Imports into New York— The increase in imports of crude rubber 
is steadily maintained. The supply from Brazil remained about the 
same in quantity but that from most other countries showed an in- 
crease. The imports of gutta “joolatong" {i,e. jelutong) nearly 
doubled and the value ro5 from £93,000 in 1904 to £177,000 in 
1905 " 
This jelutong comes now largely from Sumatra, as well as Borneo. 
M. Gustav Fischer of Pa Tern bang tells me the Sumatran jelu- 
tong is preferred by dealers nc . He has been tapping trees after 
the style used in Para-rubbe* trees and is obtaining improved 
samples. The tree is abundant ; n the Peninsula but seems here 
to be quite neglected. 
H. N. R. 
RAMIE AGAIN. 
Mr. EDWARDS RADCLIFFE is still perseveringly urging the 
H of Ramie as a cultivated plant to take the place of cOtv ;on> 
and has circuited a letter offering to place his process of manu- 
facture at the disposal of any planter, the only condition being that 
the planter pa^ s him a royalty, or as he expresses it he will help 
the planter to exploit Ramie on the no cure no pay principle. 
With this circular he sends samples of very fine Ramie silk, and 
also an Article horn the British Trade Review, illustrated by a 
picture of its growth { n five months, apparently 8 or 9 feet tail. 
I think this can hardly be reckoned as an average growth of the 
plant, at least in this part of the world. 
The article is long and naturally gives much that is known to 
all, but some statements seem rather too sanguine. Thus “Ramie 
fetches to-day £32 a ton, f have had to pay as much as £40 though 
I have bought as low as £18.” I am informed it can be grown at 
an average price of £y to £ 8 . I know the Natives in Asiatic coun- 
tries are satisfied and make a profit on £10. The best proof of 
that it is a profitable crop I gather from Chinese sources. I am 
informed it costs about £7 to grow Ramie in Asiatic Countries and 
the Chinamaa seYls his crop for £12 or £14 a ton. An eminent 
authority- tel Is me it can be grown to sell at a profit for £10." That 
is to say, about $5 a pikul. Now Ramie is far from a cheap plant 
to grow. It requires a good deal of labour, good soil and heavy 
manuring, to make it grow at all well. 
It requires a very considerable area to produce a pikul, and five 
dollars worth of manure, would not go very far towards manuring 
this. Where is any possible profit to come from in £10 a ton?" 
It was on absurd figufes like those given by Mr. RadCLIFFE that 
the estimates of the profit was based and which probably induced 
the buyers in the early days of the recent attempts to push Ramie 
to the front, to offer £12 and £15 a ton. It may be well doubted 
that Ramie can be produced in any country where* labour is not 
excessively cheap, at much le .han £30 per ton. 
