Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1883-12-01
THE R.iMIE TNDUsTRY.
IT'S Many PossibHit'es az an dopHiorb
uoWaiioH Product.

Of the valuable transactions of the East Indiar
Society contain articles on the plant known
here and in Malaysia as ramie," in India a,
"rheea OF "kunkhoora," in Sumatra as " ca
loee," in Japan, as "isjo karao," in China
as "chu " or "tchou ma" Botanically il /,
known as 6othmeyia aivea, as n,fiea MIRA and
as Ufica hnaciSIma. Commercially it known
as "China grass and from il are made the
beautiful grass fabrics Of China-which riva
linen in fneness of texture and almost riva
silk in lustre.
Ramc on these islands is known chiefly by
the experiments Of Mr.. c. c. Coleman in cul
tiva,ion and in the preparation Of the raw
fabric. The following description of the
plant, the raw material, and the various fab
RIGS and textile products made from it is
taken chiefly from the Report on the Pre-
paration and Use Of the Rheea Fibre" made
to the British Secretary of Foreign Affairs for
India in 1875, by DR.. J. Forbes Watson,
government reporter on the products of India
who had studied the subject in both Eng
Etnu anu lnuia anu WhoHc hhBuaSe n,
concisely yet cogcntly states the points it is
desired TO present that no special examination
by an Hawaiian writer would be likely to
make those points more clearly. To those
extracts have been added a description Of Mr..
Coleman's machine for cleaning the green
stalks of rame, extracting the gluten which
renders the fibre unmanageable in manufac'
ture, and ultimately producing raw fibre in a
condition to be treated by the manufacturer.
And the results of several conversations with
the same gentleman are given TO prepare the
public for the views which will soon be before
them in prospectus form-as an effort to form
joint stock company for the culture OF the
ramie plant and the production of merchant
able ramie fibre.
"In habit the rheea or ramie is a shrub,
varying in height from five to eight feet. The
branches are covered with short spreading
hairs the leaves on long hairy leaf stems,
broadly caudaie with serrate margins, ter
minating suddenly in fine point; the under
leaf is covered with dense white down ;
peduncles hairy, usually two together, carry.
ing nearly sessile flowers"
Those who attended the last agric ultura
fair must have noticed the box of ramie plants
there. The residents of Waialua, Oahu,
Kona, Hilo, and Hamakua, on Hawaii, and
Wailuku, on Maui, know something of ramie
from observation, for it ha S been successfully
grown at al those places.
Most residents OF Honolulu, doubtless, have
noticed high picket fence, surrounding an
oblong lot just east Of the premises OF the Rev.
c. NJ. Hyde Inside this fence the curious may
notice shrub answering to the description
given above, growing meath the shelterng
shade of bananas and palms and other trepic
trees. This plant is ramie. If you care to
examine it call on Mr.. Coleman, and when
he can spare the time he will show it you
there-or in a little plot at the rear OF his
shop-and ,alk to you about it most interest
ingly, telling you more about it in one hours
conversation than you could CLEAN from books
in two--for he will give you the golden grain
Of the subject without the chaff.
Ina nut shell, ramie is plant whose fibre
may be used in the manufacture OF cordage
it makes rope stronger and yet lighter
than hemp nets--the Javanese and Malays
have used it for this purpose for years carpets
in combination with wool or iute sail
making--as firm as linen, and yet lighter ;
dress goods--alone or in combination with
linen, cotton, silk, alpaca, mohair, or jute.
It has wider range Of Combination than any
other textile fibre and is the strongest vege-
table fibre known Of which practical use has
been made.
The East Indian estimate OF ramic growth
give 25o pounds as the average yield per acre.
from one crop of ramie. But the plant grows
to much greater size in these islands-nine
feet in nine weeks having been shown at Kona,
Hawaii. II ramie covers the ground well-as
il does almost invariably on these islands
four stalks to a square inch is a small estimate.
At that rateI6 square feet would yield pound
Of fibre OF one ton per acre.
So far as these Islands are concerned the
great question is to find other crops that will
grow with little OF no irrigation and supple
mcnt the sugar industry. The value Of the
ramie fibre is unquestioned. The modern
interest in ramie dates from about 1903. From
that date until now there have been expert
ments made in culture, manipulation Of fibre,
and manufacture Of cloth. So FAR as the East
Indian experiments have gone the present
r.. IA If
date from 1869. In April Of that year the
Government Of India addressed circular to
the agricultural and horticultural societies in
India with the object Of elicitng from them
all the information in their possession with
regard to the growth and preparation Of rheea
fibre in India. The communications received
from the societies, as well as from some gen.
temen who had been for years engaged in ex-
perimenis with the plant, led to the publca-
ton Of the resolution Of September a., 1909,
in which the Government Of India expresses It's
conviction that the value Of the rheea fibre Is
undouhted, that the conditions necessary ioI
its cultivation on a large scale are presen, in
India, and that the only obstacle to the de.
velopment Of an extensive trade in this pro
duct was the wan, Of suitable machinery foi
the separation of the fibre from the stems and
bark Of the plant in its green OF freshly cut
state To do precisely this thing is wha, Mr..
Coleman claims fos his machine.
To encourage the invention ard psodue'
,ioa Of such machinery Il was determined to
issue prizes. one Of Ls,ooo and one ol
Lsnoo. fos the bes Two machines. the merits
70 be dessssaised Al trials to he held IN India,