449 



Folded id. per lb. extra. Terms net cash. 



These are meant for wearing with woollen goods to which they 

 impart non shrinking effects. 



Many new patents have been taken out during the last twelve 

 months for ramie decorticating machinery, and also for new methods 

 of its degumming. The most notable expansion in the trade after 

 Germany is in France. In England it has also increased, and has been 

 better in Switzerland, where, in 1906, there was comparatively, a quiet 

 year in comparison with those preceding it. 



Among other new purposes to which the fibre is being turned may 

 be mentioned that of the manufacture of filter cloths, and there is a 

 prospect that the waste arising in spinning will be made use of more 

 largely by paper manufacturers. When used as a base for this 

 purpose many materials, which cannot otherwise be utilised, can be 

 employed successfully, and the cost of production is reduced consi- 

 derably. 



All classes of paper, from the finest to the commonest qualities; 

 can be made economically from ramie waste ; the quality depends large- 

 ly on the quantity of the material which is employed in the manufac- 

 turing operations. When it is used alone, the quality is of a most ex- 

 cellent standard. When mixed with other materials, it reduces cost 

 production, and produces a good article. The adaptability of the fibre 

 to take the dye well enables fine tints to be obtained. 



In the United States, the Howard Eamie Fibre Company, which 

 put down during the year a plant capable of treating 14 tons of raw 

 material weekly, are stated to be making satisfactory progress, and 

 overcoming the initial difficulties of their treating and manufacturing 

 operations. 



Experiments in the spinning and weaving of the fibre have been 

 made in many new districts in England, and on the Continent. 



Straits Times, August 19th 1908< 



Notes on Above. 



The interest in this article lies in the account of the recent 

 progress made in Europe in developing the trade and in the tables of 

 prices. 



The'account of the Bom Biha is a very old one, and the plant is 

 well known, none of the forms of Bcehmeria have done as well as a local 

 strain, known as the Singapore variety, but the story of B. Nivea and 

 the other varieties has often been told in the Bulletin and elsewhere, 

 so need not be dilated on. 



The trouble with Ramie is not as people at home seem to suppose 

 the preparation of the filasse but the cultivation at a price that will 

 pay. 



H. N. Ridley. 



