Congressional Edition Volume 5262 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 Excerpt: ... of course, thousands of fibers held together with gum (saving the operation of combing and spinning), which they fasten, stick, or tie together end to end, making long threads in imitation of silk, which they weave into goods by hand, then boil and bleach out, and color in the piece. This primitive way of working, which can only be done with the cheapest of labor, has deceived most of our experimenters into the belief that the fibers were long as the stalk, like flax and hemp, when in fact they are hollow ribbons and veins, running between the leaves, of different lengths, according to growth of stalk, from 2 to 6 or 3 to 9 inches, and run from the bark to the wood all the way along up, making it such an enormous grower. Want of knowledge of this, of course, prevented success in their making machinery to prepare it to manufacture. But now that we have scientifically investigated the fibers before we undertook to build machinery, and found out just what was wanted, it was easy enough to solve the difficulty, and we had a simple way to treat or finish it afterwards, success was attained. The farmer is not bothered with the ungumming, which is the difficult part of the work, after the process of cleaning. This is all done in the factory. CULTIVATION. Ramie for fiber must be grown rather thickly on the ground, so as to grow tall, straight, and slender, without branching, and it takes a year or two to make a marketable crop at best; though, on the right kind of soil and proper attention, many stalks can be cut in six months suitable for fiber. It will Improve for some years, three at least, and may once in a few years stand overhauling, like tearing up the surface and letting the roots in the ground grow up fresh. General Bidwell, of Chico, Cal., has grown a pa...