295 
RAMIE, RHEA, CHINA GRASS. 
The cultivation of Ramie is a subject that has from time to time 
for many years past been more or less before the planters of this 
region, and there is little doubt that if the difficulties of manipula- 
tion can be overcome there are few places in which it could be 
grown to greater advantage. That it can be profitably grown in 
any kind of soil is an error. It requires as good soil and systema- 
tic" cultivation as sugar cane. There are two well defined forms 
generally recognized, one known as China Grass ( Boehmevia nivea) 
The underside of the leaves of which are white and which has proved 
hardy enough to stand an English winter, and the other Ramie or 
Rhea ( Boehmeria tenacissima ), the leaves of which are green un- 
derneath and which requires a tropical climate. These are pro- 
bably only geographical varieties of one species. In addition to 
these we ha%e had in cultivation here two other well defined forms, 
one of them having a soft and hollow stem. No sufficiently com- 
prehensive trial in order to determine the most profitable variety 
to grow in this climate has, so far as I am aware, been cariied out. 
Judging from the size of the stems and rapidity of growth the 
typical Ramie ( Boehmeria tenacissima), which is said to be a native 
of Malaya, though I have never come across it in a wild state, is 
the most promising, but whether the fibre is as good as that of 
China Grass {Boehmeria nivea) has not been definitely settled. 
Practically all that was known about Ramie and China Grass, both 
as regards planting and preparation, was summed up in the Kew 
Bulletin for September 1898. As regards planting an extract from Mr. 
Fawcett’S report on experiments made in the West Indies states 
that “the best distance to plant is twelve inches apart with eighteen 
inches between the rows on fair land, but on strong land 18-24 
inches would be quite close enough. If planted 9 inches apart they 
have to be hand weeded when young which is very expensive, 
whereas at 18 inches they can be hoed through. If the land is fairly 
rich and they are kept clean while they are young they will grow 
so thickly even at two feet that little weeding is required except 
perhaps after cutting.” In reference to yield the following is a 
summary : “ From a small patch of China Grass ( Boehmeria nivea ) 
five years old growing in the open air at Kew it has been found 
that 4 square yards yield too stems. The weight of these without 
leaves was 24 lbs. 1 his gives a yield at the rate of 29 jOco lbs. (say 
13 tons) per acre. In Algeria, Hardy found that an acre yielded 
27,000 lbs. of similar stems without leaves. De MAS, at Padua, 
found that Ramie ( Boehmeria tenacissima) yielded in the second 
year stems, without leaves, at the rate of 26,300 lbs. per acre ; in the 
third year two crops yielded at the rate of 32,360 lbs. per acre. 
The weight of raw fibre (ribbons?) per acre obtained by De Mas 
from 32,000 lbs. of green stalks without leaves 1.280 lbs. or exactly 
four per cent. FaVIER gives somewhat similar results. His actual 
yield was 1,285 lbs. per acre. In California, HiEYARD gives it at 
[,935 ^ s - P er acre * ^ i s probable that the yield of clean ribbons 
per acre on a large area, with two or three cuttings, will average 
