The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-11-19
Length Of time.
Quantity. I Value.

| nrl. -
Fourth and subsequent years. ls,74o 12O 81
The farmers OF those countries. where irriga-
ton greatly enhances the cost Of cultivation and
| frequent manuring is necessary by reason of the
worn condition of their svil, realize q net profit
OF from 900 to 200 francs per hectare, equal to
from $40 to 800 profit per acre. This, for a
crop which after being once established grows
spontaneously for twenty or twenty-five years,
must be regarded an excellent result.
Thus far the company al Avignon purchases
| nearly all the ramie that is raised in the Med-
terranean region, and does its utmost to extend
and encourage the cultivation of the plant among
farmers, but before ramie culture can be perma
| nently profitable on q large scale in America it
will be necessary that the fiber be manufactured,
at least decorticated. in the districts where it
| is grown. This leads to the second and hitherto
by far the most difficult part of the subject.
THE MANUFACTURE OF RAMIE.
| 1t would doubtless be interesting, although far
transcending the proper limits of this report, to
review the long series of machines and processes
which have been brought forward by inventors
OF different countries, notably those of England,
Belgium, and France, as well as the United
States, to separate perfectly and rapidly the
tough, silky fiber of the ramie plant from the
woody pith and exterior epidermis between
which it is eucased.
For centuries the Chinese and Japanese have
extracted the fiber by slow and laborious hand
processes, and the limited product thus obtained
has been used for the manufacture of cordage,
fishing nets, paper and for summer clothing,
which last is SD durable that after having been
worn two or three seasons the simpe process Of
redyeng is said to restore ii to almost its origi-
nal freshness and luster. Early Russian writers
report that the silks imported to that country
from China were for a long time adulterated with
ramie before the trick was discovered the princi-
mol off Foot rfo adj hof n q
fabric more strong and durable. About the be-
ginning of the present century its culture was
introduced into the British East Indies, where
it was hoped that it would supersede the use of
jute, but this project failed through the inability
| Of the natives to readily extract the
6ber lis culture, however, was consd
erably extended, and England imported
more than 100000 pounds Of fibre in 1868
and about z 900 900 pounds in 1855. Meanwhile
very little improvement had been made in the
process of decoriication, and in 1879 a competi-
| tive exhibition Of ramie machinery was opened
at Saharumpore, in the province of Bengal, at
which prize of $4,000 francs was offered for
the machine which should show the most def
mite improvement, even though not wholly sat-
isfactory Twenty-four competitors were en-
tered, but only seven actually took part in the
| contest, among whom was the "Campaguie In
dustrielle" of Paris, which presented a machine
! invented by M. M LabOrie and Bertbet.
None of these inventions solved the problem,
and the grand prize was not awarded, though
the jury gave a premium of IL, 500 francs to the
| least defective machine as an encouragement for
its inventor to further efforts The future of the
! ramie industry remained as uncertain as was that
of cotton until Whitney invented the cotton GIN
| Experiments were continued with renewed Wig
| or and about 1880 Mr.. Faver produced his ma
chine, upon the success of which, as already
stated, the Ramie Franchise at Avignon was
| based. The five samples accompanying this re-
to fhn A,6. tufac NJ
ufacture as practced by this company, and are
| as follows:
l. Dried stalk of the ramie plant (the woody
part of this specimen being broken into sections
for convenience of transport by mail)
g. Cleaned fiber as it comes from the Favier
machine
3. The same after bleaching.
4. The same after being combed.
5. Skeins of white and colored thread in read
mess for weaving and other purposes
THE FAvIER DEcoRTICATINa MACHINE
consists OF cast-iron frame about Is feet in
length, bearing train of twenty or more pairs
of corrugated iron rollers 81 inches in diameter.
| These rollers work against each other In pairs,
the Journal boxes of the upper tier being g. t un-
der springs which yield when any thick part
passes through, and thus obviates breakage.
Smooth wooden cylinders are inserted at two
points in the train, the whole of which Is worked
| by beveled gearing on q longitudinal shan, the
relative speed of the different pairs being so ad-
justed that the stalk in passing through is first
broken TO eliminate the wooden portion, and the
fiber subsequently, drawn sufficiently to remove
the epidermis, both of which waste portions fall
to the ground, while the fiber passses through
and is gathered in handstul at the end Of the
| machine
The stalks are fed lengthwise and singly by
| hand, alternately through one Of two orifices at
the head OF the machine. II 10 just here that the
| <>Tt tI,o FSwin maj "a
comes apparent. Il is simple in construction,
easy of operation, durable and strong; its pro-
duct is practically perfect In respect TO quality,
but the amount of its daily work Is limited to
the number Of stalks that can be fed" TO II
singly and by hand. One hundred pounds ef
cleaned fiber per day is the limit OF its capacity,
and The product Of factory can only be en-
larged by increasing the number Of its machines.
| There are 10 the United States and other coun-
tries other decorticating machines Of larger ca
pacity, one of which is reported to clean 800 or
900 pounds of fiber per day, but the samples OF
ut the Office Of the company at Aviguon, were 20
inferior in quality as to admit Of no comparison
with that herewith inclosed. The merit Of the
Fsyier machine ID that it initiates mechanically
the hand process of the Chinese, BY which the
fiber is not only perfectly cleaned, but turned
ont in the sof si,kv condition which 4 essential
to all the higher forms bf ramie manufacture.
For coarse fabrics, such. as gunny cloth, the fiber
| msy be extracted by the wet OF rUtting process;
there is another method, which consists 10 boil
ing the stalks in certain alkalies, bat these are
ali either too expensive or they leave the fbef
weakened by fsrmentation o.. spoiled for fine
manufacture by the stains which Il receives from
the sanniu contalned In the bark.
We come now to the practical motive Of thu
report, which 10 Q reply 70 numerous Inquiries
from the United Staies - 70 the conditions i'm
posed By the propristoe q the Fsvtss machine
apos in sals snd - b sthss sDsstriss. fes
resaous which sssm conelsnive n II Company
OF which that eeuslsman b u sls hsad. Ne ma
chIae b sol sDId 70 Tho tnsda fAe wos& whic1
Il performs b diGlculs. sn1 ~ 0nehiss rsqutssl
10 be opessisd usdss ssQgtnqe1 s1puvtsiss
ana favosniDls een1l1isnA 1he oBsseetsaaioa q
shs alsr = osly 60 = : eslse = pssssuss'
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