THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1907. RAMIE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8527, 3 September 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1907. RAMIE.

At Home there is a movement on foot to form a Ramie Growing Association, with the object of fostering the growth of the fibre throughout the Empire, and thus add a valuable asset to British agriculture, commerce and industry. From a circular to hand it appears that Ramie is grown largely in China and in smaller quantities at different points throughout the British Dominions. It is a fibre which for general utility is without a rival. It provides one of the best of clothing materials, being a non-conductor of heat, and, consequently, cool in the sun's rays and warm in winter. It is beautifully lustrous, in this respect resembling silk, and it retains its- lustre undiminished after washing. It is exceedingly durable, «nd resists the roughest handling in laundry operations. Used as a tunic in the South African war, it outwore three cotton I tunics served to the men in the same [ company, and with slight repairs to cuffs the Ramie tunic in question would still be serviceable for a considerable time to come. Ramie is equally suitable for ropes and cordage, nets, tent cloth, and all forms of coarse material for which hemp or jute are now ordinarily used. It is far stronger and more lasting than either of these fibres, and for ropemaking it has many special advantages peculiar to it. There is scarcely any plant which can be so widely cultivated over the earth's surface. It will grow and flourish in the temperate zone as well as in the tropics, and under almcst any conditions ot climate or soil. This fibre can be produced profitably at £lO a ton. To-day the best cleaned samples are fetching £37, and even more, per ton. No doubt, as the production

increases, the price would, at first at any rate, tend to decline. At £3O per ton, however, Ramie would come in competition with flax, and being superior and more suitable for most of the purposes for which flax is at present used, it would undoubtedly take the place of flax on a considerable scale. Further, if the price still fell as low as £2O it would come in competition with cotton and here again would undoubtedly be used in preference to cotton in a very large proportion of those commodities which are at present made of cotton. Finally, if the price sank as low as £ls, Ramie would reach the margin of jute. There is, therefore, it will be seen, a practically unlimited and continually extending demand for this fibre, such demand growing rapidly as the supply tends to reduce its cost on the market, and even at the lowest price, when competing with jute, it would show a commercial profit of £5 a ton to the planter. There is, however, reason to suppose that this lower price will be reached for many years to come. A long period of high pricjs and large profits is open to the grower. There is probably no other crop so easy to grow, and no other easy to prepare for the market as Ramie. For a few shillings sufficient plants to stock a whole plantation can be established. In a few months the crop is ready for cutting. The fibre is prepared by an exceedingly simple process, and the "ribbons," if properly dried, can be stored for any length of time in order that the grower may take advantage of favourable markets and of profitable opportunities for shipping in large consignments. When the time comes that the plantation is large enough to employ machinery for decorticating and degumming the fibre, the plant is of the simplest and cheapest description, and a Ramie Decorticator can be purchased for about £SO. Such then are the advantages of Ramie to the grower. It will be seen to how large an extent its cultivation would benefit British tropical and sub-tropical colonies, but even more important from an Imperial point of view is another aspect of Ramie growing, viz.. its steadying influence on the cotton market, Were Ramie grown on a large scale, and the supply of it regular and sufficient, cotton crises could not occur; for so soon as the price of cotton, rose, Ramie would come into competition with it; and thus remove the nightmare of cotton crises, with all their attendant misery and loss of capital. Ramie, as has already been pointed out, is superior to jute for those purposes for which it is] at present employed. At the same time, the outlook in the Manilla hemp market is a very depressing one for the British shipowner. Since the Philippines were occupied by the United States, practically the whole of the hemp produced has been' consumed in America, and it is calculated that in the coming year the entire output of Manilla hemp will be required for harvesters in the United States alone. Ramie makes ship's cables of an even superior quality to those of Manilla hemp. One of the largest flax spinners writes: "There is no doubt it (Ramie) would be welcomed by the flax trade. Flax is deteriorating ana becoming a decadent industry. It is dirty and wasteful. • The outlook now,- that much land is out of cultivation in Ireland and Great Britain, added to the serious disturbances in Russia, which must throw agriculture, espacially flax back for many years, is very bad. I dream of a time when Ramie will come to us at a price that will enable us to do away with the dirty and wasteful flax, and to embrace the clean and silky fibre of Ramie, which practically e-ives no waste or dirt." In addition to these far established industries which Ramie will benefit, viz., cotton, flax, jute, and hemp, it will also give rise to an industry of its own, bein? , capable of uses to which no othor < fibre can be put, whilst in many minor industries it is preferable to most other fibres, such as incandescent gas mantles, surgical dressings, upholstery, underclothing, sail cloth, tarpaulins, tent and rick cloth, fishing nets, etc., wherein its nonrotting, hygienic qualities and great strength give it advantages no other fibres possess.