The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-06-12

specimens of ranie fibre. These speci-
mems have been produced in my presence
by the machines as labelled from green
ramis stalks. This fiber is in merchant
able condition, and is valued at FIVE cents
per pound.
fSpecimen No. l was obtained by the
LIE Franc Company machine, which has
corrugated rollers for breaking up the
wood, and scraping knives on an endless
chain for tearing out the wood and
for cleansing the fbers No. is from
Mr.. T. Albre Smiths machine. This has
corrugated rollers and a cylinder armed
! with scutching teeth. The stalks are run
in halfway or more, are returned and the
other end put in. The cylinder is gagged
/ by set screws, SO as to clean the fiber
more or less perfectly. In the specimen
sent one-half has been cleaned more
thoroughly than the other to Illustrate
| this point.
''No. is from the machine of the Luft
Fiber Company. This machine has cor
rugated rollers for first crushing the
stalks. which are then submitted to
| large cylinder, armed with knives and
brush-like teeth, which comb cut the
fbers while stripping off the wood and
other matter.
mo. is from the Gibson Machine
Company which first fattens the stalk,
and then, by revolving knives, peels off
the bark from the wood without disin-
tegrating the fbers.
All the machines profess to deal with
green stalks as well a. dry.
81 have also visited machine called
the VogeI, which has not been shown at
work 1t is arranged with knives for
scraping the fiber clean. There have also
been other machines on exhibition that
of the New York Fiber Company, the
Sanford patent and the RutIedge ma
chine. All these machines are candidates
for public favor. They aspire to be uni
versal decorticators, alike effective on all
sorts of fiber plants. 1t seems to mo that
the ramie needs gentler treatment than
auy of these machines can give it, and
hence will need a machine especially
adapted to its peculiarities. The T. Albrs
Smith machine and the Luft both do
fair work on ramie, and both have ca
Coleman (Honolulu machine) treats the
ramie, as am told, by system of rollers
and hot water. The specimen of fiber
sent with the exhibit is quite as mer-
nbo M h VIII I
Public attention on the fiber qdes-
ton has been directed more par
ticularly to jute aud hemp, and in
Mexico to the sgave, banana and
Spanish bayoret; but this exposition
has brought to the trout the value of the
rAmie as a wealth-producing plant, and
when the farmers shall venture to culti-
vate 1t extensively, l believe the machine
for its decortication aud preparation for
market will be forthcoming. The great
objection to such mSchiues as I have
seen is their large cost, inconVenieIt size
and wastage. They are hardly yet
adapt ed to the small farmer.
"The fiber, as produced by these ma.
chimes. still retains good deal of cellu-
lose and gummy matter, and is dark and
dirty in color, all of which must be gotten
rid of before it is fit for the spinner This
degumming and bleaching necessitates a
second process chemical one. There
are several competitors in the Exposition
for this process. That of the LIE Franc
Company appears to me to be an excellent
and satisfactory one. 1t seems to be
beyond mechanical power to free the
fiber from the gummy matter. The ma
chine men say they cannot get beyond the
quality of the specimens sent, but that
this quality will command ready sale.
and is sufficiently good to give the in
dustry of cultiyatIng the ramie a footing.
Tho chemical men say they can take this
fiber, az it leaves the machines, and at
small expense put it in shape for the
spinners; that, therefore, the industry
naturally divides itself into two branches /:
the cultivatOr, with his decOrticated pro-
duct, for which he can get cents per
pound, and the chemist, with his cleaned
and blesched fiber, for which he can get
Is to % cents per pound (present market
quotations). 1t is calculated that the
ramie can be grown and decorticated by
machines for from to 31s cents per
pound. The cost of the chemical treat
ment is not laTge-probably not over 5
cents per pound. But to Offset the large
apparent profit, the spinners say they OBJ
ject to having the fiber blesched, etc., a s
they have notions of their own, and prefer
to do it themselves; hence I think in the
end the spinner will be his own chemist
and the buyer in open market of the
Northumberland fiber, and that the for
mer's success will be in combining his
product to the machine made one. With
the close of the Exposition each of these !
machines will return to its respective To-
cality. The companies representing them
will labor to persuade people to plant jute |
and hemp and ramie to take, in fact, the |
burden ot that part of the venture, and |
that, it seems to me, is the next step |
which must be taken. We have machines, /
but no ramie. II ramie was in plenty, |
the cultivator can at least almost be guar |
anteed against loss. The industry can be !