The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1922-08-24

Ramie, Boehmeria nivea, is plant
belonging to the nettle family. 1t has
perennial roots which send up her
baceous shoots each season and when
these shoots or canes are cut during
the growing season new ones grow
up. Two crops, or sometimes three
are therefore harvested each season.
Two crops are usually secured from
the experimental plants Of the de-
partment of agriculture here in
Washington. The ramie plant is cul-
tivated commercially in China and
japan. It is usually propagated by
root cuttings and the wark of culti-
waiting and preparing the fiber is per-
formed entirely by hand. Various
methods are used in different locali-
ties in China and Japan for the prep
aration of the fiber, but one of the
common methods is as follows:
Each stalk is cut by itself, the
leaves are stripped off, then the bark,
including the fiber, is peeled off from
the woody inner portion of the stalk,
the ribbon-like strips of bark are
drawn between a bamboo or bone
knife and bamboo thimble worn on
the thumb, scraping away the thin
outer bark, most of the coloring mat
ter and some of the gum. The fiber
thus prepared is dried, and in this
form, known as China grass, it is
placed upon the market. The plants
yield II to per cent. Of their green
weight in the form of dry China
grass. The China grass is partly
degummed in China and japan by
repeatedly washing it, and it is after
ward spun and woven into yarns. 1t
is there used for practically the same
purposes as flax fiber in this country.
Small quantities Of ramie fiber in
the form of China grass are exported
to Europe and into this country and
is degummed by chemical methods,
combed and spun. At the present
time there is only one small mill in
this country engaged in degumming,
combing and spinning ramie. This
mill has been in operation about 10
years, but as yet it is scarcely beyond
the experimental stage. Most of its
warns are used in the manufacture Of
incandescent gas mantles and this
limited market, tending to decrease
rather than increase, as Illuminating
gas is being superseded by electricity,
does not afford a very great demand
for the yarns.
Ramie has been cultivated expert
mentally in the United States since
about 1850, but the experiments
have never resulted in the esta bllsh-
ment of the industry on commercial
scale. At the present time George
William Schlichten, who was Amerl-
can agent for the Ringheim-Schlich-
ten Ramie Manufacturing company at
the time shat he was sending out the
pamphlets mentioned in the accom-
panving letter about 1908, is grow
ing about so acres of ramie at Davis,
California. He has devised machin-
cry for preparing the fiber. Manu-
facturers state that the fiber pre-
pared by the machinery is not equal
in quality to that prepared by hand
in China.
Machines for cleaning ramie have
been devised by more than 80 differ
ent inventors, including J. G. Pratt,
whose letter of October 5, 1898, ad-
dressed to O. D. Faust, is submitted
with the letter from Mr.. Byrnes. None
of these machines, so far as the de-
partment specialists have been able
to learn, have been efficient enough
to compete successfully with the hand
methods of China and Japan. Mr..
Pratt's machine, which was to be
completed, according to his letter,
"In 2 or 3 weeks" seems never to
have been built so as to actually DO