370 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  I,  1896. 
hand  labour  in  China,  where  workmen  scrape  each 
stem  and  remove  the  skin  and  the  wood,  but  leave 
most  of  the  juice  in  the  fibre. 
All  inventors  of  ramie  decorlicators  have  concen- 
trated their  efforts  on  machines  to  produce  ribbons. 
Needless  to  say,  the  object  aimed  at  has  fallen  far- 
short  of  the  real  necessities  of  rhe  case,  hence 
the  long  delays  and  numerous  disappointments  with 
which  this  fibre  is  associated.  Ramie  ribbons 
hvae  three  serious,  almost  fatal  defects  : They  con- 
tain a large  percentage  of  woody  matter ; 
they  contain  the  outer  skin  or  cuticle  of  the  stem, 
which  has  been  the  despair  of  the  chemist  to  solve 
and  remove ; and  they  contain  the  major  portion  of 
the  juice  which  coagulates  in  drying  and  becomes 
gummy. 
Mr.  Faure  has  aimed  at  the  construction  of  a 
machine  to  produce  not  ribbons  but  the  fibre  in  one 
operation,  free  from  woody  matter,  from  skin,  and 
with  the  least  possible  amount  of  juice  in  it.  His 
product  is  equivalent  to  ‘‘China  Grass,”  but  in  an 
improved  condition,  because  his  machine  is  much 
more  regular  and  efficient  in  its  action  than  the 
varying  hand  labour  obtainable  in  China,  and  be- 
cause the  possibility  of  adulterating  the  fibre  is 
done  away  with.  Mr.  Fame’s  first  decorticator  ob 
tained  the  gold  medixl  at  the  last  Paris  trials. 
It  was  the  best  of  the  machines  exhibited  there  and 
tested  by  actual  work  with  green  ramie  stems. 
Being  desirous  of  improving  on  his  first  attempt, 
he  has  since  constructed  several  decorticating  ma- 
chines, each  one  showing  marked  superioiity  oyer 
the  preceding  ones.  A skilled  engineer  and  machine 
maker,  with  every  facility  in  his  own  works  and 
ample  means  for  carrying  out  his  ideas,  he  had 
the  benefit  of  another  very  imxmrtant  advantage, 
namely,  the  growing  of  ramie  on  his  own  estate  in 
the  Limousin  near  his  works,  which  enabled  him 
’to  practically  test  his  ideas  by  actual  experiments 
on  the  raw  material — a combination  of  advantages 
probably  not  enjoyed  by  any  other  inventor  of 
decorticators,  Patiently  and  scientifically  he  has,  step 
by  step,  worked  out  the  problem  ; and  the  maeliine 
. illustrated  on  the  previous  page  represents  the  results 
of  his  several  years’  labours.  It  is  simple,  inexpensive, 
and  does  its  work  admirably. 
It  is  fed  by  two  men,  working  alternately,  each 
holding  in  his  hand  about  ten  stems.  The  stems 
are  used  in  the  same  condition  as  cut,  with  the  loaves 
on.  The  operation  of  feeding  is  as  fol  0 vs  : The  steu  s 
are  passed  in  tw'ice.  They  enter  the  machine,  leaf 
endsfirst,  and  after  having  been  treatedabout  two-thirds 
of  their  length  they  are  withdrawn,  an  o])eratiou 
easily  carried  out,  and  fed  in  a second  time,  the  thick 
ends  first,  so  as  to  complete  the  operation.  It  frees 
the  stems  from  all  woody  matter  and  from  the  outer 
skin  or  cuticle  and  extracts  a largo  portion  of  the 
juice,  thus  producing  fibre  retaining  all  its  valuable 
qualities. 
The  machine,  which  weights  11  cwts.,  is  simple  m 
construction,  very  strong  and  not  liable  to  get  out 
of  order.  It  consists  mainly  of  the  framework  and 
driving  gear,  the  decorticating  drum  carrying  beaters, 
and  the  feed  bed.  This  latter  is  the  important  fea- 
ture of  the  machine,  by  reason  of  its  special  con- 
tour which  vaiic.s  at  different  parts  to  suit  the 
various  descriptions  of  w-ork  which  the  machine  has 
to  perform.  The  first  part  of  the  bed  is  curred  out- 
wards, the  second  is  straight,  and  the  third  is  curved 
inwards.  The  ramie  stems  are  fed  into  the  machine 
over  the  first  part  of  the  bed,  where  the  woody 
portion  becomes  immediately  broken  and  partly  re- 
moved; the  strip  passes  on  to  the  sec.  n.l  part,  and 
as  the  speed  of  the  beaters  is  coimderably  greater 
than  that  at  which  the  stems  are  fed  into  the 
machine,  a soaping  effect  is  produced  on  the  strips, 
seeing  that  the  distance  between  the  beaters  and 
the  surface  of  the  bed  is  less  than  the  thickness  of 
the  strip.  Thi.s  scraping  action  effects  a double  pur- 
pose; it  attacks  the  outer  skin  and  also  all  mattois 
extraneous  to  the  fibres.  The  strips  or  stricks  of 
filaments  then  pass  down  vertically  into  the  machine 
and  the  separated  matters,  viz.  most  of  the  woody 
parts,  the  skin  and  gummy  substances,  are  thrown 
out  to  ft  distance  by  the  centrifugal  fn-:o  of  the 
beater  drum.  When  the  stems  have  entered  to  within 
a short  distance  of  their  end,  the  return  movement 
is  effected  and  they  are  withdrawn.  During  the  with- 
drawal the  following  action  takes  place: — At  the  in- 
ward curve  or  third  part  of  the  bed,  the  filaments 
are  slightly  and  gradually  grazed  by  the  beater 
blades,  which  throw  out  the  coarser  of  the  debris  still 
adhering.  The  operation  is  performed  with  great 
delicacy  ; the  fibres  assume  the  position  of  the  chord 
of  the  curve  and  are  constantly  agitated  by  the 
beaters.  When  the  fibres  arrive  at  the  second  jrait 
of  the  bed,  as  the  space  between  it  and  the  beaters 
is  infinitely  reduced,  the  entire  removal  of  matters 
still  adhering  to  the  fibres  is  effected,  and  these 
latter  leave  the  machine white,  parallel  and  free 
from  woody  matter,  from  skin,  aird  from  the  major 
portion  of  the  juice.  The  concave  bed  or  breast  is 
mounted  in  such  a way,  that  its  position  to  the 
action  of  the  beaters  is  easily  regulated.  The  brackets 
which  carry  the  bed  are  supported  by  spiral  spring 
cushions  and  flexible  legs,  the  object  being  to  ob- 
tain a rubbing  action  betxvecn  the  beaters  and  the 
fibre,  having  for  its  special  object  the  loosening  and 
removal  of  the  skin  or  outer  cuticle.  The  cdasiic 
bed  gives  way  or  vibrates  an  enormous  number  of 
times  per  minute,  and  this  produces  the  desired 
rubbing  or  “knuckle  joint”  action  between  the 
beaters  and  the  fibres  on  the  bed.  The  shape  of 
the  feed  bed  causes  it  to  remain  clean  and  free 
from  extraneous  matter  through  the  action  of  the 
beaters.  Choking  is  thus  rendered  impossible.  All 
abnormal  strains  are  avoided,  and  the  machine  can 
be  kept  at  work  from  morning  till  night  without 
stoppages  for  cleaning.  The  refuse  falls  underneath 
the  machine  and  is  removed  from  time  to  time. 
In  the  case  of  a number  of  machines  working  to- 
gether, an  endless  band  or  conveyor,  passing  under 
the  machines,  removes  the  refuse  contiuously  and 
so  keeps  the  neighbourhood  of  the  machines  per- 
fectly free  from  it. 
Faure’s  machine  is  simple  in  construction,  and 
capable  of  1 eing  easily  worked  by  native  labour  in 
the  ramie  plantations  or  in  woiks  connected  there- 
with. Although  simple,  it  needs  to  be  constructed 
with  the  greatest  accuracy  in  order  to  ensure  effec- 
tive working.  The  cylinder,  carrying  the  steel  beaters 
is  perfectly  balanced  and  accurate  in  its  action  ; it 
runs  at  400  to  450  revolutions  per  minute ; the  sur- 
face of  the  boaters  is  perfectly  parallel  with  the 
setting  of  the  feed  bed  and  capable  of  working 
close  up  to  it,  say  within  a distance  equal  to  the 
thickness  of  a piece  of  writing  paper.  . 'I’he  feed 
bod,  the  varying  profile  of  which  is  of  such  enormous 
importance  in  the  efficacy  of  the  machine,  is  made 
with  the  greatest  of  accuracy  and  of  the  best 
materials. 
With  regard  to  the  production,  practical  experience 
shows  that  two  men  working  at  one  machine  can 
treat  3G0  lb.  of  fresh  green  stemps  per  hour,  or  about 
32  cwt.  per  day  of  ten  hours.  The  amount  of  dry 
fibre  produced,  depends  largely  on  the  nature  and 
growth  of  the  stems;  the  percentage  of  fibre  contained 
in  green  stems  varies  very  much  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. On  a 5 per  cent,  basis,  the  nett  pro- 
duction of  dry  fibre  by  each  machine  per  day  of 
teir  hours  is  180  lb.  When  the  stems  are  specially 
good,  more  than  200  lb.  of  dry  fibre  have  been  pro- 
duced -Iter  machine  in  ten  hours.  Under  ordinary 
circumstances  a production  varying  from  IGO  to  200 
lb.  of  dry  fibre  in  ten  hours  per  machine  may  be 
expected. 
The  apparently  small  production  per  machine 
needs  a word  of  explanation,  seeing  tnat  decorti- 
cating machines  are  being  made  professing  to  treat 
large  quantities  of  green  ramie  stems  per  day,  but 
it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  their  production  is 
ribbons  not  fibre.  Ramie  ribbons  or  strips  must 
always  be  unsatisfactory,  and  will,  no  doubt,  in  time 
disappear  from  the  market.  The  buyer  has  no 
means  of  testing  their  value,  the  quality  or  percen- 
tage of  the  fibre,  and  whether  damaged  or  not  by 
the  decorticating  machine ; hence  he  will  only  give 
a low  price  for  an  unknown  article,  in  addition  to 
which  they  cannot  bo  highly  compressed  and  packed 
into  proper  bales  aa  other  fibres  are.  Therefore  the 
