^^*-iU-': 
 
A^ 
 
 \ 
 
 THE 
 
 RAMIE PLANT 
 
 -&G-^- 
 
 IT ■> ORIGIN, VALUE, 
 
 /IDVANTAGES, CULTURE, 
 
 /•Ni) A]>ArrAr,;Mrv ro the 
 
 Son. ANT) Cf.llMATK OK CaI IFOKMA. 
 
 SAX FRANnsro: 
 
 ruMi;;hcd Irom C'i-lifornia Farmer OflTice. 
 
 1871. 
 
THE 
 
 RAMIE PLANT. 
 
 5* 
 
 ITS ORIGIN, VALUE, 
 
 ADVANTAGES, CULTURE, 
 
 AND ADAPTABILITY TO THE 
 
 Soil and Climate of California, 
 
 ; 
 
 ii? 
 
 ^^ 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO : 
 Published from California Farmer Office 
 1871. 
 

H ^ M I E. 
 
 Its Origin, etc. 
 
 This new textile, lately introduced into the United 
 States, is a native of the Island of Java, and was first 
 brought to Europe for investigation in 1844, where it 
 received the botanical name of Boehniei'ia Tenacissima^ 
 and, by the beauty and strength of its fibre, attracted 
 much attention in manufacturing circles. Since that 
 time, every encouragement has been giver to produ- 
 cers in the East Indies, to induce them to cultivate 
 Ramie in sufficient quantity to supply the demand ; 
 the result is, that a considerable quantity is annually 
 received in Europe, and manufactured into fabrics of 
 the finest quality, excelling, in strength, beauty and 
 finish, linen of the finest texture, and rivaling even 
 silk in lustre. 
 
 Since its introduction into the United States in 
 March, 1867, it has excited much interest among Euro- 
 pean manufacturers. — They consider the fibre of the 
 Boekmeria TenacUsima superior to that of any other 
 textile plant, and very valuable for manufacturing- 
 purposes ; the supply from the East Indies is entirely 
 inadequate to fill the demand, and unequal to the fibre 
 produced here, in quality; they are, therefore, very de- 
 sirous of seeing Ramie successfully cultivated in some 
 country where the yield will be large and regu- 
 lar. 
 
 Advantages of Ramie over Cotton and other 
 Staples now Cnltiva^ted. 
 
 The soil and climate of California are peculiarly 
 adapted to the cultivation of Ramie, which requires a 
 sandy, loamy soil and a temperate climate. 
 
 Cotton may be totally destroyed by the army-worm 
 
or other insects. The fibre of the Ramie, being con- 
 tained in the inner bark of the stem, cannot be injured 
 in that way, and will not be hurt by either long con- 
 tinued wet or dry weather ; besides, it requ'res but 
 small capital to start a Ramie plantation, the plant 
 being easily propagated and cultivated ; it is a peren- 
 nial, and will not require replanting. 
 
 Frequent experiments in extracting the fibre from 
 the stem and preparing it for use, have produced the 
 most satisl'actory results, and have proven that the 
 fibre produced in the United States is even finer than 
 that of Java, and that the yield per acre is greater. 
 In any of the Cotton States, Ramie can be harvested 
 at least three times a year, each ^larvest or cutting 
 will produce between nine and twelve hundred pounds, 
 m.aking an average annual crop of about three thou- 
 sand pounds of crude, unprepared fibre, worth at pres- 
 ent in Europe, ten to twenty cents per pound. In pre- 
 paring the fibre for manufacturing purposes it loses 
 about one-third in weight, and acquires a value of 
 from two to three dollars per pound, according to its 
 state of preparation. Thus it is apparent that Ramie, 
 requiring little or no tillage to produce such magnifi- 
 cent results, is the most profitable crop that the far- 
 mer can cidtivate. The fibre, when prepared for the 
 spinner, is beautifully white, soft and glossy, closely 
 resembling floss silk in appearance; it is much strong- 
 er than the best flax, and readily receives the most 
 diflicult dyes without injiiry to its strength or lustre. 
 
 Mode of Propagating. 
 
 Ramie being a novelty in this country, it is neces- 
 sary that some general rules should be established for 
 its cultivation. 
 
 Rich sandy or loamy soil is the most suitable for 
 a nursery, when the plants are to be rapidly grown. 
 For field culture, the plant will thrive in any good 
 sandy or loamy land. To secure a rapid and vigor- 
 ous growth of roots, the land should be thoroughly 
 and deeply broken, to a uniform depth of about ten 
 inches, and well pulverized. Root cuttings should al- 
 ways be used for first planting. 
 
After the ground has been thoroughly pi'epared as 
 above directed, the roots should be planted about six 
 feet apart, each way, four inches deep, and slantingly, 
 with the top coming to tlie surface. No further atten- 
 tion, with the exception of weeding, is required until 
 tliey have attained the height of three or four feet, 
 when it will be noticed that they become of a brown- 
 ish color near the roots — they are then ready for prop- 
 agation. The ground should then be thoroughly 
 moistened, and the stem should then be bent gently 
 dov/n and covered witli about three or four inches 
 of loose earth, care being taken to avoid detaching 
 the stem from the parent root. About two inches of 
 tlie leafy end should be left uncovered. In the course 
 of three or four weeks, the layers will have made shoots 
 and may then be separated from the main root, divi- 
 ded in pieces of four or five inches long, for planting 
 in' the field. 
 
 When they have attained the hight of three or 
 four feet, they should be layered in same man- 
 ner as described for the nursery and allowed to 
 remain. — Shoots will spring from these layers, and, in 
 a few weeks, the entire field will be covered as thickly 
 as a wheat field. 
 
 Field Culture. 
 
 The cuttings for sale being so limited in number, it 
 would be impossible for farmers to begin planting at 
 once on a very large scale; they are, therefore, 
 compelled to begin with a few thousand cuttings, and 
 make their own plants. 
 
 The culture of Ramie is necessarily divided into 
 two parts. 
 
 The culture on a small scale (to propagate and pro- 
 vide cuttings) we have already given. To cultivate 
 in the field, to make crops of fibre, the land must be 
 prepared as in the first instance, with the exception 
 that the plowing is not required to be so deep, 
 although the deeper the plowing the better the 
 crop will be ; and this is the hardest of the labor, but 
 it will amply remunerate. 
 
6 
 
 The land being well plowed and cleaned, the cut- 
 tings obtained from the mother-plant must be planted 
 in rows, six feet distant, from each other, each w^ay. It 
 will be necessary, before layering, to keep the field 
 clear of weeds ; but this labor will be dispensed with 
 when the plant has grown thickly. After five or six 
 crops, the field will be as thickly covered as a wheat 
 field ready for the reaper, and will remain so for years. 
 
 The time for planting in California, is during the 
 rainy season, and the earliest planting Avill obviously 
 produce the earliest crop of fibre or cuttings, as the 
 farmer may select. 
 
 When the stems have attained a hight of six or 
 eight feet, they will then be ripe an^ ready to harvest ; 
 and this will be knowai by the leaves falling from the 
 stock. But should it be inconvenient for the farmer 
 to commence cuttmg at that time, the fibre will not 
 be seriously injured if the cutting is delayed a week 
 or two. 
 
 In cutting the stem^s, an ordinary mowing-machine 
 may be used, care being taken to cut the stems as 
 near the ground as possible. 
 
 It wall also be advisable to extract the fibie when 
 the stems are not too dry, as that labor is then much 
 more easily performed, and the fibre is of better qual- 
 ity if broken out while in that condition. A simple 
 and easily-worked machine has been constructed for 
 that purpose, with which the farmer can make his crop 
 marketable at small expense. In preparing the fibre 
 for packing, it should be done up in hanks and packed 
 in bags or bales like cotton. All refuse matter, such 
 as leaves, the woody substance of the stem, etc., 
 should be strewn over the ground; no other manure 
 is required. 
 
 Miscellaneous Information Concerning Ramie. 
 
 Plants cannot be injured by. cold unless the ground 
 freezes to a depth greater than six inches, and contin- 
 ues frozen for several days. Many persons suppose 
 
Boehmeria Tenacissima and China Grass identical; this 
 is not the case, although they belong to the same fam- 
 ily of plants. The China Grass produces seed from 
 which it can be propagated, but the system is diffi- 
 cult, and the fibre unequal to the Ramie in texture. 
 Boehmeria Tenacissima can be propagated from root 
 cuttings, and is the finest variety of the Urticacea 
 family. In commercial parlance, the fibres of both 
 the Boehmeria Tenacissima and the Boehmeria Nevia^ 
 or China Grass, are called China Grass. In preparing 
 the fibre for market, it will be to the advanta2:e of 
 the producer to ship it in its crude raw state, as very 
 little expense will be incurred in so preparing it. In 
 this condition, as before stated, it is worth from ten 
 to twenty cents in specie per pound. In preparing it 
 for the spinner, a chemical process and costly machin- 
 ery would be requited. A factory for this purpose 
 will be erected in the East at an eai-ly day, and pro- 
 ducers will find a ready market there, as well as in 
 Europe. . 
 
 Extract from 'a Pamphlet on Ramie, Published 
 in New Orleans, in 1868. 
 
 The profit to be realized by the planter from the culture of 
 this plant can now, after experience of a year, be calculated 
 with sufficient accuracy to induce all large proprietors of land, 
 as well as small farmers, to spread it on their lauds, The in- 
 habitants of Java, s tys the "Universal Dictionary of Natural 
 History," give to this fibre the preference over all others for the 
 manufacture of their dresses, which are extremely fine, as also 
 for their nets, fishing-lines and ropes ; and the fibre is so fine, 
 according to the same authority, that, from an experiment made 
 upon 500 grammes (one pound) of it, a thread 9,300 metres 
 (over 10,000 yards) was obtained. Manufactories now exist in 
 England, France, Germany and Belgium, where this fibre is 
 used with the greatest success, either by itself, or mixed with 
 cotton wool. 
 
 The culture of the Kamie jDlant seems to be called to have its 
 share, and a great place in restoring to the South its former 
 prosperity. 
 
 The southern people are by nature essentially agricultural; 
 all their faculties and energies are turned to it, and Providence 
 has placed at our disposal that, from which, if we exercise our 
 natural intellectual powers, we are to obtain, not only our 
 actual necessaries of life, but also that wealth, that comfort, 
 
-8 
 
 tliat prosperity which in former days made us enviable to the 
 rest of the world; we mean the soil. 
 
 Nowhere on the face of the earth are there to be found such 
 large tracts of rich, fertile, piomising lands, and so fortunately 
 situated that their products, whatever they may be, may be sen 
 with the greatest ease to ready markets, all over the world. 
 
 The great fault of the South for the last half century, has 
 been, in our opinion, to rely for its wealth on but one produc- 
 tion.' Cotton, it is true, has proved very profitable; but to 
 depend solely on it was an error. 
 
 We by no means wish to seek the overthrow of cotton ; cotton 
 may yet be profitable; but other cultures may also prove to be 
 sources of riches. 
 
 The small capital required to start Kamie culture with, the few 
 expenses incurred during its growth, its Uttle need of labor, its 
 large yield, the certainty of the crops, the beauty of the fibre, 
 with the large price offered for it in England, Krance and Ger- 
 many, are strong inducements to planters. 
 
 Some may object, that when it is largely cultivated the price 
 will drop ; this result is probable. Bat yet the price for years 
 to come will not fall to a low figure, for the demand will increase 
 with the production, and prices will be maintained until demand 
 and production are proportioned to the consumption. But ad- 
 mittimr the price to fall, cannot a plant causing an expense of 
 1 y^ \o1 cents per pound for its culture, afford to .be sold for 
 30 or 25 cents per pound, and yet vory rcDiunerative? 
 
 All the fibre imported to Europe comes from Asia M^here the 
 Ramie is largely cultivated; thousands of acres are there planted 
 with it, but the whole production is employed by the Asiatic 
 manufactories; only a very little of it is brought to Europe, and 
 that in a perfectly raw condition. — Cannot the southern American 
 people, with their great practical genius, compete with Asia in 
 the cultivation of this plant, produce it at reduced figures, but 
 figures that will yet amply pay, and monopolize for our country 
 all the benefit to be derived from this plant ? We think they can. 
 
 What is here said of the South in regard to relying 
 upon one production, may be said of California, by 
 substituting the word grain for cotton. 
 
 ReflDing Process, and Price of the Ramie Fibre 
 when Refined. 
 
 From the New Orleans Times. 
 
 A great deal of interest is felt by our agricultural and mercan- 
 tile readers in the new textile plant known as the Eamie. A year 
 or two ago single plants sold in this vicinity at the rate of one 
 dollar each, but they have since been regarded by our planters 
 and farmers here rather as a curiosity than as being an object of 
 material interest, there being no economical agencies provided 
 
9 
 
 for preparing the staple for market. We liave already stated 
 that Mr. Emile Lafeanc, of this city, has recently patented a 
 machine which has proved entirely successful in separating the 
 fibre from the woody matter and outer bark; and to show that 
 American ingenuity has been, turned in the same direction in 
 other quarters, we extracts the following from a letter received 
 by Me. Laframc from a gentlemen residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 I am glad to hear you have succeeded in freeing the fibre from the u»m color- 
 ing matter. You speak of sending me a parcel of the fibre in a few daj-s. Do 
 not send more than one-half pound, and send it per mail, as it will reach me 
 s-oner and cost less than by express. When the sample reaches me I will pre- 
 yare it by my process and return it to you. In regard to the ccst of jreparing the 
 fibre in staple of suitable lengths for spinning upon cott' n, fine woo], worsted 
 and flax machinery, I can safely say, as the result of my own experience, that 
 twenty-Pve cents "per pound (and "forty cents per pound, ii eluding cost of raw 
 material an waste) would be very near the cost— certainly not more— and would sell 
 when so prepared for $1 per pound, as fatt as it could be produced; and when 
 prepared for spinning and imitating si'ks, could be sold for three or four times 
 that price. My process is both mechanical and chemical. The amount of capital 
 required t > fit out the machinery, sippatatus and other expenses (not including 
 premises and power) to prepare 6 000 pounds per week, would proba. ly not exc ed 
 |10,C00, ' L. W. WRIGHT. 
 
 Quite a number of persons in this vicinity are now preparing 
 to go extensively into the cultivation of Eamie. Our soil and 
 climate are found to be exactly suited to its extensive and profit- 
 able production, and hitherto our people have been deterred 
 from engaging in its culture only because ot the want of 
 machinery to i)repare it for market. That want being now sup- 
 plied, we may expect Ramie to be forthwith added to our fist of 
 Southern staples, and, to some extent, take the iDlace of cotton in 
 the manufacture of textile fabrics 
 
 A California Opinion. 
 
 The Committe on fibrous and textile substances, at 
 the Seventh Industrial Exhibition of the Mechanics' 
 Institute, held at San Francisco in October, 1869, in 
 their Report say; 
 
 We do not propose a premium, because this enterprise is, as 
 yet, but an experiment, but from a careful examination of the 
 subject we are strongly convinced that the cultivation of the 
 most valuable plant can be successfully introduced into Califor- 
 nia. We are satisfied it will flourish in the Southern counties, 
 particularly in Tulare and Kern counties, where the nights are 
 comparatively warm . Wherever Indian corn can be raised in 
 jjerfection, there will the Ramie grow . It promises *juch large 
 profits that, once introduced, it must soon become the great 
 staple of the Southern section of our State. 
 
 The same Committee include in their Report, the 
 following letter: 
 
 Sataktia, Miss., Sept. 1, 1869. 
 
 The Ramie plant, like everything new, meets with opposition 
 from those who have not practically tested it. We have tried it 
 this year, and the result is a decided success'. It grows eight 
 feet high in this climate, and will make two crops a year, and 
 probably three. Its roots grow two feet in the ground, and, not- 
 
10 
 
 ■withstanding the unprecedented drouth of this Summer — not 
 a single copious rain having fallen since April — it still continues 
 to put forth its luxuriant shoots, and grows rapidly. So dense 
 is the shade it makes that the ground continues always moist. 
 Kamie requires the same cultivation as corn the first year, and 
 one good hand will cultivate thirty acres, or three times as much 
 as can be managed when planted in cotton. After the first year 
 little or no cultivation is required, one or two plo wings only be- 
 ing necessary to keep the plants from entirely covering the 
 gTouud . The second year, the same hand will cultivate twenty 
 or thirty acres more, making a field of from fifty to s-ixty acres, 
 which will thresh out with the Eamie cleaner working all the 
 year. The labor of its cultivation is so light that it can be per- 
 formed by white persons or by freedmen, indiscriminately. 
 The threshing or cleaning is done imder cover. Wm, Hall. 
 
 Messrs. Andrew J. Moulder, S, S. Tilton and 
 John C. Mitchell constituted this ComiAittee. 
 
 The Adaptability of Ramie to the Soil and 
 Chmate of California Demonstrated. 
 Our nursery, now in vigorous growth near Hay- 
 wards, in Alameda County, makes it sure, beyond a 
 doubt, that this valuable plant is perfectly at home in 
 tlie soil and climate of California. This nursery was 
 set out after the rains had ceased (Feb. l4th), with 
 cuttings that were then received from Louisiana, after 
 a journey of seven weeks, thus demonstrating, that 
 under the most unfavorable circumstances that could 
 occur here, the plant will thrive and make a full 
 growth. 
 
 RAMIE-ITS PRESENT AND FUTURE. 
 
 Ramie, destined by its intrinsic value to become a 
 leading article in the commerce of the country, forces 
 itself upon the attention of the people everywhere. 
 Unlike all other important commodities, however, it is 
 not permitted to enjoy its halcyon hours of infancy, 
 but it is, instead, at the behest of necessity, at once 
 transformed into the broad proportions of a giant. 
 
 A better fabric than cotton and a cheaper one than 
 silk has become indispensable to mankind, and Ramie 
 supplies both requisites in one staple. 
 
 Unlike other commodities that dazzle the eyes of 
 commerce with the splendor of their riches. Ramie con- 
 fines itself to no Isotherm, but grows and prospers and 
 
11 
 
 matures perfectly in the zone of cotton or of cane, of 
 tobacco or of corn, and is hardier than either. It re- 
 quires less culture and is cheaper to harvest and pre- 
 pare for the loom than any other fibre adapted to the 
 various uses of man. Carefully prepared, it may be 
 made as fine as silk, and immeasurably stronger ; 
 w^hilst its coarser products may be made heavier and 
 more durable than the strongest tow. It is fine, it is 
 strong, it is durable. 
 
 W atever fabric is demanded — from the lightest 
 gauze to the heaviest canvas — Ramie stands ready to 
 supply. Destined as it is, to take the place of all 
 other manufactures of thi;^ nature in the world's com- 
 merce, because of its cheapness and durability, its mar- 
 ket is co-extensive with the requirements of man. The 
 world has to be clothed, and that aMicle which will 
 accomplish the object in the best manner and for the 
 least money, must inevitably supply the market. 
 That article is Ramie; and its general introduction 
 will build up thousands of factories to give employ- 
 ment to our people, whilst saving to us the millions 
 of money wrung from the pockets of the people in the 
 way of tarifis. Let our people take hold of this mat- 
 ter as its importance demands, and America, instead 
 of paying tribute to the skilled labor of the Old World, 
 will manufacture a cheaper and better mateiial than 
 can be produced from either cotton or silk, and will 
 send her ships laden with the valuable products of her 
 looms to every port of Christendom. And the thou- 
 sands upon thousands of acres of land lying untouch- 
 ed by the hand of industry in our State, can, by 
 means of this product, be made to return to the hus- 
 bandman a reward which, it stated, might seem vision- 
 ary, but which would yet be real. Lands so far away 
 from market as to render the raising of grains unpro- 
 fitable because of the immense cost of transportation, 
 will, if planted in Ramie, pay the cost of transporta- 
 tion, and yet net to the farmer tenfold the market 
 value of his grain. The fine fibre of Ramie would at 
 the lowest calculation, be worth four hundred dollars 
 per ton in San Francisco, and the cost of raising and 
 preparing it for market would not exceed forty dollars 
 
12 
 
 m 
 
 per ton. Add to this the cost of transportation, say 
 fifteen or twenty dollars per ton, and there is a net 
 margin of over three hundred dollars per ton. If this 
 assertion be doubted, the fact that present prices sub- 
 stantiate the correctness of the figui'es must be suffi- 
 cient proof even to the skepticah 
 
 If it be urged that the present prices are merely fic- 
 titious, it is only necessary to reply that Ramie com- 
 mands that price in competition with the other fibres 
 now in use ; and as the wo)-ld is to be its consumer, it 
 seems improbable that prices will decline from an 
 overstocked market. 
 
 But suppose that prices should depreciate one-half, 
 is not sufficient margin left yet for profk to secure to 
 the farmer a reward for his labor, several hundred per 
 cent, beyond what he can hope for under present cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 This subject, involving as it certainly does, the 
 serious consideration of every one who has the well- 
 being of our State at heart, cannot be two closely :*n- 
 vestigated, as the more it is scrutinized the more it 
 will be found resting upon an endurable basis. 
 
 Some of our citizens, quick to discern the gains of 
 an individual wealth that involves a public benefac- 
 tion have tested to the senses of our people the fact 
 that the greatest mine of the world is at every man's 
 door, it he will apply the plowshare to the virgin soil 
 in the manner indicated. 
 
 Until lately it has been found impossible to separate 
 the outer from the inner — the coarser from the finer 
 fibre — but this drawback has yielded to the persistent 
 attack of ingenuity, and machines costing but a few 
 hundred dollars can now be had that completely over- 
 comes that difficulty, and this success has rendered 
 complete the greatest industrial achievement of the 
 age — the introduction of perfectly separated Ramie 
 fibre into the manufactures of the world. • 
 
 A machine for separating the fibre from the stalk 
 will be operating at the Fair of the Mechanics' Insti- 
 tute, in San Francisco, commencing Aug. 8th, 1871. 
 
 Cuttings may be obtained, and all information fur- 
 nished, by adclressing The Pacific Ramie Company, 
 San Francisco. 
 
Cuttings may be obtained, 
 and all information furnish- 
 ed, by addressing 
 
 P.O.Box 1539, 
 
 S 
 
 S 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 oiao_c«i^»R^ ^ 
 
 mm tlie Vm\ ill its Growing State