IO 



RAMIE, RHEA, CHINA GRASS, OR NETTLE FIBRE. 



short fibre separated from the rest of the fibre 

 by the combing machine ; these are now ex- 

 ceedingly useful for many purposes, and there 

 is a large demand for them. They can be spun 

 into an excellent serviceable yarn on ordinary 

 tow machinery, and as such their leading quali- 

 ties are strength and regularity. They are also 

 mixed with other textiles, such as wool, cotton, 

 etc. These mixtures are very advantageous to 

 the manufacturer, as ramie noils impart not 

 only great strength to the yarns and to the 

 fabrics, but they improve the appearance of 

 the goods through their lustre and through 

 the excellent and lasting colours which they 

 take in the dyeing process. In most cases they 

 reduce the cost of the goods, for ramie noils 

 now find a ready sale at about 4d. to 5d. per 

 lb., according to the state of the market. It 

 cannot be called a case of adulteration by 

 bringing into the mixture something that is 

 of inferior quality, but it is rather the effect- 

 ing of a distinct improvement in the goods by 

 adding a material of excellent value. Noils 

 are also being spun satisfactorily on cotton 

 machinery. They are likewise used in a variety 

 of other trades, such as the manufacture of 

 celluloids, etc. 



DRAWING. 



This is effected by passing the combed sli- 

 vers through a series of gill-drawing machines 

 of special design, running at very high speeds, 

 in order to give the greatest possible produc- 

 tion. The drawing processes require to be 

 carried out with considerable care and judg- 

 ment. For instance, the relative sizes of the 

 slivers and the relative number of them fed 

 into and combined in each of the drawing 

 machines, must be duly proportioned in such a 

 manner as to cause each machine to deliver a 

 -sliver or tape as level as possible for the suc- 

 ceeding machine ; this applies to every machine 

 in the set of drawing frames. Want of care 

 at this stage cannot fail to be detrimental to 

 the after stages, because irregular tape of 

 necessity produces irregular rovings, and tltese 

 in their turn produce irregular yarns of dimin- 

 ished value. 



Some descriptions of ramie have a slight 

 natural defect namely, what are called in the 

 trade "hard ends," these being in some cases 

 fibres which have not developed to their full 

 length, but have grown somewhat thick and 

 short; in other cases two or three fibres that 

 have grown together. In the ordinary process 

 of good combing, these hard ends are to a 

 large extent removed from the slivers, but 

 experience has shown that it is very desirable 



in the highest qualities of ramie yarn that 

 these hard ends should be entirely removed ; 

 otherwise they are liable to form inequalities 

 in the yarns, and the woven and other goods 

 produced from such yarns are liable to show a 

 speckled appearance after dyeing : the hard 

 ends absorb more colour than the rest and are 

 non-lustrous. 



In order to do away with this defect, the 

 slivers intended for the very best quality yarns 

 pass through a second combing operation and 

 then through a set of special drawing or re- 

 gilling machines, so as to free them from all 

 the hard ends and make them suitable for 

 spinning into the finest yarns for the highest 

 classes of expensive fancy goods, such as 

 brocades, union silks, imitation silk goods, etc. 



ROVING AND SPINNING. 



On leaving the drawing frames, the ramie 

 slivers or tapes are transferred to roving 

 frames of special construction, which convert 

 them into rovings. These are then spun into 

 yarns by the spinning frames. The roving and 

 spinning frames for ramie differ in some essen- 

 tial features from the ordinary machines used 

 for cotton, flax, worsted, or silk waste. In 

 their construction are embodied some of the 

 most improved motions of the machines used 

 for the above-mentioned textiles for instance, 

 quick-running spindles, etc., to ensure a large 

 production of good work. There have been 

 introduced into their design and construction 

 the result of ten years' experiments a num- 

 ber of special mechanical improvem jnts, in 

 order to adapt them for the treatment of the 

 peculiar qualities of the fibre, and designed to 

 overcome the difficulties formerly experienced 

 in roving and spinning ramie. 



In describing the combing operations I made 

 special mention of the system of sorting or 

 separating the fibre during the combing opera- 

 tion into its various qualities. Experience has 

 shown that the most improved method of 

 dealing with the assorted slivers after comb- 

 ing is for each quality of fibre to be treated 

 by passing it separately through a set of draw- 

 ing, roving, and spinning machines designed 

 and constructed for that special quality. The 

 result is that ramie is now being spun very 

 economically into the very best yarns of which 

 each quality of fibre is capable, consideration 

 being paid to strength, lustre, uniformity of 

 size, twist, speed of production, etc. 



This is a new departure in the manufacture 

 of ramie and has added immensely to its value 

 as a textile, because it has materially enlarged 



