The Weekly Tallahasseean., 1901-07-18
HE PAN-AMERICAN
. Weekly Resume Of What is
!: Being Done There
A
IpE CULTURE OF RAMIB
4 Being Again Prominently Brought
rBefore tine Public by Exhibits.

Buffalo, July 6.-An interesting cx-
hlbit OF ramie fibre is displayed in t:,e
LAIlsIana State pavilion in the Agt,z
culture Building at the Pan-American
RamIe was first intro
dGfed into the United States in 1885
frSm Japan. 1t will grow in any soil
where the winters are not too severe.
"A temperature of - degrees, however.
WI Kill it. The yield is from fifteen
tCs twenty tons to the acre. The fibre
rs Smade from the inner bark, which is
c' ~ s-rlns four feet IN length. Sam
iU4 B. Allison, of Galveston, Texas. in
Tshted and built the only machine for
the inner from the outer
lbErk- This machine was taken to
EGElvcstOn by Mr. Allison and was de-
StSOyed with its inventor during the
storm of last fall, with all
diFa regarding the specifications of the
HIE EentiOn. The outer bark is of 4
F@inOus nature, and in Japan is sep
Ardted from the inner bark bv hand
f$ in stalk being handled separately.
an the two layers Of bark separated
IIw'fh knife. All the fibre now used in
|this country is procured from JaDan.
Louisiana having no machinery to DrO-
lduce, the fibre and labor being too ex-
|peIlsIve 10 compete with the cheap
Japanese labor. Ramie can be made
FnfO cloths OF V. "iOUs textures, and will
take any dye. - has a silky appear
Iance, and whe.I interviewer with silk
IIt rs next to impossible to discover The
Ira5nie -Dre- The sails of the Sham
srGt:k anu Constitution and nearly all
j. racing yachts are made from ramie
lhlFe. Ramie is the strongest and
iloSgest vegetable fibre -known.--A very
superior grade Of plush is made from
litf The reed grows profusely through
lolt Louisiana without any cultivation
whatever. 1t grows to the height of
ffrsm four to eight feet, four feet reeds
being the most desirable for use. 1t
sisS SOf rapid growth, sometimes prducing
ssasAmany as five crops a year. The Lou
llshana Commissioners say that State.
produces enough ramIe to supply the
e hftea sStE ARE anxious to In
lsCfest capita. in the production of It.
{ Rou1siana is. rich in woods. The long,
faBd short leaved pine, water elm, pe-
!cap, the Southern, hickory, bitter ne
ca blackberry, persimmOn, red oak,
water oak, sycamore, beech, willow,
magnolia, thorn locust, red maple. box
11e.Ger, red gum, black gum, tupelO gum,
ibliIe ash, white ash, bass wood, cedar
lasl, prickly ash, red haw, wild plum.
tctS S.onwOOd, yellow poplar, cypress and
tb Usage orange or bOis dare. BoIs
I'd Arc is an exceedingly hard wood.
bright orange in color, and is used eX-
Fens.yely Tor paying blocks and fence
posts his wood is also used as a
SuDStit' fOr box wood in making
FOller. skate wheels and rOIIers for pull
aeys. the cypress is used extensively
for making posts and railroad ties.
shingles, and splintS and is bought
largely by brewers for cOOperage Dur
poses. Cypress is more durable and
sasting than cedar. Samples of all the
woods mentioned are exhInIted in the
Forestry Building at the Pan-American
Exposition. the cross an the quarter
PectiOns being shown. Cypress knees
are here shOWn,a peculiar formation
growing from the roots of the cypress
tree in low sections. They serve as
areatOrS, carrying air to the tree roots
IN places where the water covers the
roots. The lumber buyer in the Soul
uses these as indications Of the sound
ness of the tree, tapping the knees in
testing his timber rather than the
body of the tree to determ ne if the
tree be solid. If the knee is solid it is
j sure indication tnat the tree is so.
In the Agriculture Building at the
Louisiana exhibit are shown TWENTY
foul varieties of the pecan nut, rang
ing in size from The ordinary pecan,
which We can buy in our markets, to a
variety much larger tnan the ordinary
pigeons egg. Nearly all of these var
Geues are paper shelled, and can be
easily broken with the hand. TurpeD-
tine, tar, tar oil, creOsOte, pyrOligneOuS
acid (wOod Vinegar), and wood alcohol
are produced in Louisiana from fat or
feIuse pine. The broken and fallen
WOOL of the pine which has lain waste
iA the forests, is cut into foot billets,
put Into a copper still and heated, dry
distillation being used. 1t first pro-
GUces a gas, then the wood alcohol,
ereosote and turpentine, which are
afterwards separated, next tar oil and
1yrolgneOus acid or wood vinegar, and
lastly tar. lie charcoal derived from
this dry heat process is of a superior
grade, very solid anl heavy, and gives
a more intense heat: This is an en-
rrely new process of ~IstillatiOn, the
cid process Of tapping the o4eee being
Tpore expensive and taking more time.
State Senator O'Brien, from Florida,
is here. he is very much pleased with
the exhibits the Southern States have
Ihade, especially his own. He says:
Every Southern State that ia ed to
make an appropriation for this Expo
4tiOn made serious mistake, the ef-
feet Of which will be lelL for years"
The dedication of the building erect
cd by the Louisiana Purchase Com
elissiOn was one of the most notable
events of the past week. lie opening
speech was made by Governor Francis.
He was followed by the Mayor Of st.
Louis, who gave brief history of the
famous purchase from Napoleon Bon
&parte. There were several other ora