54 



in 1903.) Another competitor would be Japan ; Ramie is there woven 

 into a kind of cloth and made into kimonos for summer wear, for which 

 its coolness and smoothness admirably adapt it." 



H.M. Consul at Kiukiang (China) in his Report for 1906, states 

 that the exports of hemp from that port during the year amounted to 

 149,868 cwts. (£253,396), as compared with 135,279 cwts. (£192,974) 

 during the preceding year. Most of this is what is known as "ch'uma," 

 or Ramie fibre. The export is increasing every year, the Japanese 

 especially taking advantage of the opportunity offered for obtaining a 

 useful product at a low price. 



Professor Alfred F. Barker, Professor of Textile Industries at the 

 Bradford Textile College, in his letter appearing in the Textile 

 Mercury of 3rd February, 1906, says : — 



" We have found no difficulties of any moment in weaving Ramie, 

 although such are popularly supposed to exist. Of course on a tappet 

 loom this very inelastic material hangs very loosely during the change 

 of shed, but as Ramie is very strong the half or quarter of the warp 

 upon which the strain is placed seems quite equal to the call made 

 upon it." 



The Textile Recorder, July, 1907 : — 



" Ramie Spinning on the Continent." ..." Very marked 

 improvement is stated to exist in the latest decorticator placed on the 

 market by Mr. Faure, of Limoges, France, whose machine for this 

 purpose is, up to the present, the most successful yet developed. It is 

 reported to work cheaper, and show a much larger yield of cleaned 

 fibre per day than its predecessors, the inventor having studied the 

 decortication of Ramie for many years, and constructed several 

 machines for doing this work, and the product is equal in all respects 

 to hand-cleaned China grass." 



VULCANISATION TESTS WITH PLANTATION 



RUBBERS. 



By Clayton Beadle, F.R.Met.Soc, F.C.S., and Henry 

 P. Stevens, M.A., Ph.D., F.C.S. of Clayton Beadle and 

 Stevens, 15 Boro', London, S.E. 



When a raw material which for many years has formed the staple 

 of a large industry is by force of circumstances produced in new 

 districts and by new methods, the manufacturer naturally asks himself 

 whether his new sources of supply are suitable to his methods of 

 manufacture. He may, of course, have no difficulty in determining 



