The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-11-19
o. 8. Consular Reports, August 1885,
CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE OF RA-
NILE AS A TEXTILE MATERIAL.
REPORT sr CONSUL MASON OF nARsxr1Lr,

REPORT CONSUL MASON OF MARsEnLEs.
The various inquiries which have been re-
ceived at this consulate concerning the culture
OF rauie, otherwise known as rhea or China
grass, and the new methods and machinery
which are at present employed in converting the
crude fiber into various textile products, have
suggested the preparation of the following re-
port, the purpose of which will be TO show the
highly improved and successful results which
have been attained in Southern France and
thereby define, as clearly may be- the condi-
tons under which the culture Of this important
staple may be proftably undertaken in the
United States.
The subject is not a new one, for the culture
OF ramie has been more or less successfully at
tempted in Louisiana and other portions of our
country, but the mere growth and harvesting OF
the plant are but part of the series of processes
which must be mastered before the industrial
success OF the enterprise can be assured. From
time immemOral, the Chinese and Japanese
have manufactured, from the fiber of ramie cord
age and various fabrics of wonderful strength
durability and finish. The paper which they make
from it is unequaled for pliancy and strength by
any similar European product but the question
has been whether improved machinery and
methods of Treatment could produce the cleaned
fiber so cheaply and abundantly as to make it
an important substitute for linen, jute, hemp and
cotton, all OF which 1t surpasses in respect TO
certain qualities a textile material. While its
tensile strength, its resistance to decay, and
br1lliancy OF texture have long been recognized
as superior TO either of these substances, its en-
ployment on a large scale has been seriously re-
tarded by the difficulties which attend the pro-
cess OF "decorticatiOn," which in this case means
the elimination of the woody interior of the
stalk and the thin, flexible outside bark which
Overlies the valuable fiber The problem has
been therefore mechanical rather than agricul
tural, and as some marked and definite progress
in that direction has been made within this con-
suar district during the past four years, the fol-
lowing report of that progress and the present
condition OF ramie culture aud manufacture is
herewith respectfully submitted:
There was organized in 1881, at Avignon, 80
miles north of Marseilles, under the title of La
Ramie Franchise" an incorporated company
with large capital, for the culture of the ramie
plant and the manufacture of its fiber into thread
suitable for weaving and other purposes. The
managing director of the company, Mr.. p. A.
Favier, is the inventor of decorticating ma
chine, and il was upon the presumed industrial
success of this invention that the enterprise was
based. The company has established rainle
plantations in Egypt, Algeria, and Spain, as well
as IN the neighbOrhOod of Avignon and its fac
tory, in which number of the machines of Mr..
Favier have beeen for some time in successful
operation, IS located in a small village in the
department OF Vaucluse. AS the functions OF
this company include every essential process
from the planting of the ramie root to the con-
version of its fiber into bleached and cOlored
thread, a description oil its methods will afford
perhaps fair practical exhibit of the present
status of this industry in Europe.
CULTURE OF THE RAMIE PLANT.
The rame is a perennial plant of the nette
family but without stings. 1t grows sp0ntan-
eousy in various parts OF tropical Asia, and as
already stated, is successfully cultivated in
Northern Africa, Spain, and in France
as far north the forty fourth degree
of latitude Its roots will resist frost which
penetrates the ground to depth of only
to inches, but not more than that and this
fact will mark with perhaps sufficient accuracy
the northern limit OF its profitable culture in the
United States. There are several varieties OF the
plant, but the two most important are the white
Urtco nire0) and the green LErticG utigis) The
| first of these produces fiber OF great merit and
resists cold better than the green variety, but in
the Mediterranean region its yield is less abund
ant, in respect to both the length and number of
its stalks that the UrticG utilis is generally
preferred for practical culture
In its native countries, the ramie grows best in
| q hot, moist location; in the Mediterranean re-
! giOn, it requires loose siico-calcareous soil,
| rich and sufficiently deep and mellow to permit
| the central root to penetrate downward and its
lateral ones TO extend freely and rapidly. In
harvesting the crop, the green leaves are strip
| ped from the stalk and left on the ground, thus
returning about 40 per cent of the substance oil
| the plant directly 10 the soil as manure. 1t
| grows under favorable conditions, with great
| rapidity, and, in order to be profitable, must
yield at least two cuttings each year. 1t is not
| an exhaustive crop, and on a good rich, deep
| soil would probably thrive many years without
manure, but in the worn, exhausted fields of
| southern Europe and Algeria the best results
are obtained by light annual toprdressings OF
well rotted stable manure or chemical fertilizers
Chemical analysis of the ramie PIE shows that
| the elements which it principally consumes, and
which should therefore be supplied by manar-
ing, are potash, soda, and phosphorus. These with
the nitrogen supplied by the green leaves, will
preserve any properly chosen soil from exhaus-
| lion by ramie for an indefinite period In the
Mediterranean region, where the rainfall is 80
| scanty that nearly all agriculture must be main
tanned by artificial watering, the ramie likewise
requires irrigation. Four-ffths OF the weight of
the stalk at the time OF harvesting are simply
water. 80 that unless the soil is naturally moist
| without being, however, sodden and heavy, }
| irrigation is essential 70 the best results
The preparation Of the ground is important.
Six months before planting the soil should be
Moved and subsoiled To q depth Of fifteen inches,
| and len tallow until the buried weeds and other
| heritage are thoroughly assimlated. Ii the
| ground hacks richness, u coating OF manure
| should he turned under with the fiual cross
blowing
| but in Frxnce the best season appears 10 be from
| the middle 0f March 10 th, end Of May. Autumn
planting makes the growth Of the first year more
precociOus but this requires the plants to be en-
iirelv covered With earth and still further pro-
tcctsd by topdressing Of course manure.
The ground having becs shorOughly prepared,
iurrows inches deep ere marked out at inter-
vals Of about 30 inches, 10 which are set the
plants from IL to Is inches apart. In dry coun-
tries. where irrigation b necessary, provision
must be made by farrows for the distribution OF
water along the rows, bot in most paris OF the
touthsrn Ssssss the preliminary culture Of ra-
NE would resemble closely that Of lndlan corn
erovjug from seed Pisaling should take psacs
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