The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-04-04
COLUMBIA, sC.
Sunday morning, April 4. 1853.
Dei,.'s. E1perimentaI E''ara 1onrnal. !


Deits's E1perimentaI Earra .toarnal. 4
Mr.. George A. ,Deitz has at Chambess.
burg, in Pennsylvania, a1arge experimental
farm, the cultivation Of which he has car
ried on for six years past. He has devoted
himself to the,study of cereals and grasses,
with aview to improving the quality OF
seeds. introducing new varieties, ascertain
ing their adaptation to different soils. and
climates, and the modes OF treating, them
by manure and tillage. He has now issued
th,, first number, of q journal with the title
which we have given at the head of this
paragraph. It contains several interesting
articles. There is an article on the lamie
or China grass, . new textile substance of
great value, which might be cultivated in
the Southern States. It is sort of nettle,
with FIBRE of great strength, capable of
very minute division. The periodical be-
fore us says:
"It has been used extensively in making
the beautiful and lustrous goods known as
Japanese silk. Within two years past,
several firms, especially Messrs. Wade IS
Son, of Bradford, England, and others,
have succeeded by chemical means in bring
ing the fibre into state most resem bling
the best mohalr, or other bright worsted,
and have worked up great quantities of the
rehned material as substitute for worsted
IN many kinds of stiff goods; always, how
ever, in combination with cotton-the warp
being cotton and the weft ramie-as they
have not yet been able to work it properly
alone. The manufacture Of worsted goods
mas become an immense trade, of which
bradford has at present almost monopoly,
although the manufacture is extending into
many parts of England. Most of these
goods are of mixed material-that is, are
made with cotton warps. For articles re-
curing stiff, strong and cool texture, com
blned with glossy, silky appearance, it is
found that the prepared ramie makes the
very best material.
ut is shown here that the market value
of this new fibre is very high, and that
there is always great demand for the raw
material, and each year the demand will
increase. Here, then, isa great and rapidly
increasing market for certain vegetable
production at very high price. With our
great bleaching processes and flax breaking
machinery, in which the ramie can be
broken and bleached and prepared in the
best style for shipment it will pay Southern
planters better than any special crop that
they can raise In the South. there are
vast tracts of country which are in the same
latitude, and have nearly the same climate
as those districts of China wherein the grass
is native. We should be able to grow this
fibre to great advantage. Why not, then,
introduce its culture to as large extent as
possible? Enterrisinpg planters and farmers
throughout the South should give this
plant their attention at once The day is
not distant when manufacturers in this
country will take hold of it to manufacture
such worsted and mixed silk goods as are
manufactured in England. In the mean
time there is market in England for all we
can conveniently grow, and planters can
experiment with the seed, having in view
the market price of the raw material Seve-
raj experiments have been lately made in
some OF the Southern States which demon
strates that it can be grown as far North as
the Potomac River