yy 
Mar, 1900.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 217 
CULTIVATION OF RAMIE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
(from United States Consular Reports, 1899.) 
4 —There is a very large and well-defined industry in the cultivation 
i es i Southern China. The finest qualities are grown along the Yangtze, 
€ Island of Formosa, and in the Straits Settlements. 
1 the Fuchan district it is estimated that over 100 tons of cutting per 
the aan been taken. The cuttings contain over 80 per cent. of water, and 
ee from the decorticated fibre is returned to the soil, so that actually 
Ti, out 3 per cent. of material is removed from the soil at each cutting. 
Care, four crops a year may be taken, and 100 acres will produce from 
thre to 2,000 tons of green stems, of which about 5 per cent. will be good 
~~* In the Hankan district in 1897 the exports amounted to 3,939,856 lb. 
=a 
—) 
— I ams Inpra.—Reliable statistics concerning the cultivation of ramie in 
— |} ten: are difficult to obtain, since it is not grown in sufficient quantity to be 
== 'oned in commercial reports. Four or five cuttings can be made each year ; 
= est crops are taken in June and August, but the February crop yields the 
| fibre. It ig estimated, roughly, that from 1,000 to 2,400 lb. of fibre per 
al Can be gathered. 
—— 
= 
yysean .-—Ramie is known in Japan as “ karamushi,” and is cultivated chiefly 
— | 1x the wet kea. The seeds and roots are carefully manipulated by ploughing 
=a) FL the Seedling, so that finally all the ground is covered up. The whole surface 
— |} lant, field is covered with dry manure, and from the second or third year after 
=| har e 4 crop can be gathered for twenty consecutive years. The amount of 
=4 1] 401, 1s usually from 50 to 60 1b. of the commercial product and from 30 to 
| dota. or the raw material to the d-acre. The price is from 1°75 dollars to 2 
*8 per 8 lb. of commercial product. 
= | Moers Le kinds of ramie are cultivated here—the finer quality called 
| Whih 0” which makes up into a fine, silky grass cloth, and a commoner variety, 
— | fibre StOws as a weed anywhere, called ‘Sam.’ ‘There is no export of either 
=a or fabric, and in 1897 the import, mainly from China, was 216,845 dollars. 
= | Subp TTS Serriements.—In this district the cultivation of ramie is only in 
1 0. 
worth sAtCA.—The yield per acre is said to be about 40 tons of green fibre, 
| Say, £20. The cost of cultivating is from £5 to £10 per acre for the 
a Don? far, and after that, for cutting and manuring, about £9. Thus there is a 
of about £11 per acre when in full growth. 
= THE SUGAR CROP OF 1899. 
Ny 
; 4 ¢ MitustANDING the bright promise of a heavy yield. of sugar per acre during 
2) tie von just ended, the cane-planters, owing to several causes, have been 
udder, to some disappointment. The Mackay Sugar Journal says :—‘ The 
is ie all in our production from 163,7 34 tons to, in round figures, 122,500 tons, 
}  Dhaeg “Ous set-back, and unfortunately it cannot be said that we can easily 
| been Raa fingers upon one cause of the deficiency. The area under cane had 
Vet ¢ creased, and though the crops were hardly so heavy as the year before, 
Sap an Was reasonable probability that we should take off about 12 tons of 
Seng f each acre. A few days before we made our estimate of 148,000 tons, 
of ¢}, Tost occurred in several of the sugar districts, but the widespread nature 
frog. Sitation was not known to us at the time... As a matter of fact, the 
bein . Were mainly felt in the Northern sugar districts, the only place escaping 
60 aims. "rom that district down to Mackay the cold was, for this 
folly "Y, intense, and the damage done was in proportion. The cold was 
Leo €d by warmish, showery weather; and this, in the opinion of many, 
tted for the fact that the cane went back a good deal faster after frosting 
