The Arizona sentinel., 1894-05-26
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1894.
RAM FEE.

SUOTl IliIlS SlECS congressman OlShACo of New York offered the following amendment to the appropriation bill for the investigation of the. plant known as Ramie:
 "Fiber investigation: To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to continue the investigations relating to textile fbers indigenous in or adapted to the United States. including their economic growth, cleansing, and decofticating preparatory to manufacture; the testing machines and processes for said cleansing and decoTticat- ing; for the purchase of material for said test; for the purchase of fiber plants and seeds for distribution, propagation, and experiment.; and for the labor and expenses incident thereto, and for travelling ex penSes in connection with said duties, $4, 200, or so muck thereof as may be necessary"
 Mir. Sickles. want to say a word in explanation of my proposition. My special purpose is to endeavor to promote the growth of fiber called ramie, that is now beginning to be used extensively in manufactures III our country; a fiber that produces an article very much like silk, and nearly equal in value to silk, for manu- featuring purposes.
 It may seem somewhat strange for me to be champion of agriculture, which is not one of the active pursuits of my district; but, SIT, all the glory and strength of New York rest on the agriculture of the country and its manufactures; our commerce is their offspring; whatever concerns the manufactures and agriculture of our coun- try interests New York, and I want t. be net the least among those of us who would make two blades of grass grow where per haps none grew before. want to do a little better than Franklin, for he was satisfied to make two blades grow where one grew before.
 MT. Smith of Arizona: Mir. Chairman, I should like to see the amendment carried. Twas not conscious of being absent from the House at the time $500 was appropriat- ed for the investigation of this matter in the State of Washington, but was called away for moment. want to say that in the expenditure of this amount I should like to see it placed in the extreme Southwest. l learn from letters recently received that the finest ramie that grows in the world, China or elsewhere, grows in the vicinity of Yuma, in the heart of the desert between Arizona and California. There is already an ap- propriation made by Congress of a thousand acres of land to the Territorial penitentiary for the very purpose of testing the growth of this plant; and will say, in addition to what the gentleman from New York Mir. Sickles] has said, that I do not think the committee can attach too much importance to that branch of industry. l hope to see the amendment agreed to.
 The Ramie is perennial herbaceous plant, with ovate leaves which are white and downey. It is propagated either by seeds or by parting the roots. Three crops are obtained in the season, new shoots springing up after it has been cut. It grows to a height of eight feet and varies from the thick ness of quill to that of the thumb The fiber is stronger than Russian hemp of the best description and to thread preferable to the best material in Europe for Brussels lace. There is no section in the United States that is so well adapted to the growing of this plant successfully than the rich bottom lands of the Gila and Colorado valleys. There is no doubt in the minds of our tillers of the soil but what if the land in this vicinity was given fair test but what it would produce as good a quality of hemp as ever was grown in the old countries, if not far superior. It is to be hoped that the bill now in the House of Representatives will be duly passed and that the Committee appointed will not overlook Yuma and her large body of unoccupied land which has no equal in the United States for the cultivation of this plant.