Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-20
THE RAM|E INDUSTRY
1t Has Been Grown Here for
Forty-Five Years.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT
In Some Places Three Cro,,s Annually
Are Produced.
AN EFFORT FOR ASSISTANCE
From the Government Has Been Made,
but Up to This Time With
out Success
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT
AN EFFORT FOR ASSISTANCE

Since there have been several illusions
| lately in the press and the consular reports
| to the production of ramie and the posi-
bility of cultivating the fiber at profit
In this country, the attention of The Star
has been called by Mr.. S. H. Slaught to
! the fact that so far as the mere cultivation
Of ramie is concerned the plant has been
grown out doors in Washington for the
past forty-fve years, and there is now a
small patch of 1t In the Department Of
Agriculture's experimental farm down on
the flats.
How long it will be before the culture
and manufacture of ramie is an estab-
lshed fact in the United States 1t is i'm
possible to say. That it's growth here Is
perfectly practicable is already proven.
The virtue of the fiber in cloth manufac-
ture and for use in connection with silk
and in many other ways has already been
proved, for this COZ ntry imports annually
many manufactures of ramie from Eng
land and France, where there are already
mills established But somehow or other
the manufacture has never been taken up
in this country.
The Plant Itself
The plant itself is from six to ten feet
high. STRIPPING sort of weed, really one
Of the nettle family with easy peeling
Ddfh II Is III Ills Ddlk tIdt are 1OuHu the
fbers to be spun like flax The plant
grows profusely even in this latitude. Here
two crops year can be cut, while a little
further south there can be cut three crops
season, while the roots remain and
spring up each year. When the bark Is
peeled off it is done up in big bales and
is ready to be sold to the mills. The plant
will produce about 1000 pounds of this
rough dried bark to a cutting per pacre,
making two or three Thousand pounds per
| t1,a lott t,,1n yhar &c
grown.
But after the plants have been cut and
the bark peeled, or decorticated, as is the
proper term, the work is only just started
toward spinning The bark carries sticky
sort of gum that makes the fiber worth
less for spinning till this has been re-
moved and 1t cannot be removed In water
as In the case Of fax. Water will not dis
solve it out However this can be gotten
rid Of and Mr.. Slaught, who has devoted
much of his life to the study OF ramie
says that he has process by when II
can be removed cheaply without in1uring
the fiber When the gum has, oeen re-
moved and the fibers cleaned of the outer
| bark that clings to them, the STAPLE Is
ready for spinning during n.y., ,hes e nsr cent
| of it's weight, but as the yieia per aca re
| wili average at least $500 pounds OF
| fiber and as the product Is Vaiuaoie. lhis
| is a small consideration -
| THE chief thing against the production vi
| the cleaned fiber in this country at pres
| ant seems to be cheap oriental LABOR anu
| the fact that there Is little pro.eo.iu., @
| extensively and clean all their nper by
| hand The cleaned and baled nper Is sou
| for about cents a pound Ii there weLe
| q duty the fine hber the park couiu ,,,ts
| GROWN In this country in competition with
| the orient and the farmer PAID wen lor
| raising It and the factory could pear the
| expense of the cleaning. But though theIe
| has been bill introduced in Congress 70
| afford this protection, notmns mas oeeh
| accomplished SO Tar.
| Why the Industry Languishes
There have to be special plants for spin
ming and weaving the ramie yarn anu
| cloth 1t is said that there is an immense
| Industry in this line to be built up here
but capital has never been found to do the
| actual work. There have been bills In
Congress to make an appropriation for
| starting the work but they also have
| come to naught and the industry is still
| In the embryonic stage.
| There is no question about the beauty
or wearing qualities of ramie fabrics when
| they are once made. The stuff Is almost
| indestructibe and it has a peculiar gloss
| and beauty of surface that makes 1t fit to
| mix with silk When 1t is so mixed 1t
greatly strengthens the material and in
creases its life. 1t is also mixed with
high-grade woolens, and has the same ef-
| feet.
Water has no effect on It, and it is used
| In yachts for sails and cordage where
| strength is requisite and where expense
| is comparatively small object All Of
| the cup yachts in recent years have had
| ramie sails and cordage, and there is
| factory up in New England where the
| fiber is used for hand-spun fishing lines
| that are no thickser than a pin and that
| stand a 200-pound strain before breaking.
All that seems to be necessary to get
| the industry started in this country is
| some government assistance But this
70 be q Tina ing