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As I am frequently asked what induced me to take up the 

 question of ramie weaving, and as my audience will expect an 

 answer to this enquiry, I will give a brief account of my own 

 work in weaving ramie. 



As is well known, I was engaged for many years (and am still) 

 in encouraging Irish village industries by founding various in- 

 dustries and training workers. The weaving of hand-made linens 

 of beautiful colours in cottages was one of these. Looking round 

 always for new ideas, I noticed in the Colonial Exhibition of 1885 

 a case of ramie in which the fibre was shown in the raw state, 

 degummed, as silver, and as dyed yarns. I sought out the man in 

 charge of this exhibit, and asked if yarns could be supplied of this 

 brilliant, silky fibre, but I was told that the exhibit was only of 

 scientific interest, and that to make weaving yarns was not yet 

 practicable. 



A few years later I read a notice in the papers that the difficulties 

 of ramie spinning had been overcome. I immediately wrote to 

 the factory mentioned, and obtained white yarns, which I used as 

 weft on linen warps, and one of the iirst things woven on our 

 looms was a piece of cloth for a waistcoat, which has figured in 

 many letters to the press, and which I know is still in wear. On 

 the closing down of this factory we bought up stocks of ramie 

 yarn, and continued weaving it in conjunction with unbleached 

 linen and exporting the cloth to India, where it obtained a high 

 reputation for its wearing qualities, and its stubborn resistance to 

 dhobie washing. 



Stimulated by the assertion that it could not be done, I 

 determined in the summer of 1902 to attempt tte weaving of pure 

 ramie fabrics, warp and weft. 1 put up a small Swedish hand-loom 

 in a shed in my garden at Totteridge, and engaged an expert 

 hand-loom weaver — a Finn girl — to come and work as a sample 

 weaver. On this simple loom we got out our first samples, and 

 boldly submitted them to one of the first dress goods houses in 

 London. They were approved, and I was encouraged to go on. 

 A witch loom and a Domestic loom, with power-loom action 

 worked by the feet, were added to the plant, and while I designed 

 or copied patterns and pegged them on the witch, the weaver wove 

 them, and together we proved the point that ramie could be woven 

 in piece lengths, warp and weft. 



The looms were then transferred to a weaving shed in a village 

 in Yorkshire, the number of hand looms was brought up to sixteen, 

 and they were placed under the direction of a manager, who 

 added to the most intimate knowledge of looms and weaving, a 

 rare sense of colour. Orders began to come in from good houses, 

 but they soon necessitated the use of broad-width power looms. 

 Another small mill was rented and fitted with ten power-looms, 

 gas engine and winding, beaming, and twisting machinery. Then 

 began the true difficulties of the undertaking, for we had to meet 

 and overcome the difficulties of weaving, in this inelastic fibre, 



