| Show New Industry i I I Seen in Ramie R awe Fiber Plant of King Tut's Day Could Be Produced In Southern California LOS ANGELES It ANGELES It It may seem eem a along along long way from King Tut of Egypt to a possible new agricultural Indus try for or Southern California But the connecting link is there The connecting link is ia ramie It Itis Itis Is one of the most ancient and val val val- valuable valuable fibers known to man having been used according to scientists as the material In which to wrap mummies like those of King Tut Yet It never has bas been able to come into its own because of the lack t Af ta Afa a mechanical method of obtaining the fiber ber from I 1 Ike he plant The hand method Is enormously expensive Now and however this is where the possible new industry for South South- Southern ern em California a a appears a practical machine is in production pr in Racine Was Wis to decorticate the plant or remove the long fibers from the whip like stalk according to Harold B Judell president president of the Califor nia Ramie company an affiliate of ot I Ithe the American Ramie company This i means he says that ramie now can I be grown profitably r YIo on the e lame game I peg Wn fra fral type of land which I Is la used S for al- al alfalfa alfalfa l I falfa and cotton See Possibilities Ramie's role as a mummy wrap wrap- wrapping wrapping ping In Egypt foreshadowed many of its Ils modern uses It is recognized as the most durable of fabrics Its Iti tensile is much greater than that that- of cotton flax hemp or silk due to the tile arrangement of ot the cellulose crystals that make it up The navy na vy during the war used all an anthe the ramie it could get to pack stern tubes along a long drive shafts because of its superiority in keeping out sea seawater seawater water The navy is an on insatiable ramie customer today loday The fiber also is used In wool clothing to pre pre- pre pre- prevent vent shrinkage and in many other ways The long strands of finished fiber are arc silk-like silk in their white pure-white smoothness Both oth Judell and M H Kimball assistant farm adviser in Los An An- An Angeles geles warn though that this is no get rich quick opportunity but butra rather ra ther a chance to 10 develop slowly a sound new agricultural output for tor California They add particularly that ramie growing Is I not advised In Los Loa Angeles county or the coastal region but only in the San Joaquin Imperial and Coachella valleys To Educate Farmers Farmer We do not want to arouse any false hopes hope or start any foolish stampede Judell Ju ell cautioned At the moment ramie root stock toCk Is ll limited Our hope Is to educate farmers annen In the warm Interior val val- valley I leys ley of California so they may try ramie rami this thia fall or next year on suit able acreage in a moderate way The decorticating machine devel devel- developed by Gilbert a Cana Cana- Canadian Canadian dian dian Is in production at a large farm machinery plant in Racine This machine will decorticate decorticate or or strip strip about about an acre of ramie an hour Our plan is I to have the mobile machines in California to go from place to place to do this phase of work Ramie Is a perennial that lasts last for tor a anum number ber of years yean the stalks sta Iks growing so ao fast that several cuttings cut- cut tings a year are possible An acre under normal conditions of heavy Irrigation and fertilization will pro pro- produce produce duce about to I pounds of green material a year but of tail thI only 4 1 1 to 3 per cent Is i commercial fiber the rest being plowed back to enrich the soil Current offering price to the grower is ii about seven cents a pound for the fiber itself |
