Nov  1,  1895.]  Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  AiiricuUarist” 
369 
whilst  part  of  the  organic  matter  strongly  resists 
the  processes  of  oxidation  and  decay  in  the  soil, 
and  so  the  nitrogen  in  it  remains  for  a long  time 
in  a locked-np  form,  in  wIikIi  the  plant  can  make 
no  use  of  it.  This,  indeed,  is  a very  advantageous 
provision,  as  if  the  nitrogen  all  became  available 
and  soluble  in  a short  time  it  would  certainly 
be  largely  wasted  by  being  washed  out  of  the  soil 
ere  plants  could  utilise  it.  The  chemical  analysis 
of  a soil  is  a matter  requiring  a good  deal  of  time 
and  a good  deal  of  skill,  and  when  it  is  done  it 
may  not  tell  us  all  we  want  to  know.  We  can  find 
out  the  total  amount  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid, 
potash.  &c.,  in  the  soil,  or  the  amount  soluble  in 
strong  hydrochloric  acid,  or,  with  greater  difficulty, 
the  amount  soluble  in  water;  but  none  of  these 
represents  the  amount  of  plant  food  which  the 
plant  itself  is  capable  of  attacking  in,  and  ab.sorb- 
ing  from,  the  soil.  Moreover,  different  plants 
have  different  powers  of  taking  up  the  various 
plant  food.  All  plants,  however,  can  undoubtedly 
take  up  from  soils  matter  which  is  not  soluble  in 
water,  and  this  they  no  doubt  accomplish  by 
means  of  the  acid  sap  in  their  rootlets  or  root  hairs. 
(To  be  continued.) 
THR  MANUFACrURR  OF  RHEA  FIBRE. 
So  much  of  a contradictory  character  has 
recently  been  published  regarding  the  Rhea  fibre 
and  the  rival  methods  of  preparing  it,  that  the 
ordinary  reader  has  learned  to  treat  the  subject 
as  only  in  the  experimental  stage  and  of  doubt- 
ful practial  value.  Our  readers  will  therefore  be 
interested  in  the  following  particulars  of  rhea  in 
connection  with  the  Gomess  process  of  preparation. 
Only  recently  we  have  had  an  opportunity  to  see 
and  examine  sample.s  of  the  rhea  fibre  in  every 
stage  of  manufacture,  including  the  finished  and 
dyed  article  in  the  form  of  yarns,  cords,  and  cloth, 
as  prepared  under  the  Gomess  patents.  The  plant 
itself  grows  wild  in  many  parts  of  India,  and  is 
already  cultivated  in  several  districts.  Its  pro- 
ductiveness may  be  shown  by  the  following  figures. 
From  Mr.  Favier’s  book  on  “ Textile  Nettles  ” it 
appears  that  Mr.  Montgomery  cultivated  rhea  in 
the  Kangra  Valley,  and  produced  1,900  lb.  of  rhea 
ribbons  or  bark  per  acre  for  twelve  successive 
years.  Mr.  Gustav  Mann,  Conservator  of  the 
Assam  Forests,  produced  1,800  lb.  per  acre.  The 
Indian  Husbandry  Co.,  at  present  working  in 
Bengal,  report  their  production  to  be  over  one  ton 
per  acre,  and  Mr.  Manuel,  of  Lucknow,  in  his  report 
gives  the  average  production  of  dried  rhea 
ribbons  in  well-manured  and  moist  ground  to  be 
one  ton  per  acre  per  annum  ; while  Mr.  Fredrick 
Pincott  has  contracted  to  supply  the  London  Rhea 
Fibre  Treatment  Co.,  Ltd.,  15,000  tons  of  rhea 
ribbon  from  India  at  £7  or  K 1.30  per  ton  f.o.b. 
The  ribbons  after  being  separated  from  the 
natuml  gum  by  the  Gomess  process  become 
within  twenty-four  hours,  with  a loss  of  30  per 
cent,  on  the  original  weight.  There  is  thus  14 
cwts.  of  filasse  left,  which,  it  is  said,  will  find  a 
ready  market  in  England  at  £ 1 per  ton.  The 
product  of  an  acre  when  wa.shed  is  tlius  equal  to 
£77  per  ton.  The  present  market  value  of  rhea 
ribbon  ia  from  R120  to  R140  per  ton,  but  it  is 
highly  probable  that  more  extended  cultivation 
wUl  bring  it  down  to  a price  ranging  from  R80  to 
RlOO  per  ton,  or  R60  to  R60  per  acre  as  the  cost 
of  cultivation.  Thus  the  cultivation  of  rhea  will 
be  much  more  profitable  than  that  of  cotton. 
Considering  the  enormous  cotton  production  of 
the  United  States  it  is  a noteworthy  fact  that  the 
Senate  at  AVashington  has  just  passed  a Bill  witli 
a view  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  the  rhea 
plant,  offering  Government  subsidies  to  successful 
cultivators  in  three  of  tlie  southern  states  of  the 
Union.  From  a practical  jroint  of  view  the 
strength  of  the  rliea  fibre  is  its  chief  physical 
quality.  According  to  Dr.  Forbes  Royle,  who 
tested  it  as  an  expert,  its  strength  is  equal  to  two 
and  a half  times  that  of  Russian  hemp.  Accord- 
ing to  Trautwine,  the  best  hemp  ropes  require 
15,000  lb.  strain  per  square  inch  of  section  to 
break  them,  while  leather  of  the  best  quality 
gives  way  at  5,000  lb.  AV'e  have  thus  the  com- 
parative breaking  strength  as  follows; — 
Hemp 15,000  lb.  per  sq.  inch 
Leather 5,000  „ „ 
Rhea  37,500  ,,  „ 
Rhea  is  thus  naturally  designed  for  all  purpo.ses 
in  which  tlie  utmost  strength  is  required  in  cord- 
age or  cloth.  The  next  phy.sical  property  of  the 
fibre  is  its  fineness,  which  allows  it  to  be  mi.xed 
with  all  the  finest  animal  and  vegetable  fibres 
known,  and  to  be  spun  into  the  finest  of  yarns  up 
to  300  s.  AVhen  prepared  for  spinning  it  is  of  the 
purest  white  colour,  with  a silky  lustre,  and  it 
readily  takes  dye  of  every  shade.  The  samples 
exhibited  by  Mr.  Wookerjee,  who  has  acquired  all 
the  rights  of  the  Gomess  Patents  for  British  India, 
consist  of  the  green  plant  ; the  raw  ribbons  as 
they  come  from  the  plant  ; dried  ribbons  freed 
from  gam(p/asse)  ; filasse  silver  ; rhea  yarns  plain 
and  dyed  from  lO’s  to  60’s  ; rhea  cord,  wliite  and 
dyed ; rhea  tatted  shawl  dyed  magenta ; corded 
cloth  of  rhea  and  silk  mixed  ; and  figured  cloth 
of  rhea  dyed.  The  beauty  of  these  samples  and 
the  remarkable  strength  of  the  yarns  cannot  fail 
to  impress  all  judges  of  textile  materials  or  pro- 
ducts. A small  factory  is  at  present  being  or- 
ganized in  Bombay  where  the  Gomess  process  of 
removing  the  gum  from  the  ribbon  will  be  sliown 
at  work  on  a commercial  scale,  with  apparatus  of 
full  size,  and  all  persons  interested  in  the  use  of 
goods  made  from  rhea  or  in  the  manufacture  of 
rhea  will  be  invited  to  see  this  f.ictory  at  work. 
In  addition,  apparatus  will  be  prepared  for  carry- 
ing out  comparative  trials  of  strength  of  rliea  and 
other  cordage  and  yarns,  by  breaking  them  with 
deadweights.  In  this  manner  the  value  of  rhea 
for  main  driving  ropes  in  milD,  driving  cords  and 
banding,  belting,  tent  and  heel  ropes,  traces,  har- 
ness and  reins,  cordage  for  shipping,  twines  and 
threads,  sailcloth  and  canvas  for.  tents,  and  fishing 
lines  and  nets  will  be  recogni.sed.  In  many  of  the 
above  instances  the  saving  of  weight  is  of  great 
importance,  as,  for  instance,  in  tent  rojies  and 
canvas,  and  the  saving  in  co.st  for  cordage  or 
material  of  a given  strength  is  illustrated  in  the 
case  of  belting,  which  is  sold  by  weight. 
Assuming  Dr.  Hoyle's  experiments  to  be  correct, 
the  breaking  strength  of  a rhea  belt  a little  over  3^- 
of  an  inch  in  thickness  would  be  equal  to  that  of 
first-class  leather  of  an  inch  thick.  Such  a belt 
would  not  bearforke«l  guides,  but  the  difference  in 
cost  would  pay  for  friction  clutches,  which,  even 
for  belt  driving,  will  eventually  supersede  the 
clumsy  and  destructive  fork.  The  e.vperimental 
factory  now’  being  established  and  the  operations 
that  are  to  be  showm  therein  will  be  f>l'  the  highest 
