THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. I, 1897. ■ 
38^ 
sti’oyed and wasted. I blierefore advocate the 
daily cuttirg system whereby only the mature 
stems are cut and so arranging your planting 
that this may be effected daily so that the 
coolie can go gradually through his two acre.s and 
on his return to the starting |)oint he will find 
the immature stems be left have ripened and 
are ready for harvesting. By this means it 
is obvious, you more than treble the amount 
of your crop. I consider that each acre of land 
should produce three cwts. of stems per day. A 
cooly, therefore, from two acres of land, will have 
to cut six cwts. Taking the day at ten hours 
this means that he will have to cut about three 
stems a minute, and bale and deliver them every 
hour to the tram lines, when they would be 
picked up and delivered to the decorticators. 
Of course this is only possible in countries where 
the climate is equable throughout the year. The 
great advantage of this system ensures the 
quality of the fibre and is a guarantee to the 
manufacturer that the quality will always re- 
main the same.” 
DOES RAMIE EXHAUST THE SOIL ? 
“ A great deal has been said with regard to 
Ramie as an exhauster of the soil. It has been 
thought, because it is possible to obtain more 
tlian eighty tons to the acre on good land under 
favourable conditions, that an enormous quantity of 
material must be taken away from the land, but 
it is entirely lost sight of that Ramie contains 
eighty per cent of water, so that after all there 
is not so much taken out of the soil as would 
be imagined, and if the sj’stem be adopted of return- 
ing leaves and the refuse from the decorticators, in 
the shape of ashes to the land, it follows that 
the fibre itself, (only from two and a half to 
three per cent of the crop) is actually taken from 
the soil.” 
THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS. 
“Experiments were carried out by the American 
Board of Agriculture in California to test the 
exhausting nature of Ramie and an acre was 
placed under cultivation and the crops taken 
during four years. Nothing whatever in the 
shape of manure was applied to the land, not 
even the refuse from the stems, and it was 
found that the fourth year's crop was larger than 
the first. Of course this may be in consequence 
of the richness of the land, but at all events the 
fact remains.” 
RAMIE AT PERADENIYA. 
“The only Ramie I have seen growing in 
Ceylon (added Mr. MacDonald) was in the Rera- 
deniya gardens, where through the courtesy of Mr. 
Macmillan I had the opportunity of making a 
thorough inspection of the plants, which were 
growiMY most luxuriantly although they did not 
appear to have had very much care given to them. 
There were some very tine stems there, in fact 
I have never seen better, but none of them 
were ripe enough.” 
“ Now,” put in our reporter, “can you explain 
the divergence of opinion between you and 
the other experts, who have signed the official 
reports we have quoted ? ” 
MESSR.S. WRAY AND MATHIEU. 
“ I would rather not have made any remarks 
as to these gentlemen, if I could have avoided 
it (said Mr. MacDonald), but if you had 
printed the reports in extenso your readers 
would have gauged their value. I 'have the offi- 
cial printed reports before me now, and what 
do they amount to ? Simply the admission on their 
part that they personally know nothing of the 
subject on which they report, but have filled eight 
pages ot closely printed matter with quotations 
from books showing the results obtained in 
countries differing in every respect from I’erak, 
they then jiroceed to draw their deductions there- 
from. Can anything be more mi-leading? Mr. 
Matliieu says of Mr. Wray’s figure.? Mr. Wray 
puts forward sever.al figures which do not afford 
any basis of conclusion, owing to the fact that 
they are obtained from stages and conditions of 
growth not stated so much for Mr. Wray’.s 
re|iort. Then Mr. Mathieu in his report says : 
— ‘ The figures which I shall give hereunder are 
also from widely different countries, because, 
unfortunately. Ramie having been so far 
neglected no data can be drawn from Malaya.’ 
Surely this disposes of the whole question as to 
the value of tliese gentlemen’s report. They are 
asked to report as to ‘ the prospects of Ramie 
cultivation in Perak,’ and they say they know 
nothing about it, but they will consult their books 
and see what has been done elsewhere, entirely 
ignoring tlie fact of the different conditions undei 
which the plant is grown. Had they been asked 
how many tons of Swedes can you grow to the 
acre in Perak ? would they have reported, ‘ Vou 
can get 40 to oO tons to the acre in England,’ — be- 
cause that is really what their report amounts to 
“ If these gentlemen would burn their books 
and study the. question from a practical point 
of view, and cultivate the plant on a sufficiently 
large scale to enable them to obtain data and 
then visit all the likely countries where Ramie 
can be grown as I have dining the last 4 years, tliey 
would become entitled to call themselves experts, 
but until then it would be better to give up writing 
reports upon a subject on which they have only 
second-hand information and to bear in mind (to 
quote a favourite expression of Mr. Mathieu 
which I have recently seen in one of his letters 
‘ that <a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,’ 
a quotation I advise him to think over and lay 
to heart.” 
FUTURE SCHEMES. 
“ One word more and I have finished. I am 
sufficiently satisfied wtih the prospects of Ramie 
in Malaya to embark with my friends a con- 
siderable sum in starting the cultivation of Ramie 
to the extent of 1,200 acres the Muar dis- 
trict of Johore, a district which your expert, 
Mr. Mathieu has reported to be not suitable 
for the cultivation of Ramie, but in which I have 
proved his information to be incorrect, so that 
although my figures and ideas are magnificent 
according to Mr. Ferguson, he will at least 
give me credit for the pluck to carry them out, 
and I hope as soon as sufficient accommoda- 
tion is available to see him, and any Cey- 
lon Planter interested in the subject, when they 
may be assured of a hearty welcome and all the 
information which has resulted from the ‘ mag- 
nificent ’ undertaking, an undertaking in which 
I have secured the moral and financial support 
of His Highne.ss the Sultan of Johore, who has 
taken the warmest interest in the future of 
Ramie.” 
The interview here ended. Mr. Macdonald added 
as our representative left, that there is no fear of 
a market for the present, as one firm alone in 
Dundee had offered to enter into a contract to take 
100 tons a montli at £42 a ton, and inasmuch 
as the stuff can be grown, treated, baled, and 
imported into England with freights and all 
cliarges paid, including brokerage, at l^d per lb. 
this v/ould leave a very handsome margin of pro- 
fit to the grower. 
