The morning times., 1896-12-11
NETTlE FARMING.
II Is Case Of Cut and Come Again
NettIe Is SeIf-suppOrting.

Hettle Is Self-SuppOrting.
No one ever knows what She can do till
she tries. Who would ever imagine that
nettles could be turned into bread and but
ter, figurativeIy speaking. Yet this Is ex-
actly what our EnglsR cOusins are doing
at this end or the century. They have dis
covered that silk the finest and whitest,
like gossamer, can be made from the SOFT
SILKY nDer OF nettles- This discovery should
be ranked as one OF the greatest OF tie age.
for nettles will grow anywhere, almost
without cultivation, and everybody wears
silk nowadays.
Having arranged with some factory OF
factories To- furnish them with nettle fiber.
the next step is to make preparafI ms TO
raise crop; and one OF tie Deauues OF ms
is that once sOwn, it lasts for years. Do
the farmers not know this lasting quail
iJy Of their enemy, the ettlc, their sOr-
row? The crop is literally case OF cut
and come again, the nettIe stalks being
SelfSUppOTting and sturdy and every one
can be utilized Another thing which rec
Ommends the nettIc Industry is that IL can
be carried on in connection with other
work. For instance. one could at the same
time nave EOIltry farm IT Dee hives, OF
suppose cne is teaching her vacation could
be turned into account in the nettIe field
In the autumn one begins operations by
preparing I he soil. SupI OSt You have an
acre Cf land, five acres would be better OF
course, ur half an acre Is not To- be dcspised.
While nettIes VIII thrive on poor, damp
land, where nothing else will grow, they
naturally viii bring forth an hundred iOId
more II the lana Is cultivated L. U stUrr.
the ncttlcs need. IowIying or IaaTshy
ground might therefore be utilized.
In the spring, SOW Your seed as soon a.
the frost * out Of the ground, in April, If
possible. You should raise two il not
rF, tN..
depends much upon the locality: four
crops might he possible in the southern
States.
The seed sown is that Of the family Of
urtiCaceae-the botanical naInt OF the net
tie faIniI"- The species is hoehmeria, the
one Of the three prrcipaI species which
has no sting. ApTopos tothe urticaceae. OF
neJtle family, IL S curious 70 note, in this
connection, the mulberry, upon which the
silk worms feeds, belongs to this family and
hemp, from which uwine and C0rslaGe is
manufactured, is also an urtca-
Veal know how useful tn e hemp plants,
and there IS no doubt, that It's first cousin.
che nettle, has a great future before it.
The plant as IL grows contains good
deal OF moisture and TeSirOuS gum within HS
outer bark. Which must be stripped off be-
fore the fItvr is set Tree. This Is one in
China and India. whereit has been used for
centuries. by hand stripping. but 20 meetthc
dema ndS Ofa larger industry a machine vas
needed. one has been invented which Is
now in use al the mill Il the Ramie Syndi-
cate. Wrayshury, England.
Many attempts have been made at strip
ping away the bark az one swuop. bat two
uecOTIiCatinE machines are necessary. As
tl-ey merely require feeding by boys the
labor Is Of the un~klled order.
when the filter. which Is technically
known a : ramie. is stripped / il Boiled in
N-HafT VIZ ID ~.HN IL
reSinOuS gum. II is then dried in the ou-n
air or indoors. Then it l. bIeaChed and
cOmhet OF huCkied by machinery; il is spun
en- the new net long line spinning frame
by means OF which all the minute hairs &C
fhef!fGT are caught mp ca oCnd IH together,
so a. tO produce a long, luStrOus thread.
The process i Chea p and rapid and % al III
tents and purposes the yarn is as gCG,I
spun silk at One-tmrd the price 1t Is
most interesting u watch the process II.
HrdHUfJC uTe T utJuc iiteT, Beginning IN
green stalks and ending in the wLiJeSt OF
white silk
These who know whereof they speak say
that The demand is already created-to get
the supply j now the great desideratun
Tie first step. therefore, in this new n
dUS'ry : to raise the crops. Everything
else has been carefully thought out and re-
dUC"-i 10 prGCtiCe, 50 that the way Is open
rs ~,.ru a. the material comes TO hand. tn,
JI0Ib.v OF farmers hitherto has been ~
kerp down the nettleS- CUItvating them
VIII p" turning the tables with vengeance.
one may Judge Of the extent % which
Silks manufactured in tEiS country by the
fpl owing eS innate of the relative impOT-
t9nCe of the SILK manufacture Of vaTiagS
countries, made IN ~S$. by the United
States consul ut Lyons.
France o.. .. - - .. =. -...S SS5 .COu. 900
Germany =. 45,GC0, coo
GredtBTit'uu 25,tOt,Ou0
Italy --.- 12,GOC.oo0
JnlIeu states =. .. 81, ,t0O, 600
The list Included several other countries.
but the United States ranked third in i'm
pOrtanCe; Furthermore, 1ne-haIf of the
SilEen fabrics used in the United states Jre
Cf nome manufacture.
Peeled silks are principally MANUFACTURED
at Paterson and HObOkeu, y j.. and Brook
lyn and New York city; the spun silk in
tuS.ry f'curiSheS aS South Manchester and
Hartford. Conn
~ regard u the debit and credit side 0f
Hettle raising, a few words.
You have. N he first place, land which
can be utilized for the crop or you buy sn
acre, for S15O or $500. say for the IIud
need not be OF the best FeTtiliZiug i5
will cost at the rate of 1,0OO pounds Of
guau0 per acre, S35. the same amount or
bone fcrtilizeTiS only $50, ,OrsHperphOSpnate,
SIS
Suppose yOu raise two tons frcm an acre.
At $40 per ton this gives $50; if two
crops are Faiset. S1S0, Multiply this Dy
ten acres and much money is never made.
You know, unless you go rather extensively
irtO operations and we have 81 ,SOu
Deduct $500 for expenses. probably less.
and the nettle- raiser should he SatiSfirtI
with her first years venture, even IL She
only pays for her land. hefnIIn wing wears
could be counted on for profit.
Where the WilI-0-the-WfSp Is Seen.
The American who would ten tn. west
European that he had never seen a JuCh a.
Lantern. OF will-1- the wiSp. would not be.
believed In Ireland Normandy and
Schle$wig HOlStein the ignuS fatuUS is 50
freGCCHt q phenomenon that II is known to
cid end ouug by dOzCrS of familiar names
and even further south. in the FrenCh
landeS and on the lower Danube. there
are districts where il is almost impossible
to cross q swamp after the sunset Of rainy
day without seeing a score of fenfircS.
they are called, skipping aroUt IN various
directions.
Courtesy Tnrewarded.
''If You are in SuCR a hurry said the
fleeing thief to the sheriff. rs they paused
in the narrow alley. IN give way 20 you,
and let You pass"
ron, no." replied the sheriff politely;