Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-15
THE RAMIE QUESTION.

An Important Report as to Results of Fx-
periments by the Agricultural Department
In special report Of the Department of
Agriculture to be issued tomorrow some inn
portant statements regarding the ramie ques-
ton are made from advices Just received from
Mexico, where the government is conducting
ramie experiments. 1t is stated that a ma
chine and process invented by Mr.W T. Forbes
OF Georgia has shown under rigidtests capac-
lty Of one and one-quarter tons of ramie
per working day, and that the fiber
can be cleaned and degummed at cost
of about four and seven-tenths cents per pound
Charles Richards Dodge, in charge of the de-
partment fiber Investigations, says that if these
results can be assured after the company has
begun to produce the fiber in commercial
quantity We are nearer a solution of the de-
corticator question than ramie experts have
dared to hope. In the past thirty years hun
dreds of thousands of dollars have been spent
by inventors in all parts of the world in the
effort to produce practically economical de-
cOrticator. The plant Crews to perfection in
the gulf states and in California producing
two and three crops year without replanting.
WHAT RAMIE Is.
Ramie is a plant belonging to the nettle
family, which from time immemorial has been
cultivated in China and known to botanists by
the name B9hmeria nivea, frequently called the
stingless nettle. 1t is also known as "China
grass and ''Rhea-" It has long been cult
waited also in Japan, in Java, Borneo, Sumatra
and in the East Indies, and during the present
century has been introduced into other coun-
tries. Its introduction into the United States
dates back to the year 1855.
When fully grown the plant attains height
Of four to feet clothed with large that
are green above and whitish or silvery beneath,
the fiber being formed in the bark which sur
lla sta hoy nil ~, Ia
is of rapid growth and produces from two to
four, or even fve, crops year without replant-
ing, dependent upon the climate where cuiti-
waited. In China and Japan, where the fiber is
extracted by hand labor, it is manufactured
not only into cordage, fish-iines, nets and
similar coarse manufactures, but woven into
the finest and most beautiful of fab
RIGS. In England, France and Germany
the fiber has also been woven into o great va
riety Of fabrics, covering the widest range of
uses, such as lace, lace curtains, handkerchiefs,
cloth or white goods resembling fine linen.
dress goods, napkins, table damask, table COW
ers, bed spreads, drapery for curtains or LAM
brequins, plush and even carpets and fabrics
suitable for clothing The fiber can be dyed
in all desirable shades or colors some examples
having the luster and brilliancy of silk. 1t is
one Of the strongest and most durable of ibers,
is least affected by moisture of all fbers and
from these characteristics must take first rank
III value as textile substance. It has
three times the strength Of Russian hemp,
while Its tlaments can be separated almost to the
ineness of silk. In manufacture it has been
spun on various forms of textile machinery,
and also used In connection with cotton wool
and silk and it can be employed a. q substitute
in certain forms Of manufacture where elastic
ity is not essential for all Of these textiles and
for fax also. It likewise produces superior
paper, and can be utilized in the manufacture of
celluloid. In short, the uses to which it may be
put are almost endless, and when the economi-
cal extraction Of the fiber by machinery is sue
cessfully accomplished it will become one of
the most valuable commercial products Of the
vegetable world.