I86 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
basis. It must also be borne in mind, that any ad- 
vantage India may have o?er us in this industry, 
BO long as the preparation of Ramie for market 
remains essentially a hand process, lies in her 
cheaper labour, and that this advantage v.'ill be 
greatly reduced, if not entirely swept away with the 
advent of a successful decorticating machine. Then, 
aided by machinery, or proximity to market should 
enable us to compete with success. I venture also 
to suggest, that the iumimerable irse.s to which 
Ramie fibre could be put, owing to the lo.v price at 
which it could be produced with the aid of a suc- 
cessful machine, or process ; underselling cotton. Jute, 
Fla.x, &c., and being capable of replacing all these 
to advantage, make it improbable that the world’s 
supply should exceed the demand, at least in this 
generation. 
2, — The second statement ; — It was then proved 
that the Rhea stalk of Saharanpur was usually quite 
unfit loi conversion into fibre,’’ is perhaps the most im- 
portant, shewing that, although Ramie may be growr. 
It may at same time prove commercially useless. How 
are we to ascertain whether this is the case or not with 
the Ramie we are growing here, without putting same 
through a machine or process ? It is most essentinl 
that one should be able to ascertain this before entc.- 
ing into extended cultivation. I must admit the 
growth of Ramie in my rough nurseries has b,.-en very 
unequal; the flowering stage varies greatly, some 
blossoming at 2 ft. high and others not before n ft. 
and upivards ; it is therefore quite jmsible that if 
cut together as a crop, some difference in the quality of 
fibre might be apparent. The third statement by Mr. 
Baden-Rowell drought kills it outright” would if 
correct, show that Ramie cultivation, without irrigation 
would be a very risky one in Jamaica. What little 
experience I have had here tends to show that this 
statement is incorrect. I cut down my Ramie here on 
and after 19th January last. It is admitted we had 
this year one of the severest droughts ever known in 
this district ; yet by end of March last, or in about 
two months with drought, I cut some stalks averaging 
3 ft. 9 in. and over. From 27th April to first week in 
May last, I had my Ramie cut down, (that is what had 
not already been fed down by small stock, sheep and 
■pigs.) On 19th May, or after about three weeks’ 
growth, I cut Ramie measuring over 4 ft. This Ramie 
nursery is well established ; say two years old. The 
cuttings, planted out during end of last year, died 
apparently from the drought. I feel therefore justineii 
in expressing my opinion, chat Ramie, once (horoughb/ 
established in suitable soil, will not only withstand a 
severe drought, but may also grow during dry Wiauher 
although less quickly than usual. Mr. Alliso.i, a well- 
known American authority on Ramie, supports this 
view in his pamphlet, w'here he states, in reference to 
a Texan Ramie Plantation ; — “ But early in July, 1889, 
“ a drought began, which lasted nine weeks. During 
“ this period, so great was the intensity of the heat, 
“ that the soil was dried to a depth of more than 
“ two feet. Hundreds of thousands of coffee plants 
“ perished, but Ramie survived the drought, and, 
“ quickened by the fall rains, grew with such luxuri- 
“ ance, that often 150 stems were found in clusters 
“ not more than two feet in diameter, etc.” The 
article in your Journal does not state what variety 
of Rhea is referred to. My plants are of the 
“ Nivea ” variety or white under-ieaf. As my seeds 
came originally from Mr Allison, I presume it is of 
the same variety he writes. My neighbour Mr. Craig, 
has, however, been growing the “ tenacissima" variety, 
and as he has, since the drought, supplied me with 
growing roots, it is evident this variety can also 
survive a drought. Dr. Morris in his late lectures 
did not touch upon these points probably because 
he saw no future for Ramie here until a satisfactory 
decorticating machine, or process had been made 
available. It would be interesting to bear the ex- 
perience of others, v/ho are trying Ramie in this 
country, as to its general growth, and power of with- 
standing drought. 
Sidney Moxsy, 
Suttons, Ohapeltou, 22nd May, 1897. 
[Sept, i, 1897. 
WORN OUT COFFEE LAND IN JAMAICA 
Proposed Manorial Experijients. 
In my evidence before the Royal Commission, April 
1st, 1897, I stated that up to that time I knew of 
no manure, or system of cultivation that could bring 
back our exhausted coffee lands to a bearing state, 
and that unless something was found there would 
be no coffe. cultivation in this Parish after the next 
25 or 30 years. It must be understood that my state- 
ment referred to a larger cultivation than that of the 
peasantry which consists of a patch round each dwel- 
ling, and which is kept in heart by penning pigs, 
etc., and the usual household garbage ; this I call 
garden cultivation, as contra-distinguished from a 
large cultivation, and I have no doubt that such a 
cultivation succeeds on old worn-out land, but I am 
sure that it would be impossible to cultivate, say ,i0 
acres, in this WAy, therefore, if coffee cultivation is 
to be carried on on a large scale in this Parish ex- 
periments must be made with the various fertilizers 
on the market. 1 have spent considerable sums in 
miiuurial exptriiuoiits but 1 am sorry I am still un- 
able to say tuat I have found out Ihe right sort 
rulortunately my trial of ‘’Berts” Coffee Manures 
was a failure, owing to tire unfavourable seasons 
uariiig Ure last two years. Owing to Dr. Bernard Dyer’s 
ANALYSIS OF JIY SOILS 
I began to apply lime to my coffee trees, and although 
it was highly aisapprovedof by my fellow coffee planters, 
seems to me to have done good. It certainly made the 
trees gro-v, although there was no crop. I applied 30 bar- 
rels per acre but as lime in this quantity is difficult to 
get I doubt whether this mode of fertilizing is practica- 
ble {my experiment (?) took 9,000 barrels). Mr. Bert 
suggested Marl as a good cheap fertilizer so I went 
as far as to dig, sift and put Marl in heaps of a 
barrel, here and there all over my fields, but when 
I saw how poor the crop was last year, I thought 
I would wait till the trees bore a crop before putting 
it into the soil. My idea now is to carry out a 
scheme of exhaustive experiments with Fertilizers 
keeping a sti ct account of all expenditure, cultivat- 
ing highly, noting the effects of the different man- 
ures, rainfalls, weather, etc., and I intend parcelling 
out into quarter acre plots some ordinary common 
pasture land. My object in writing to you is, that 
1 hope you will m-ake my idea known to the various 
makers of coffe.-i manures and if they think fit to 
supply me with enough to cultivate say a quarter of 
an acre, I assure them that their various fertilizers 
shall each have a fair trial and that I wdll supply 
them with all the information they may think neces- 
sary, and I shall be gl.id to receive any instruction 
as to the mode of application of their manures. I 
may say that I intend cultivating two quarter acre 
plots under any circumstances, one with applications 
of sifted marl and coffee pulp ; and one with Bonenreal 
and 10 per cent of high grade Potash. The former 
being with the object of ascertaining whether there 
is any value in marl and pulper trash, (because if 
there is, every sm-all cultivator in the Parish can 
avail himself of it) and the other, the Bonemeal one, 
1 am trying on the advice of Mr. Robert Craig and 
others. It seems to me that there should be no hesi- 
tation on the part of the 
MANURE MANUFACTURES 
to give enough of their manures for these experiments 
on worn out land ; because if any, or all, succeed in 
making coffee growing possible, i.e. with a margin 
of profit, there is an immense market open to all, 
as It is quite certain capital would be forthcoming 
to reinstate the thousands of acres of land which 
used to bear coffee in the days not too long ago ; 
there would be every reason lor the industry to be 
centred here as the laud is “easy,” and accessible 
and tiicre are scores of old, thrown up coffee works 
that could be put in order for very small sums, and 
labour is pientifiil and cheap. 
I append an analysis of the soil I propose to put 
into cultivation made by Dr. Bernard Dyer in 1S94. 
It was owing to his note attached to bis analysis 
that 1 put lime to my coffee. 
Walter W. Wynne. 
Brokenhurst, Mandeville, 29 April, 1897. 
