File:The world's opportunities and how to use them (1887) (14774417291).jpg

Identifier: worldsopportunit00guer (find matches)
Title: The world's opportunities and how to use them
Year: 1887 (1880s)
Authors: Guernsey, Alfred H. (Alfred Hudson), 1824-1902
Subjects: Industries
Publisher: New York, Harper & brothers
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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dily and permanently as silkdoes. Considerable quantities are imported into France andEngland, to be mixed with silk. A species of the plant growswild in the United States and in Canada, but its fibre is notvery valuable. In 1857 a plant of the Chinese ramie was sent to the BotanicGarden, in Washington, but no serious attempt was made tocultivate the plant for several years. But in 1867 a furore forit was excited in some quarters. Incredible stories were told ofits productiveness. It was said that little labor was required forits cultivation, that it produced three crops a year, yielding inall 1500 pounds per acre of the prepared fibre. Large quan-tities of the bark were prepared and sent to market. But therewere no known means of separating it into the fine filaments,except the slow hand process employed in China, where the costof manual labor is merely nominal, but would here render theprepared fibre more expensive than silk. The cultivation of ramie was soon abandoned, but there is
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A HARVEST SCENE IN SCOTLAND.See Note 2. FARM PRODUCTS. 63 good reason to believe that it may be resumed under happierauspices. The great value of the fibre, and the abundance inwhich it can be produced, are well established. The one thingwanted is, some machine for separating the bark into its fine,ultimate filaments. It would seem that such an invention is notimpossible. The man who shall invent such a machine will dofor this new plant what Whitney did for cotton by the cotton-gin. Even as things are, it is suggested that the Chinese hand-process might be employed by us to some extent, as an auxiliarydomestic industry for women and children. It is one that mightbe taken up or laid aside at any spare moment, and thus, what-ever should be the value of the fibre, it would be so much clearprofit. Miscellaneozis Farm Products. Tobacco is grown more or less in nearly every State andTerritory, but in several of them in very small quantities. Inten States it is an important industry, each of

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