12 



RAMIE, RHEA, CHINA GRASS, OR NETTLE FIBRE. 



from the fact that the mills have not been self- 

 contained that is to say, the manufacturer 

 has not been in a position to carry out on his 

 own premises the whole of the operations re- 

 quired from the raw ramie to the finished 

 goods ready for the consumer. Some firms 

 have degummed and combed the fibre and 

 offered it to the trade in the form of sliver. 

 Others have carried their operations a* little 

 further and have sold it in the form of rovings. 

 Others have offered their yarns for sale to the 

 weavers. In many cases remunerative prices 

 were not obtainable because the buyers were 

 unable or unwilling to purchase really high- 

 class machinery specially adapted for carrying 

 out the further processes required. In all 

 cases the ramie goods have been dyed, printed, 

 and finished by outside firms. 



I would therefore strongly advise that, in 

 starting mills for the manufacture of ramie, 

 they should, wherever possible, be self-con- 

 tained in other words, that the manufac- 

 turing operations should include everything 

 from the raw material to the finished article 

 ready for sale to the consumer. In this way 

 the manufacturer has full control over all the 

 operations, even the seemingly least important, 

 and is not exposed to failure through the ig- 

 norance or incapacity of outsiders. 



In conclusion, I may add that the signs of 

 progress are unmistakeable. In Yorkshire 

 there is at present a very large demand for 

 ramie yarns of all classes. On the Continent 

 ramie manufacturers are having a very good 

 time and their number is increasing. The 



Americans are quite alive to the value of 

 ramie. Buyers, especially in England, are to 

 the fore, some because ramie yarns are so 

 exceedingly strong and valuable for special pur- 

 poses, other because of the beautiful lustre of 

 the yarns, so necessary in many descriptions of 

 fancy goods, and others again because ramie 



! is able to satisfy requirements which no other 

 fibre can. Ramie mills are now being started 

 even in Eastern countries Japan and China. 

 Prejudice is rapidly giving way to earnest, in- 

 telligent desire to give ramie a fair trial and 

 to appreciate it according to its real value. 

 I may instance the case of one manufacturer in 

 this country who informed me a few days ago 

 that he had been for some years on the look 



| out for a special yarn possessed of strength not 

 previously obtainable. Having bought a quan- 

 tity of ramie roving he had spun it into yarn 

 and found it exactly suited to his purpose. He 

 has just bought ten tons of ramie rovings and 

 purposes spinning ramie yarns on a large 

 scale. 



Manufacturers are now in a position to ob- 

 tain the best ramie machinery as easily 

 as they can obtain cotton or woollen 

 machinery, and to produce ramie goods with 



I the minimum of risk and the maximum of 

 profit. The days of ignorance are gone by, and 

 ramie seems at last to be taking a position in 

 the textile world worthy of its goqd qualities. 



I have been induced to write these notes as 

 a contribution, however slight, to the know- 

 ledge and progress of the manufacture of ramie. 

 I earnestly hope they will be found useful and 

 encouraging to the friends of this grand fibre. 



