Dec.  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
371 
freight  on  ribbons  is  unduly  high ; they  also  contain 
a very  large  percentage  of  useless  material  on  which 
freight  has  to  be  paid. 
Paure’s  machine  produces  fibre,  which  will  always 
rank  higher  in  the  market  even  than  China  grass, 
by  reason  of  its  regularity  in  condition  and  quality. 
The  buyer  can  easily  see  and  test  what  he  is  buying ; 
he  will  therefore  be  disposed  to  give  it  its  proper 
classification  and  pay  its  full  market  value;  in  aldi- 
tion  to  which,  by  reason  of  the  bales  being  well 
pressed  and  containing  little  else  than  ramie  fibre, 
the  freight  and  expenses  per  ton  will  be  at  the 
minimum. 
The  product  of  Faure’s  ramie  fibre  machine  cxn- 
not  be  compared  with  the  ordinary  ribbons  or  .strips. 
It  is  an  entirely  different  article,  and  wdl  fetch  a 
very  different  rrice  in  the  market.  The  machine, 
when  treating  good  stems,  produces  about  5 per  cent, 
of  waste  fibre,  that  is  to  say,  fibre  which  escapes 
from  the  hands  of  the  workmen.  It  cannot,  how- 
ever, be  correctly  classified  as  waste,  seeing  that  it 
has  excellent  value  for  second  quality  ramie,  and 
here  we  would  note  that  in  relation  to  ramie,  there 
is  practically  no  real  waste,  as  the  fibre  is  always 
saleable.  Its  qualities  of  strength  and  colour  are 
so  great  that,  even  for  paper-making,  the  very 
shortest  of  the  fibre  always  has  excellent  value  and 
fetches  good  prices. 
In  connection  with  the  question  of  fibre  product- 
tion  and  waste,  the  nature  of  the  growth  of  the 
stems  must  be  considered.  If  they  are  plantc.I  too 
far  apart,  the  stems  have  a tendency  to  unduly 
tlirow  out  branches.  Each  branch  I'epresents  a 
break  in  the  continuity  of  the  fibre  of  the  parent 
stem.  Recent  plantings  of  ramie  are  being  made 
with  the  stems  much  closer  together,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent undue  branching  and  improve  the  quality  of 
the  fibre.  Green  stems  grown  in  a tropical  or  sub- 
tropical climate  give  the  best  results.  The  growth 
being  quick,  the  stems  carry  plenty  of  fresh  green 
juice,  which  assists  the  decortication  very  much  by 
leaving  the  fibre  freely  and  carrying  with  it  in  its 
downward  course  from  the  beating  point  of  the 
machine  lai’ge  quantities  of  extraneous  matter.  The 
condition  of  the  stems  at  the  time  of  treatment  also 
plays  an  important  part.  In  order  to  ensure  the 
best  possible  fibre,  the  stem  should  be  treated  wi'hin 
a few  hours  of  being  cut.  They  should  not  be  over- 
ripe, as  the  fibre  deteriorates  after  the  stems  h ivo 
arrived  at  maturity.  The  best  plan  is  to  cut  them 
either  just  at  full  maturity  or  slightly  before.  The 
fibre  thus  obtained  excels  in  whiteness  and  ductility, 
retains  its  full  lustre,  and  shows  to  the  best  advan- 
tage during  subsoqueut  manufacturing  operations, 
sirch  as  preparing,  combing,  spinning,  dyeing,  &c. 
Each  machine  requires  about  one  horse-power  to 
drive  it.  When  a number  of  machines  are  w'orking 
together  less  power  will  suffice;  thus  eight  horse- 
power will  drive  ten  machines. 
Faurc’s  patent  decorticators  were  sent  last  year 
to  Italy,  Egypt,  Tonquin,  &c..  and  have  more  than 
justified  the  expectations  that  were  raised  respect- 
ing their  action  and  the  quality  of  fibre  they  produce. 
A few  words  will  not  be  out  of  place  concerning 
the  disposal  of  the  fibre  after  leaving  the  machine. 
It  may  be  dried  at  once  and  then  haled,  its  condition 
being  the  same  as  China  grass.  Experiments  made 
last  season  show  that  steeping  the  fibre  in  boiling 
water  for  about  half  an  hour  and  squeezing  it 
thoroughly  previous  to  drying,  gives  very  favourable 
results,  as  when  dried  the  fibre  is  soft  and  separates 
freely.  The  gummy  nature  of  the  juice  having  been 
seriously  modified  by  boiling,  the  final  degumming 
process  is  rendered  very  easy,  cheap,  and  short. 
The  addition  of  about  1 per  cent,  of  carbonate  of 
soda  to  the  water  may  be  made  if  the  circumstances 
are  favourable.  This  partially  doguras  the  fibre  and 
does  away  with  any  possibility  of  fermentation  or 
deterioration  during  the  transport  to  manufacturing 
countries. 
The  sole  representation  of  Mr.  Faure’s  interest,  both 
for  machines,  licenses,  and  patents  has  been  entrusted 
to  Mr,  Thos.  Barraclough,  of  20  Bucklersqury,  Lon- 
don, to  whom  all  applications  should  be  made. 
GRAPE  FRUIT  vs.  PUMELOE— A NEW 
FRUIT  FOR  ENGLAND; 
THE  KEW  GARDEN  AUTHORITIES  JUSTI- 
FIED AND  THE  “FRUIT-GROWER” 
CONVICTED  OF  RECKLESS  IGNORANCE. 
Wk  regret  very  much  that  in  the  Iropical 
AgrkulLurist  for  Ausrust  last  (page  120)  we  took 
over  a stu])id  paragrajih  from  the  Fruit-grower 
entitled  “The  Fimieloe  in  England:  The  Igno- 
rance of  Kew  Gardens,”  wliich  only  showed  the 
ignorance  of  the  writer  and  which  was  entirely 
inaccurate  in  its  reference  to  Kew  and  esi)eci- 
ally  to  Dr.  Morris.  The  paragraph  in  question 
pointed  out  what  no  one  had  disputed,  that 
the  Pumelo  is  not  a new  fruit  in  England, 
although  the  writer  erroneously  supposed  that 
the  authorities  at  Kew  were  in  ignorance  of  the 
fact.  In  reality.  Dr.  Morris  of  Kew  Gardens  in 
a letter  to  the  Saturday  Reoiew  had  referred  to 
“Grape  Frltit” — nut  Pumelo,  from  which  in* 
deed  it  differs  as  much  as  a fine  apple  does 
from  a crab.  The  Giape  Fruit  is  so  highly  e.s« 
teemed  in  the  United  States  that  single  speci- 
mens are  retailed  at  a dollar  a piece,  and  we 
need  scarcely  add  that  the  fruit  is  entirely  new 
to  England. 
We  are  glad  to  be  able  in  this  connection  to 
reproduce  iiere  an  article  written  by  the  editor 
of  Garden  and  Forest,  the  leading  horticul- 
tural journal  in  America,  which  clearly  shows 
the  V alue  of  Grape  Fruit ; and  this  we  must  give 
prominently  in  our  monthly  periodical  in  order 
to  correct  the  blunder  made  in  August;  and 
also  because  the  subject  is  one  of  special  inter- 
est  to  us  in  Ceylon.  We  should  like  to  know 
if  anything  has  been  done  at  Henaratgoda  or 
Peradeniya— Ilakgala  is,  wo  presume,  too  liigh 
— to  do  justice  to  the  Grape  Fruit?  Meantime 
we  quote  as  follows: — 
GRAPE  FRUIT. 
Under  the  title  of  “The  Coming  Fruit,”  Dr.  D« 
Morris,  of  Kew,  not  long  since  wrote  to  The  Satur 
day  Ilceicm,  urging  upon  the  people  of  the  West 
India  Islands  to.  establish  groves  of  Grape-fruit  trees 
of  the  best  quality.  When  passing  through  New 
York  in  the  early  part  of  this  year.  Dr.  Morris 
was  very  strongly  impressed  by  the  quantity  of 
this  fruit  which  the  New  York  market  was  demand* 
ing,  and  our  readers  will,  perhaps,  remember  an 
article  in  the  present  volume  of  Garden  and  Forest^ 
on  page  103,  in  which  he  gives  a sketch  of  he 
origin  and  history  of  the  Shaddock,  Pomelo,  Grape- 
Fruit,  Forbidden-fruit  and  other  varieties  which 
belong  to  this  group  of  Citrus-fruits,  and  are  bota* 
nically  classified  under  the  species  Citrus  decumanat 
They  are  quite  distinct  botauically  from  true  Oranges, 
Citrons  or  other  groups  of  the  Orange  f 1111117,  and  since 
they  have  mostly  been  raised  from  seed  with  little 
ca'.e  given  to  selec‘ion,  they  vary  widely  in  quality, 
The  frost  which  ruined  the  Or.inge  groves  of  Flo* 
rida  has  temporarily  sho'-t'-nied  the  supply,  and  Dr, 
Morris  quotes  a paragn.ph  from  this  paper  recall* 
ing  the  sale  of  small-sized  grape-fruit  of  at  least 
a dollar  each,  and  is,  Dr.  Morris  suggests,  probably 
the  highest  price  ever  paid  for  specimens  of  the 
orange  tribe. 
No  doubt,  it  will  be  long  before  there  is  any  over* 
production  of  graiie-fruit,  since  the  demand  for  it 
increases  every  year,  and  it  is  constantly  becoming 
more  popular  as  a breakfast  fruit.  It  is  beautiful, 
is  said  to  have  medicinal  value,  and  the  more 
it  is  used,  the  more  highly  it  is  relished.  Beyond 
question  it  would  be  a profitable  fruit  to  raise  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  probably  the  English  people  will 
in  time  prize  it  more  highly  than  they  do  now,  and 
furnish  an  additional  outlet  for  West  Indian  groves. 
Since  the  Florida  frost,  this  country  has  absorbed 
almost  the  Whole  West  India  supply,  although  mnoh 
