Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1889-04-27
RHsRA FIBER.
rne Cultivation of the Ramie Plant
or China Grass.

which eminently recommend II Tor use
in textile manufactures have rendered.
that Esant the subject OF solicitous Az
tontion for many years past. The pro-
duction of the fiber in quanty In an
economical manner and in suitable con-
dition for textile purposes, constitutes
in fact, one of the most important In
austrial problems of the present DAY
For more than thirty years endeavors
have been made 10 utilize this hoer
commercially; many thousands oil
pounds have been spent the aid OF ooth
mechanical and chemical science has
been evoked, but almost all in yain'tor
although this fiber is used TO some ex-
tent, that extent Is extremely circum-
scribed. Twice during the past elgh-
teen years the Indian government has
offered prize OF $4,000 for machine
which should effectually produce tho
fiber in the required condition. the
prize having been twice competed Tor
and twice withdrawn. The French
government has recently taken up the
matter and has offered prizes OF the
value OF 6,OO0f. for any process or
machine that win produce the fiber
in commercial quantities and proper
quality. The trials OF the competing
machines are, we believe, now being
carried out in Paris. Our own col
umns have borne witness during the
past 1--we years 10 several attempts which
have been made in this direction, both
mechanical. and chemical, the vari-
GUS processes having been inyestigat'
ed and reported upon by US. But
promising as these processes appeared
and some were tried on fair work.
ing scale-they do not appear TO have
been introduced into practical use in a
regular commercial way. The great
difficulty in the way OF success Is the
satisfactory treatment OF the gummy
matter in which the tiberis embedded
II has been found easy 10 dscorticate
the rheea stems-that is 10 remove the
fiber, with its adhering bark and
cemendtious matter, from the wood,
but difficult TO produce the tibers clean
and free from all extraneous adherent
matter, ready for the spinner, on a
commercial scale. This holds good
with all the varieties OF this fiber,
whether they be known under mo
name of China grass, rheea or ranie;
being the Indian and ramie the Malay
name for the same plant.
The solution of this important difil-
Guilty has lately been taken up by Mr..
John Orr Wallace, OF Belfast, who has
approached It from mechanical point
OF view, and the machine with which
he hopes to solve the problem is to be
seen in operation in the Irish Exhibl.
ton at Olympia Not that Mr..
Wallace has as yet gone very far into
the subject; he has, in fact, not done
much more than touch the fringe Of II.
But what he Is so far able TO demon.
strate is 80 satisfactory that IL Is with,
in the range of possibility that he may
eventually succeed in accomplishing hi.
object One thing Is very certain ant
that is, that with a machine construct
ed for another purpose, as the on'
under notice Is. and admittedly imper
feet as regards its treatment OF tbs
rheea plant, the fiber Of the latter car
be, aud is, obtained unchanged anC
fairly free from the woody stem. The
machine in question Is fax scutchinl
machine OF novel design, and about
feet and inches high by feet wide
and feet long over all; its working
capacity being put at cwt. Of rettet
fax per hour. II consists OF an uppei
feed table on which the fax straw {
fed In three pairs Of futed roll
ers, which deliver the fax down
ward between five pairs Of pin
ming tools, alternating with six pair,
OF guide rollers. The pinning tool
somewhat resemble hand hackles, ant
may be popularity described as yer.
course wire brushes. They are at
tached TO two vertical frames, TO which
horizontal 10 and fro motion is i'm
parted, and the pins interlace as thC
sides approach. The flbrous materia
is drawn downward by the rollers
which have an intermittent motion
and at each momentary pause tn,
priclcing pins enter the material an,
are rapidly withdrawn from IL. BY de
grees this fbrous descending curtain
delivered on TO a sloping receivin
table at the bottom of the machine
over which table the woody substanc
has previously passed TO a receiver 1
crushed and semi-pulverized condi
ton and perfectly free from fiber. Tn
machine, which is OF simple construC
ton, is the first full sized one Mi
Wallace has had constructed, and, ow
ing TO hasty manufacture, some allow
ance has 10 be made in respect of war
OF finish. But inasmuch as il docs Il
work perfectly as regards flax, Oh
principle would appear to be correc