Dec. I, 1897 ] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
407 
of US will, in spite of equable temperature, goorl soil 
and well-disiributed rainfall, succeed in getting 
78 tons per acre — which Mr. MacDonald makes out, 
ac ording to his occult system of aiithmetic, is a fair 
yield. 
I see that the old word rhea is used in your extract. 
It is better that we should now drop it and stick to 
ramie as the name of the plant we are talking about. 
At one time rhea and ramie were considered to be 
a distinction without a differen -e, but that is not so 
now, and the words should not be confounded. — Yours 
truly, D. 
Colombo Oct. 30. 
Dear Sir, — In a letter written by the Manag- 
ing Director (Mr. MacDonald?) of the Boyle 
Fibre Syndicate to the Seer, tary to the Queens- 
land Agent-General the following passage occnr.s : 
“If a guarantee could be given that 500 acres would 
be put down under cultivation and the product sup- 
plied to the mill, my company would be di.s])osed 
to put up the mill, and the required machinery, 
and pay the farmers at the rate of 21 per Ih. 
for every lb. of white degummed lilasse produced 
from the stems supplied by them, or so much 
per ton for the stems supplied after. We have 
tested the apiount of fibre produced, which would 
be about 4 per cent of the weight of the green 
stents.” 
It is a pity Mr. MacDonald did not volunleer 
to make similar arrangements in Ceylon, only 
olfering something more than 2d per lb ! In the 
above extract the fibre is said to be about 4 
per cent, of the weight of the green stems. We 
have a recollection that Mr, MacDonald put down 
tlie percentage as between 2 and 3. Wliich is it? 
We want something definite to go upon. — Yours 
truly, D. 
3rd Nov. 1897. 
Dear Sir, — Your corr spondent “D,” has very 
clearly exposed the simple error made by Mr. Mac- 
Donald iu his estimates. The latter has taken a 
square yard, on paper, and planted it up at eighteen 
inches apart, quite forgetting that the plants on its 
boundaries would requu’e a share of the soil in the ad- 
joining square yards, and in his estimate of plants per 
acre he has further allowed for lo vaoaucies caused by 
rocks, tree-stumps or drains. But there are other 
points on which information of a practical nature is 
desirable. 
To begin with, the expert allows for road.s and 
tramways three hundred acres in a twelve hundred 
acre block. Even if this large area is necessary for 
the regular and rapid collection and transport of 
crop, it is doubtful whether sufficient allowance has 
been made for the maintenance of three hundred 
acres of roads, especially as regards their weeding 
and drainage. 
as he allows abus in Ceylon six months, instead of 
three, for the stems to mature after the cuttings 
are planted : no details, however, are given of the 
cost of the period which usually elapses before 
planting can be commenced. And there is appa- 
rently some confusion as regards the yield. If, just 
for the sake of argument, we take Mr. MacDonald’s 
figures, at 78 tons of stems per acre per annum, we 
have, he tells us, to make each cooly cit and deliver to 
the tram lines six cwts. of stems (from two acres) 
for a day’s work, at intervals of six weeks. Bbt 
three cwts. per acre multipled by eight cuttings per 
annum gives only 24 ewes. Even in an “ equable 
climate,” there would evidently be a serious shortage, 
and the cooly would have to find more stems than 
the expert reckoned, and telephone to the' mills 
for more tram cars. 
Next as regards the cultivation. We are not told 
whether Mr. MacDonald has ever grown Ramie 
himself on any large scale ; apparently not. As one 
who has cultivated it, though not on a commercial scale, 
so long as ten years ago, I may, perhaps, be allowed to 
suggest to the expert that such close planting as 
ha proposes, 18 inches, even though ic only gives a 
paltry 19.360 plants per acre, instead of double, that 
number, would most probably only lead to rapid de- 
terioration. The advantages he claims are, of course 
ctelightfu! to coiitemplj.te : (1) no weeding necessary 
after ^ the plants are three feet high, let ns say after 
the first two months: (2) the production of stems 
so extra long and free from knots that the market 
value could not possibly fall below 4142 per ton 
though, of course, buyers might gladly pay more I 
do Dot claim to have ever seen even one acre’ of 
Rhea growing wild, but I very greatly doubt if it is 
to be found anywhere growing naturally as closely 
as the expert proposes to grow it. Mv plants were 
grown three feet apart: I supposed when plantin<r 
them they would require air, sunlight and soil ArT 
parently my impression was correct ; the v grew very 
luxuriantly and the roots nearly met after six months 
Mr. MacDonald evidently proposes to have no cub 
tivation whatever : the cuttings have merely to be 
planted and then the climaie and the cooly rnatnrp 
and .art) do the rest. 
Af.er this captious criticism, it will probaby sur 
prise you, Mr. Editor, to learn that, like your cor- 
respondent ‘‘D,” I am also a believer in Ramie 
cultivation. But I should prefer to see Rhea grown 
as a subsidiary crop, or at any rate combined with 
some other product, and I should certainly prefer 
to buy decort'cating machinery outright rather than 
pay away twenty-five per cent of my profits to any 
inventor. I raise no objection to the price quoted 
£42 per ton, though, as BIr. MacDonald’s figures of 
crop have had to be reduced by half, the price 
might fiurly be increased. The sample which I sent 
home in 1887 was, of course, prepared by hand 
and was valued at rather less than £40. ’ 
I should deprecate planting any closer than three 
feet. Though this would still further reduce the 
number of plants to 4,840 per acre, I should be 
able to obtain a better quality of fibre, not only 
because the stems would be grown more naturally and 
would have the advantage of air and siinliaht but 
because I should have space (which the expert would 
not) for working the soil between the rows and re 
turning to it all the waste foliage and stems And' 
I do not think that by this system of cultivation 
my weeding would be expensive. I make no stipu- 
lation for an equable climate : we must forego that 
111 Celyon. But I venture to suggest that Rhea 
planted at this distance would yield per acre quite 
as good returns as plants treated on the wild 
kitchen-garden system which Mr. MacDonald has so 
strenuously advocated.— Yours faithfully, 
’ B. E. 
PLANTING NOTES FROM SOUTHERN 
INDIA; 
RAMIE CULTIVATION, SHADE TREES 
AND COFFEE, &G. 
Oct. 28. 
Dear Sir,-! have carefully perused your notes and 
the writings of various Planters on the cultivation of 
the Ramie plant, but failed to discover that any one 
reaped a profitable crop. More than 12 years aco Tpv 
perimented with this plant, growing about ± acre in n 
ravine with good soil, but only managed two Pood 
cuttings annually and the fibre I used f 01 general 
use on the estate. general 
I have it again here in a ravine, but so far 
not given it any attention. I have seen its cnlH 
vatiou in Tiuuevelly district on the Parapet p -n 
party. If it is to be cultivated to give a^-etnra' 
It must be grown on good flat land, capable of 
being _ planted and irrigated and also manured 
Padi field l. nd is suitable. 
I suppose you r ceive that weekly 
“Planting Opinion” I occasionally Lve a loot 
at It and observe it makes copious notes from 
the Trapical Agriculurist-ii js a miserably co^ 
