62 
ideal place for growing this fibre. There is a question about the 
growing of it that you will know better than I can possibly do and 
that is as regards cutting at the proper time. This I consider 
ought to be done only when the flower is beginning to fall and the 
seed to form on the plant. It ought not to be a matter of height 
of stems or the time those have grown and should be solely one 
of maturity of fibre. \ his that you send me seems to want this 
but possibly this arises from the plants being young. From all 
that 1 have seen it appears to belong to the black variety, the worst 
that can be grown. I arrive at this from a quantity that f have of 
the wild black variety which only differs from this in its length 
which is two-thirds less than this of yours. In that letter of Mr. 
Baxendale’s in the October No. of the Bulletin he mentions the 
black variety, and the fact of its having been sent to the public 
destructions at Liverpool. Through the firm that he represents I 
was aware of this as they told me no one would take it at a gift. 
Why Mr. BAXENDALE or any one else should persist in growing 
this stuff is a mystery to me as I am of opinion it is as easy to grow 
the best as the worst, that is to say if the best can be got. Nothing 
that I have seen can equal the beauty and quality of the China grass 
ribbon and I somehow think that no European grower has ever 
got the genuine roots of this finest of the^ramies. Good as some of 
it is that I have handled it cannot compare with this for quality and 
. length of fibre. The waste on it too is only about a half as com- 
pared with good fine ramie and only about a quarter of what this 
sample of yours will lose. In removing the black skin on this of 
yours I lose fully 22 ounces. After this I have the gum to get rid 
of so that the sample will lose not less than 50^. By this you will 
see how expensive and wasteful it would be to grow this if better 
can be had. At the same time it could be freely used if put on the 
market at a low figure as it could be used easily with the bark re- 
moved similar to the enclosed sample. It says much for Mr. 
Bax EN DALE’S perseverance that with such meagre results he has 
not lost faith and hope of ultimate success. To get of ribbons 
only = to 56 lbs. from one ton of stems would have disgusted 
most men. Such a result as this in its pottering insignificance 
proves the uselessness of any machine for such a purpose and if 
better result than this could not be obtained the growing of ramie * j 
would be better left alone. 1 enclose sections of stems that were 
grown in the Glasgow Botanic Gardens and which came off quite 
clean and the ribbon did not shrivel in the way that most of it does 
that is taken off when green. In taking it off 1 get every particle 
of fibre that one can get when the stem is green as there is 
always an inner peel that adheres to the woody portion of the stem. 
As you want to know the selling value of the fibre I enclose a sam- 
ple of some for which £37.10 a ton is asked. 1 also enclose a strip 
of the cream of this fine fibre which I recognize as China grass which 
no effort ought to be spared to produce. Most that has come here 
is that black stuff which has simply damned the fibre and disgusted 
all who have taken it in hand. As to getting an outlet and mar- 
ket for the fibre if it could be had in quantity and delivered read)- 
