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If further information is required how to procure seed, plants 
and cultivate and prepare the fibre for the market, and how to 
dispose of the produce, also advice as to the installation of de- 
summing and filassing stations' manufactories, &c., in short, any 
assistance I can give to encourage the world-wide cultivation ol 
this fine fibre, you have but to apply to 
D. E I) W A R D S-R A D C LI F F E , 
2j, Bi rchington Road, 
West Hampstead, 
London. 
o 
Jugra Estate, Selangor, 
September goth , / go j. 
Ramie Cultivation. 
Sir, — l have the honour to acknowledge the receipt, through the 
Chairman of the United Planters Association, of your letter of 
Sept. 8th, No. 6489/03, covering a letter from Mr. D. Edwards- 
RadCLIFFE. The Chairman requests me to reply direct to you. 
1. Land. — In 1898 we took up 1,000 acres under grant now 
known as Jugra Estate, and 2,000 acres as a reserve, on special 
terms, for the cultivation of Ramie. 
2. Varieties. — Although very different in appearance, I cannot 
learn of any Botanical distinction between the two varieties of 
plant we cultivated. 1 took plants of each kind to Kew and Sir 
ThISELTON Dyer simply classified them both as Boehmeria nivea. 
M. BLUNTSCHLt of Sumatra sent us several plants which showed 
some slight variations and some seed was sent from India. With 
the stock raised from this seed I planted up about half an acre. 
This differed slightly from the smaller of the two kinds we have 
here, and which we have found unsatisfactory. It grows readily 
from seed and crops fairly well once or twice then rapidly deterio- 
rates. The most satisfactory way of cultivating the other is from 
stem or root cuttings. This plant surpasses in luxuriance of growth 
every form of cultivated product with which 1 am acquainfel. It 
vields six crops yearly, arriving at maturity regularly every two 
months. Dry weather reduces the length of the stem and conse- 
quently the output of the i$|re, but it makes little or no difference 
to the maturing of the fibre. 
3. Area cultivated — Early in 1900, we had planted up eighteen 
blocks of 2 \ acres each, testing different distances and systems 
of cultivation, the result of each block being separately recorded. 
We then had 30 acres of the large and 15 acres of the small 
variety, in all about 400,000 plants. 
4. Retting. — We tried several retting experiments carefully 
following the systems of treating flax as worked in Ireland and 
