainly will he left be- 
hind if such advice as is contained in the 
reply you have published to my letter is 
acted upon. For an assertion to go forth 
that Rami is hopeless— because the manufac- 
turers of cotton, jute, &c., oppose it — is feeble 
in the extreme. Of course, it is opposed as 
it is a formidable rival. What new invention 
was not opposed? I'll instance Arkwright's 
loom; Electricity opposed by Gas. Incandescent 
gas by even Gas Companies who now em- 
brace it with delifiht as a help to oppose 
electric light and this is what will hiippen 
in the textile trades. As soon as Ramie gets 
a proper footing it will be taken up by the 
mrfnutacturers with the same zest as is now 
shown in opposing it. 1 could mention 
many other instances such as railways, 
steamships, et hoc genus omne. All were op- 
opposed and where are they today ? Now a 
last remark as to the absurd fallacy that 
mercurised cotton ousts Ramie. As a matter 
of fact it is a spurious lustre at best, some- 
thing like the fleeting stimulant caused by 
alcohol. It is poison to the cotton as alcohol 
ia to the invalid. A shower of rain will kill 
any merctirised cotton lustre, but the natural 
lustre of Ramie lasts for years, than the 
test of strength durability, «S:c I have a 
tunic worn by a trooper in y. African War 
made of Ramie. It outwore three cotton 
tunics and has life in it yet to outlast 
one or two more. I must not trespass 
longer ; but I do urge you. Sir, to do your 
utmost to bring this lovely fibre Ramie, the 
textile of the future, to tlie front and not 
let your colony lag behind and lose the for- 
tunes that are possible to pioneers.— Yours 
faithfully, 
D. EDWARDS RADCLYFFE. 
No. 18934. 
, ' -25. B R, W H, Loadon, Oct. 7. 
His Excellency the Governoi of Qeyloa, 
Sir,— I beg to acknowledged a letter of Sept. 
10, directed to be sent to me and signed A G 
Olaytou, for Colonial Secretary. I am glad to see 
liamie has been grown for years at Peradeniya, 
and that it grows well ; but I am sorry to see it is 
only in an experimental way. Evidently it has only 
been h;ilf heariecily treated. This, I gather, as you 
say price obtained is unremunerative, as the price 
today here is £37 per ton. Such an assertion by the 
planters is to aay the least misleading. I gither 
from a Ceylon paper it costs £7 Qs to grow. Surely 
the profit of £29, viz, difference between cost and 
price It fetches here, is sufficient to pay freight 
brokerage and leave a balance for the planter beyond 
the dream of avarice. I don't hesitate to say if 
degummiiig stations were set up, even a gieater 
profic might be made. Not only would there be a 
saving in freight, but also the pilasse would fetch 
a price that would pay handsomely for the outlay. 
But a further profit would be made from the 
by products, gum and paper pulp. I must, therefore, 
again urge upon you that the prospect of success is 
assured if taken in hand properly. As proof of this I 
refer you to the Chinese, Japanese and Forraosan 
trade in this article. As to your remarks respect- 
ing the commercial difficulties, I see no obstacle 
that cannot be overcome. Existing industries of 
course oppose it — the most flatterins' proof of the 
rivalry Ramie is considered to possess by the 
textile industries. If it were an insif;nificant, worth- 
less fibre, the manufacturers would not oppose it;, 
but treat it with contempt. That mercurised cotton 
competes with Ramie on its own ground, is as 
absurd as it is fallacious. To obtain a lustre cotton 
is killed and the lustre is of so fleeting a nature it 
is lost on the first shov. er of rain and entirely obliter- 
ated in i/he wash. Whereas Ramie not only retains 
its lustre, but if anything is improved by washing. 
1 would therefore respectfully submit, you would 
do well to go more carefully into the possibilities of 
this fibre, as from what I gather of other Colonies 
Ramie will be rapidly placed in the foremost rank 
of our textiles— a position its many splendid quali- 
ties entitles it to take. I would, therefore, submit 
with all deference to the reports you have acted 
on that Ramie is worth cultivating and will add 
to the prosperity of your Colony.— I am, Sir, your 
obedient servant, 
D. EDWARDS RADCLYFFE. 
THE MANORIAL VALUE OF RAINW ATER. 
De.\R Sir,— The value of rainwater as a manure 
is full of interest ; and it is a subject on which 
acieniists might popularise information by the 
publication of accurate analyses. I remember 
reading some time ago of investigations in India 
which proved the superiority of canal-water over 
well-water for irrigation purposes ; "out, 1 fancy, a 
great deal must depend ou local circumstances- 
such as the situation of the well, the sources 
whence the canal is fed, the soil, &c. I always 
thought the special value of rain-water was due 
to the electricity with which it is charged — the 
analysis on stormy days showing more valuable in- 
gredients than when rain fell without any electrical 
disturbance. 1 was not aware — though, now that 
H.M.M. in your issue of the 2Gth has placed the 
matter in black and white, I quite appreciate the 
reason for it — that the rain-water in towns could 
contain so much more fertilising matter than in 
the country ; and, I fancy, many agriculturists 
shared my ignorancci London is, of coursOi 
