1 Fes., 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 151 
pleasure in sending you the result of your rhea ribbon. It is very good and 
very promising. If you would like to send me some more to this address L will 
get it filassed and gummed. Although the fibre is yet young, it will work well, 
I think. I hope you will not let the ramie question drop; evidently there is a 
big future for it in your colony. 
At Wollongbar there is about an acre and a-half of ramie. 
In the Technological Museum attached to the Department of Agriculture 
of Qucensland there are some excellent samples of ramie fibre, and also 
samples of the various fabrics made from it. Somme of these are quite undis- 
tinguishable from silk plush. ‘They are dyed of various colours, and beautiful 
designs are worked into them. Like jute, the fibre lends itself to the manu- 
facture of coarse canvas, and to that of finer fabrics, which appear as if made 
from silk. The Department has plants for distribution, and it is yet within 
the bounds of probability that the production of ramie fibre may make progress 
in Queensland. The great trouble in connection with it has always been the 
degumming of the filasse. We have hopes, however, that the process invented 
by Mr. Faure will overcome the difficulty, and in that case there need be no 
hesitation in growing a crop which is admirably suited both to the tropical and 
temperate districts of the colony. We refer our readers to previous 
articles on ramie which have appeared in this Journal, and which give full 
instructions for planting, cutting, treatment, &c. 
RAMIE FIBRE. 
Ly the course of an interview with Mr. Kershaw, who is visiting the colonies 
with a view to opening up a trade in certain cotton thread fabrics, of which he 
is an extensive manufacturer in Manchester, the subject of fibre plants other 
than cotton was introduced. With regard to cotton, Mr. Kershaw said that 
it certainly would not pay to grow cotton in Australia for shipment to the 
home markets. The American grower got from 4 to 44 cents (2d. to 22d.) 
per lb. for his cotton. But it was not so much the fibre that paid the farmer as 
the by-products, such as cotton-seed oil, oil cake, &c. These were worth 
more than the cotton itself. Speaking of other fibres, he said he did not 
profess to be an expert in Sisal hemp, but the demand for it was very great—in 
fact, almost unlimited. The quotation in the home markets of £40 per ton, 
he said, should yield a very handsome profit even if the working expenses and 
charges amounted to 50 per cent. If 1 ton. of clean hemp is obtained per 
acre, then, at even £12 per ton, it should pay well. On the subject of jute 
and ramie, Mr. Kershaw was more emphatic. ‘There is absolutely no limit, he 
said, to the market for ramie fibre. It was in every way superior to jute, and 
whilst the finer silk-like fabrics of jute, can be distinguished from pure silk, it 
is almost impossible to do so in the case of ramie fabrics. As to the price 
quoted—£30 per ton for clean fibre—that was absurd. £30 per ton meant 
about 32d. per lb.; whilst the fibre commanded at least 6d. per lb. in the open 
market, or £56 per ton. The improved machinery would even have the effect of 
increasing the price. Ramie was a fibre which lent itself to the most delicate 
fabrics, as well as to the coarser ones. From his knowledge of the trade, and 
from what he had learnt whilst in the colonies on the subject of the adaptability 
of the soil and climate of New South Wales and Queensland to the cultivation 
of the plant, he came to the conclusion that it was eminently worthy of 
attention. 
