140 
tubers throw up shoots much faster than stem-cuttings, Tli< 
stems themselves grow very rapidly and attain a height *mde 
certain circumstances of about eight feet, but they are best cu. 
when about four feet high. When fit to cut the bark should be 
brown and the stems quite firm. When over four feet tall the 
fibre appears to be inferior and to deteriorate with growth. 
Enemies . — The only enemy I have seen is a small moth-eater 
pillar which rolls the leaf up and eats it. It does not appear t< 
injure the plant much, unless it occurs in great quantities, but 
spoils the appearance of the plant, and may weaken it by retar* 
ing the growth of the stem. It seems to be most abundant . 
damp grounds. The caterpillar is about an inch long, of a dirt 
green colour with a blackhead, and is sprinkled over with scant 
hairs. It turns into a chrysalis in the rolled up leaf, and in a fe\ 
days comes out into a small grey moth belonging to the group 
Pyralidce. It is one inch wide across the wings, which are gre^ 
with yellowish and iridescent reflexions with obscure darke 
grey spots in three transverse wavy bands. The margins of th 
wings are fringed and grey. The antennae are long and slendei 
yellowish brown, the eyes black, the legs long with white coxaT 
the rest of the legs ocreous yellowish. The body is white belov. 
but coloured like the wings above. 
The caterpillars can be removed by hand if they are found tc 
be injurious or too abundant. 
Extraction and treatment of the fibre . — A very large number of 
machines and processes for extracting the fibre of ramie have 
been invented, and fresh ones constantly under trial. Sonn 
recent inventions have been stated to be perfectly successful ii 
every way, but not having seen them actually in work, it if 
impossible to give any opinion as to their value. The Faure 
machine seems to be the most popular one at the present time. 
In one form of ramie grown in sandy loose soil in Penang it 
was found that the stems were soft and hollow instead of woody 
and solid, and that by beating them with wooden mallet on a 
board, the woody fibre could be broken up so as to be easily- 
washed out. Not only was this a very simple process, but more 
fibre was obtained than by stripping the bark and washing it out 
as a considerable amount of fibre remained on the sticks after 
stripping, which could not be got off. Most ramie sticks are toe 
hard for this treatment, and it remains to be seen whether thi 
softer hollow stemmed form would not be more valuable to cul 
tivate than the hard form. It may, however, be merely a form 
due to.its cultivation in poor soil, in which case it would probably 
on treatment with manure, or planting on richer soil, develop: 
into the stronger woody form. 
lJ ses , — The fibre of ramie may be said the best fibre known 
for general purposes. In strength it is as strong, and in some 
trials has proved stronger, than Russian hemp. It presents an 
unusual resistance to the effects of moisture, and is finer than 
flax. A small admixture of it improves paper, but it is at pre- 
