Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1869-09-18
Ramie-The New Textile Material y.

Specimens Of Ramic. the rew textile
material, were on exhibition Mt the expo.
siiion OF textile fabrics in Cincinnati the
early part of the last month. Ra-
mie. kind Of grass-or some of its va.
rietics belong 70 this class-is a native of
Japan, and seems destined 10 become a
formidable competitor with some of the
liner fabrics now in use; for it furnishes.
when properly treated. kinds of manu-
factured articles that bear a strong re-
scmhlancc to silk.
IL was first introduced into this coun-
try in 1867, 10y ID. Bento Roczl. a Span-
lard of Louisiana. and has been raised in
small Quantities in that State. and in
Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas. Mr..
Bacon, of New Orleans, the gentleman
who contributed this article 10 the exhi-
bition, says, ''thc Ramie plant. which
was introduced here in 1867, has been
quite extensively propagatcd, but has
not, as yet, sufficiently increased to be
cultivated for sale in fiber, but has thus
far been more proftably sold to plant,
or has been increased for future produc-
tion of the fiber He knows Of one man
who has twelve acres un;ler cultivation.
and another WIN has much more" He
says, "the Ramie is certain to take a
place with, or second to no other product
OF the soil. There can be no doubt of
It's strength, beauty and fneness 1t is
more productive than hemp, and actually
grows from the stubble from wear to
year. The seed does not terminate
readily, but the plant is easily propaoat-
ed by root cutting, layers, and by cut
tings of the stalk at a ctrtain stage. It
is very vigorous in growth, and in lati-
tudes where the ground does not freeze
to greater depth than foot, it is Pc
rennial. The fiber, like that Of hemp. is
in the inner bark OF the stalk, and is
therefore less liable to be DESTROYED by
worms than cotton and beside, is as
9ardy as the cotton plant is delicate
The stalk may be cut several times in a
season, according to latitude; in south
ern Mexico as many as five times The
fiber can be prepared for market in
twenty-four hours after it is cut.''
"The fiber, which is white and long
has remarkable resemblance to raw
silk. The shirting cloth resembles fine
linen, except that the threads are even.
The handkerchiefs resemble fine linen
cambric, except that the threads are
more even, and that these as well as the
shirting cloth have a silky gloss These
representations would seem to Indicate
that the Ramie will be likely to become
formidable rival for the place that is
now, and for n long time has been occu-
pied by silk, flax, and cotton, or for the
finer fabrics that are produced from
them, or more especially for the last two.
1t may he grown with much less labor,
and with more certainty than cotton,
while it may be produced farther North,
and 1t may be employed for the manu-
tacture of finer and more elegant
fabrics than can be produced from cot
ton.
1t ia supposed that Ramie forms a con-
siderable portion of the material of the
silks that are brought to this country
from Japan and China. 1t bears such
marked resemblance to silk that it,would
be difficult to detect mixture of it with
silk goods