The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1876-01-29
THE PACIFIC
AObertisrr.
SATURDAY, JANUARY %.
The Cultivation OF Ramie.

We make a few extracts from a pamphlet on the
" culture and manufacture of Ramie and Jute in
the United States" by Emile Lefranc, OF New
Orleans, published by the Department OF Agricui-
ture at Washington. The following rules are con-
sidered necessary FOR the cultivation Of Ranie in
the United States, and with some obEions modi-
6cations they will apply here:
First. Whether for nursery purposes or for cul-
~tigation. the land must be sufficiently elevated to
receive the benefit of natural drainage. because
the roots will not live long in a watery bottom.
Secondly. The soil must be deep. rich, light,
and moist as the sandy alluvia Of Louisiana
Manure supplies the defects in some lands in these
respects.
Thirdly. The field must be thoroughly cleared
Of weeds, plowed twice to the depth Of 6 or 10
inches if possible narrowed as much as a thorough
puIverizing requires, ana. carefully drained by
discriminate lines and bitches. Water must not
be allowed to stand in the rows of the plant.
The land being thus prepared, planting becomes
easy and promising. December, January, and
February are the best months in which to plant.
Roots. ratoons. and rooted layers are the only
available seed. They are generally 4 or 5 inches
long, carefully cut, not torn. from the mother
plant. The dusty seed produced by ramie stalks
in the fall can be sown, but it is go delicate and
requires so much care during the period of ger
mination and growth that it seldom succeeds in
open land. The regular terminating power of
that dusty seed is also questionable. The Depart
ment of Agriculture Vainly tried, a few years ago,
to diffuse this seminal cultivation by distributing
imported seed, which never terminated.
In the presence of these difficulties, and of the
sure propagation obtained from fractional roots,
sowing has been abandoned and replanting adopted
as follows:
burrows 5 or c inches deep and 8 feet apart are
opened with the pillow. The roots are laid length
wise in the middle, close in succession if q thick
stand of crop is desired, but placed at intervals if
nursery propagation is the object in view.
The first mode will absorb 5000 roots per acre,
but will save the labor of often filling the stand by
propagation. The second mode will spare three
fourths of that amount of roots, but will impose
the obligation OF multiplying by layers. Being
placed in the furrOw closely or at intervals the
roots are carefully covered with the hoe. Pulver-
lied earth and manure spread over the roots insure
an early and luxuriant growth in the spring. When
the shoots have attained a foot in height they are
billed up like potatoes, corn, and all other plants
that require good footing and protection from the
fermenting effect of stagnant water. The intervals
between the rows being ~deepened by the killing
have also a draining influence, which can be rem
dered still more effective by bitches dug across
from distant to distant, say Is feet.
Good crops are obtained by thickening the
stands. The stems are then abundant, fine, straight,
and rich in fiber. Close planting is then necessary,
inasmucb as it prevents the Objectionable branch
ing of the stalks. Crooked and branchy ramie is
unfit for mechanical decortication it causes waste
and yields an inferior quality of fiber. The period
at which the plant is ripe for cutting is indicated
by a brOwnish tinge at the foot of the stems. At
that early stage the plant, though greenish, yields
a fine and abundant flament it also produces
three or four crops, according to soil and climate.
The first cutting may be Improbable on account
of the irregularity and sparseness of the growth
but if tue stand is well raced and MANFRED over
the stubbles the ensuing cuttings will be produc-
tive. For that purpose the field must be kept
clear of grass until the growth be sufficiently dense
to expel the parasites by its shade. That neceS-
sary density ia obtained by means of the impor-
tant laying process. This consists in bending down,
right and left along the growing stand, the highest
switches, and in covering them with earth up to
the tender tip, which must not be smothered. One
of the causes of the perennity and of the vigor of
the plant is the nourisbment it draws from the
agencies of the atmosphere. Consequently the
leaves of the layers should never be buried under
ground. When properly performed, laying is very
profitable it creates an abundance of new roots,
and fills up rapidly the voids of the stand.
After two years the plants may be so thick as
to spread out in the rows. Then the pillow of the
stubble-cutter has to chop in a line. on one side,
the projecting ratoons. If well executed this opera
ton leads to notable advantages:
First. 1t extracts roots or fractional plants suit
able for the extension Of the cultivation elsewhere.
Secondly. 1t maintains, as a pruning. a vigorous
life and develops a luxuriant growth in the stand.
Thirdly. If always applied on the same side of
the row, this sort of stubble-cutting has the remar-
kable advantage OF removing gradually the growth
toward the unoccupied land in the intervals, and
of pushing it into a new position without distur-
bance,
That slow rotation preserves the soil from rapid
exhaustion, and the ramie from decay, through
the accumulation of roots under ground. OF
course this lateral blowing will not prevent the
opposite row from receiving the benefit of hoeing
after each crop. Experiments made in Louisiana
have demonstrated the efficiency of that method
to which are due the preservation and propagation
of the plant in that State, while it has been de-
stroyed in other sections for want of similar care.
1t is through such judicious methods that the old
land of China has preserved sufficient fertility to
produce constantly the ramie for many centuries.
After each cutting Chinese planters pillow on one
side and make clearly the stand then they cover
it with a thick coat of manure. That maintains
the moisture and fertility of the soil, and, at the
same time, preserves the plant from excessive heat
or extreme cold.
Case of the Bark Richmond, Capt. Weeks.
The owners of the whaling bark Richmond pre-