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. The Indian Government was led to this step by the strong conviction, based upon ample evidence, that the only obstacle to the development of an extensive trade in this product was the want of suitable means for decorticating the plant. This was the third time within the present century that rhea had become the subject of official action on the part of the Government, the first effort for utilizing the plant dating from 1803, when Dr. Roxburg started the question, and the second from 1840, when attention was again directed to it by Colonel Jenkins. The offer of £5,000, in 1869, led to only one machine being submitted for trial, although several competitors had entered their names. This machine was that of Mr. Greig, of Edinburgh, but after careful trial by General (then Lieutenant Colonel) Hyde it was found that it did not fulfill the conditions laid down by the Government, and therefore the full prize of £5,000 was not awarded. In consideration, however, of the inventor having made a _bona fide_ and meritorious attempt to solve the question, he was awarded a donation of £1,500. Other unsuccessful attempts were subsequently made, and eventually the offer of £5,000 was withdrawn by the Government. But although the prize was withdrawn, invention did not cease, and the Government, in 1881, reoffered the prize of £5,500. Another competition took place, at which several machines were tried, but the trials, as before, proved barren of any practical results, and up to the present time no machine has been found capable of dealing successfully with this plant in the green state. The question of the preparation of the fiber, however, continued to be pursued in many directions. Nor is this to be wondered at when it is remembered that the strength of some rhea fiber from Assam experimented with in 1852 by Dr. Forbes Royle, as compared with St. Petersburg hemp, was in the ratio of 280 to 160, while the wild rhea from Assam was as high as 343. But, above and beyond this, rhea has the widest range of possible applications of any fiber, as shown by an exhaustive report on the preparation and use of rhea fiber by Dr. Forbes Watson, published in 1875, at which date Dr. Watson was the reporter on the products of India to the Secretary of State, at the India Office. Last year, however, witnessed the solution of the question of decortication in the green state in a satisfactory manner by M.A. Favier's process, as reported by us at the time.