Rhea which is also known under the name of ramie, is a textile plant which was indigenous to China and India. It is perennial, easy of cultivation, and produces a remarkably strong fiber. The problem of its cultivation has long being solved, for within certain limits rhea can be grown in any climate. India and the British colonies offer unusual facilities, and present vast and appropriate fields for that enterprise, while it can be, and is, grown in most European countries. All this has long been demonstrated; not so, however, the commercial utilization of the fiber, which up to the present time would appear to be a problem only partially solved, although many earnest workers have been engaged in the attempted solution.
There have been difficulties in the way of decorticating the stems of this plant, and the Indian Government, in 1869, offered a reward of £5,000 for the best machine for separating the fiber from the stems and bark of rhea in its green or freshly cut state.

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