Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 2, 1878

No. 202.
Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Evarts.

Washington, December 1, 1877. (Received December 3.)

Sir: In compliance with instructions received by this legation from the Earl of Derby, I have the honor to inform you that the Government of India had determined on holding in that empire, in the autumn of 1879, a series of trials to test the best machine or process which may be brought forward for the preparation of the rheea, ramie, or China grass, and they are desirous that the conditions under which the experiments will be conducted should be circulated as widely as possible in the United States through the Department of Agriculture.

I have, therefore, the honor to transmit to you herewith two copies of the notification issued in India, and to express the hope of Her Majesty’s Government that you will take such measures as you may deem best fitted to assure the contents of the inclosed documents coming to the knowledge of the citizens of this country.

I have, &c.,

EDWD. THORNTON.

[Inclosure.]

Notification issued by the Government of India.—Department of revenue, agriculture, and commerce.—Dated Simla, the 31st August, 1877, No. 45.

fibers and silk.

1. In 1870 the Government of India offered a prize of £5,000 to the inventor of the best machine or process for the preparation of the fiber of the Böhmeria nivea (popularly known under the names of rheea, ramie, and China grass), and the terms on which machines would be admitted to competition were widely notified in India, in Europe, and in America. Many persons declared their intention to compete, but ultimately only one machine was actually brought to the place of trial. The machine, having been carefully tested at Saháranpur in the autumn of 1872, was found imperfect in some important respects, and the inventor was adjudged not entitled to the full reward. He was, however, presented with £1,500 in consideration of the partial measure of success he had attained after great perseverance.

2. This machine has not since been adapted by the inventor to practical use, and no improved process of preparing the fiber of the rheea has been yet discovered by other persons. Meanwhile the demand for rheea continues, and the conditions which induced the Government of India in 1870 to offer a prize remain substantially unchanged.

3. His honor the president in council, therefore, considers that it is desirable to renew the offer, and it is accordingly hereby notified that a reward of 50,000 rupees will be paid to the inventor of the best machine or process which will separate the bark and fiber from the stem, and the fiber from the bark, of the Böhmeria nivea.

4. A smaller reward, not exceeding 10,000 rupees, will be given to the inventor of the next best machine or process, provided it is adjudged to possess merit, and to be capable without difficulty of adaptation to practical use.

5. What is required is a machine or process capable of producing, by animal, water, or steam power, a ton of dressed fiber of a quality which shall average in value not less than £45 per ton in the English market, at a total cost, including all processes of preparation and all needful allowance for wear and tear, of not more than £15 per ton, laid down at any port of shipment in India, and £30 in England, after payment of all the charges usual in trade before goods reach the hands of the manufacturer. The processes of preparation are to be understood to include all the operations required subsequent to the cutting of the stems from the plants in the field, until the fiber is in a condition fit to be packed for conveyance to the market.

6. The machinery employed must be simple, strong, durable, and inexpensive, and should be suited for erection in the plantations where the rheea is grown. It must be adapted for treatment of the fresh stems, as cut from the plant. The treatment of dried stems offers certain difficulties, and the fiber prepared from them must, moreover, always be much more costly than the fiber produced from green stems. Except during the hot, dry weather preceding the rains in Upper India (where rheea grows best), it is very difficult so to dry the stems that no fermentation or mildew shall occur. But during this season the stems are comparatively short and the crop poor and stunted, unless it is artificially irrigated, and such irrigation greatly increases the cost of cultivation. In the rainy season the plant is in fine condition, but at this season it is almost impossible to dry the stems in quantity without injuring the fiber, unless recourse is had to artificial means of desiccation, which greatly increases the cost of the material. It is, therefore, obvious that the attention of inventors should be given to the discovery of a process for the treatment of the green stems.

7. The trials will be held at Saháranpur, in the northwestern provinces, in the months of August and September, 1879. Machines entered for competion should be placed in situ, and be ready for work not later than the 15th August, the competition commencing on the next day. The judges will be appointed by the government, and they will watch the whole of the trials. But the machines shall be worked and adjusted by the competitors themselves, and no person shall touch a machine without the consent of the inventor.

8. The government of India will provide proper shelter and accommodation at Saháranpur for all the competing machines, as well as the motive power required. It will also pay for the transport from the sea-coast to Saháranpur of all the machines up to the limit of one ton each, the freight on any excess weight to be defrayed by the owners. The present rate of freight by rail from Calcutta to Saháranpur is Rs. 3. 10 per maund, or Rs. 98. 11 per ton, and from Bombay to Saháranpur, Rs. 4. 1 per maund, or Rs. 110. 9 per ton. A free second-class ticket to Saháranpur will also be given to any person in charge of a machine.

9. The owner or owners of the successful machine or machines shall not be entitled to receive the reward offered, except on the following conditions, viz:

(1.) That a complete technical description of the machine, illustrated by plans drawn to scale, shall be prepared and published (government paying the cost) for the information of the public.

(2.) That after the expiry of three years from the date on which the award is made the public shall have the right of manufacturing similar machines, on payment to the owner of a royalty of 10 per cent. on the cost of each machine so manufactured.

10. All persons desiring to compete under the terms and on the conditions specified above are requested to make known their intention not later than the 31st December, 1878, giving the following particulars:

(1.) Name in full and residence.

(2.) Profession or occupation.

(3.) Number of different kinds of machines entered for competition.

(4.) Brief description of each machine.

Intending competitors will, at the same time, declare themselves bound (under penalty of disqualification of the competing machines and forfeiture of all claim to the government reward) to conform to all rules which may be prescribed by government or by the judges appointed by government in connection with the conduct of the trials.

All notices of intention to compete and applications for information should be addressed to the secretary to the Government of India, department of revenue, agriculture, and commerce, Calcutta.

11. A limited quantity of rheea will be grown in the botanic gardens, Calcutta, and persons desirous of testing their machines before entering them for public competition may obtain green stems in small quantities from the superintendent of the gardens through this department.

G. H. M. BATTEN,
Officiating Secretary to the Government of India.