THE GROWTH AND TREATMENT OF RHEA FIBRE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 3330, 12 January 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE GROWTH AND TREATMENT OF RHEA FIBRE.

A good deal of attention has recently bean devoted in Australia to the rhea plant and its fibre, references to which were frequent in the New Zealand parliament during the recent session. Prom the Australasian of December 4th we take the following : Amongst many vegetable products to the" cultivation of which casual attention has been given in Victoria is the rhea, or ramie, fibre, interest in which is likely to be stimulated by the visit of Mr Max Rowan, of the Rhea Fibre Treatment Company, to Australia. Mr Rowan’s object is to encourage the cultivation of rhea on a large scale, as one of the most finest fibres known, and to explain sway some of the difficulties in preparation which have hitherto been the chief—in fact, the only—impediments to its success. Rhea cloth itself is as old almost as historyi and has been familiar for years under the name of Chinese grass grass cloth. The fibre is contained in the bark, which had to be stripped from the stem, and afterwards at great difficulty cleansed by hand from a gummy, resinous substance, which seriously affected its value. The latest method for the treatment of the bark when stripped is known as the Gomess process, and it is on the strength of its success, coupled with a a promise that a machine will shortly be perfected tor separating the bark from the stem in a cheaper way than that now adopted, that Mr Max Rowau has come here to advocate its cultivation;

Mr Rowan met the Minister for Agricul ture, many members of parliament, and other gentlemen interested in the subject, at the Agricultural Department yesterday, and explained the plans of the company he represents. Briefly, it is to encourage the cultivation of the rhea all through Australia, on the promise of putting down when required a plant to deal With the stripping of the bark, and afterwards, if prospects justify it, the establishment of mills for its manufacture, as is now being done in England. While the rhea can be widely grown in Victoria, Mr Eown expects to see its cultivation most successful in the northern parts of Australia; bqt Mr Taverner, the Minister of Agriculture, has already promised him that experimental plots’ will bo tried in all parts of the colony where the state has for making the trial, and there is no difficulty in getting stocks, as it is already growing at the Maoedon State Nursery and in other places. As to its commercial value, Mr Rowan quotes authorities on textile matters to show that rhea is at once ons of the finest yet the strongest fibres in the world, and the fabrics made from it which die has brought from England bear very eloquent testimony both as to its beauty and its value. In addition to showing the fibre in all stages of preparation, be has it

mixed with silk for hose, in which, at about a third of the cost, nearly all the beauty and lustre of silk is retained. In dress materials it has a softness and style of its own, and it was somewhat difficult to believe that many of the rich-looking brocades and plushes which he exhibited, and wh’ch were intended for tapestries or upholaterings for furniture, were entirely made from the fibre of this long familiar yet neglected plant. Woven into table linen it looks like becoming a formidable rival to the famous Irish linen, which it greatly resembles—save that lustre is more pronounced, and the durability, according to Mr Bown, greatly increased. On these points, as also that of cheapness, he asks people in due course to form their own conclusions. His

object at present is not to sell but to buy, and, unlike most men who come to promote a new industry, he has not asked the Government for a bonus. The Rhea Fibre treatment Company, of Shaftesbury-avenue, London, express their willingness to enter into Australian contracts to take delivery of at least 20,000 tons of “ ribbons ” or bark, per annum, within three years from January, 1899, at a price yielding about a profit of £B per acre. After leaving Melbourne, Mr Hewn will take a trip through Queensland and New Zealand—Mr Seddon on his late trip to London having had the matter brought under his notice—and will be in Melbourne again before returning to England. Mr Taverner or the secretary of Agriculture (Mr Martin) will be in the meantime supply any information that may be required on the subject of cultivation.

The following additional and valuable information is given by the Melbourne Leader: The Rhea plaut, known also as Ramie, or China grass, has been famous since the most ancient times as producing a

. fine showy fibre, possessing a fine showy ■ fibre, possessing a bright attractive lustre like that of silk. Owing to the great difficulty of separating the fibre from its gilmmy Covering and the absetice of any labour-saving method of currying out this work the manufacture of Rhea fabrics has been confined to Eastern countries,' in which labour is cheap. The discovery, however, of the Gomess process' of treating the fibre, which was satisfactorily tested in 1895, has suddenly brought the manufacture and production of Ramie within the scope of the methods of western nations. The plant attracted attention in this colony a few years ago, and healthy plants are to be found in the Botanical Gardens; the Burnley Gardefls and the Macedon State Nursery, so that there is a good prospect of the Ramie proving suitable for cultivation in various parts of Victoria. It is said that it grows without protection in the Kew Gardens, London, and that the plant is not easily injured by frosts. While it has been grown principally in tropical and semitropical countries, owing to the inhabitants possessing the labour necessary for turning it to proper account, it would appear from local experience that there is a probability of the plant being found to grow sufficiently well in the eolony to give profitable returns. Mr Guilfoyle, director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, says:—“ The cultivation of Ramie in Victoria presents no difficulties as far as suitable soil and climatic conditions are concerned.- A free, rich, light soil, a fair amount of silmnler heat and moisture, are all the plant requires. Where irrigation can be applied of course the greater the crop ; but free drainage is absolutely necessary, as the roots will not boar stagnant moisture; The land should be well ploughed to a depth of 10 or 12 inches, Cross harrowed and made ready for planting by the end of September,' or when the frosts have disappeared. Immediately before planting the ground should be thorougly scarified, brush barrowed and rendered perfectly free from weeds. From half ad acre of plants 3 years old sufficient roots c’ah be obtained to furnish 10 acres. In this climate rooted offsets are more certain to grow than cuttings, and should be inserted in furrows 5 feet apart and 6 inches deeg; a foot or 18 inches should be the distance between each plant in the rows. The soil should be well pulverised, drawn over the roots with a hoe, and lightened with the foot. When the shoots have attained say 10 or 12 inches in height the rows should be hilled up like potatoes. The object of close planting in the rows is to cause the stalks to run up straight and prevent branching. When the crop is ready for cutting a brown tinge is noticeable in the base of the stems. The stools or ratoons sprout up thicker every season, and under favourable conditions two or three crops of ‘canes’ several feet high can be out in a year. After two or three years, if the plants happen to spread too far into the spaces between the rows, it will be necessary to chop out with a spade the advancing stools or suckers; and these may be used for other plantations. To those who are engaged in silk culture the Kew Bulletin for August, 1890, states that the leaves of the Ramie may be used as food for silkworms in the same way as those of the mulberry and the ‘ osage orange ’ (Madura aurangtiaca)." The yield, according to Dr D. Morris, assistant-director of the Kew Gardens, is about 15 tons of stems per acre, the bark being worth about £lO per acre. The value of the bark in London is from 1110 to £l2 per ton. The same authority estimates the cost of cultivation and strip, ping at £4 per ton. Two or three cuttings of stems are obtained in a year, an I the strips of bark or “ ribbons " are taken off by hand after the stems have been soaked in a hot water bath. Machines are now being introduced for the more economical stripping of the bark. The difficulty in the past has not been in stripping the bark off the stems, but, in obtaining the fibre from the bark. This difficulty has - been so practically overcome by the process already mentioned, that there is a ready market for the ribbons. Mr Max Rowan, who supplies some of the information in this article, is at. present in the colony representing The Rhea Fibre Treatment Company Limited, of London, which is-, prepared to arrange with producers for the purchase of large quantities of the unprepared fibre bark. In a lecture before the Society of Arts, Dr Forbes Watson says, “Now,'what is Rhea good for ? It is difficult to say what it is not good for. It is the strongest

t fibre in nature." According to Mr Max i Rowan, it mixes well with silk, flax, cotton, i hemp, and wool. Amongst some of the i uses to which Rhea fibre may be applied 1 may be mentioned—all fine and fancy ■ goods, including dress fabrics, velvets, plushes, for curtains, and for covering furniture, laces of every description, jeans, drills, longoloths, muslins, sheetings, beautiful table linen, sewing and crochet threads, hosiery and underlinen, canvas for ships’ sails, for machinery belting, for tents, and for fire and other hoses (water not injuring the material, but rather increasing its tenacity), twine, bands, ropes hawsers, fishing nets and lines, as a base for all waterproof and rubber goods, for which it is better adapted than cotton, because it bears without injury the high temperature (which rots cotton) at which the rubber is applied. It is used for manufacturing tweeds and hosiery when mixed with wool (preventing shrinking of the fabric), for candle wicks, boot laces, sewing thread, and linings for boots and shoes. It can be used for insulating purposes, for carpet backing, for the manufacture of gun cotton, &c., in short, for all purposes for which flax, cotton, and hemp are used. There is a large demand for the noils for various purposes, including medicated wool for medical use, as it is a powerful absorbent.

Mr J. Eosisto has been taking a keen interest in Rhea. He has some plants growing on his Antwerp property in the mallee, and recently he has been experimenting with encouraging success in preparing the fibre. Mr Rowan says 11 In addition to the cultivation, however, it must be also borne in mind that, by putting down plant in central localities for the treatment of the raw ribbons under the Gomess process, it will mean an additional very valuable industry, and once the filasse, or cleaned fibre, is produced here in large enough quantities there is nothing to prevent the establishment of mills for spinning yarn and of manufacturing fabrics of various descriptions, which is bound to prove a very profitable enterprise and give employment to a large portion of the colonial population.” The department would do well to publish an acoohut of the experiments which have been carried out in regard to this subject, and to take steps to complete the investigation of a -matter of such importance. If the crop will be profitable, say, in the irrigation districts; the fact should be demonstrated without delay.’