. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. 284 FIBER PLANTS FIBER PLANTS paid for it in this country are usually a fraction of a cent below those paid for jute. The plant grows well on alluvial and sandy loam soils from New Jersey to Kansas and Nebraska, but without mechanical methods for preparing the fiber it could not be cultivated with profit. Ramie (Fig. 394). Ramie, Baehmeria nivea, Hook and Arn., is a per- ennial-rooted, herbaceous plant belonging to the Urticacece or Nettle family. The rather slender stalks, bearing heart-shaped leaves green above and white beneath, attain
. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. 284 FIBER PLANTS FIBER PLANTS paid for it in this country are usually a fraction of a cent below those paid for jute. The plant grows well on alluvial and sandy loam soils from New Jersey to Kansas and Nebraska, but without mechanical methods for preparing the fiber it could not be cultivated with profit. Ramie (Fig. 394). Ramie, Baehmeria nivea, Hook and Arn., is a per- ennial-rooted, herbaceous plant belonging to the Urticacece or Nettle family. The rather slender stalks, bearing heart-shaped leaves green above and white beneath, attain a height of three to eight feet. When the plants are crowded thickly. ,<*.,^i '%^^ia,. Fig. 394. Xiainie (-B«/imeria nitfea). Second crop of the season ready for harvest. as they should be for fiber production, they bear no branches. When cut during the growing season, new shoots spring up from the roots, so that two to four crops may be had each season. Ramie is native in Asia, and is cultivated com- mercially in China, Formosa, southern Japan and to a less extent in India. It has been widely intro- duced in experimental cultivation in the warmer temperate zones of both hemispheres. The plant may be grown without difficulty, but it has not been demonstrated that the fiber may be produced profitably outside of Asia. Ramie requires a fertile soil, not subject to drought, but with good drainage. It grows well on sandy loam or alluvial soils, but can not be grown successfully either on stifl" clay or light sandy soils. It requires a warm climate during the growing season. The plant is propagated by seeds and by root- cuttings, and in India to some extent by cuttings of the stems. Transplanting root-cuttings is the surest method, but growing from seeds, if carefully attended to, gives a larger number of plants for the same labor. The seed is very small, like tobacco seed. It is germinated in glass-covered flats in greenhouses, or in warm weather out-of-doors in beds
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