and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— March, 1912. 281 



HAT-MAKING INDUSTRY FOR 

 CEYLON. 



WHAT IS BEING DONE IN JAPAN. 



The recent discussion in the Tropical Agricul- 

 turist Supplement on the subject of a hat- 

 making industry for Ceylon, suggested by our 

 Manila Correspondent, has Jed to an interesting 

 letter from a Japanese gentleman. Our corres- 

 pondent is Mr. S. Iida, Manager of the Yokohama 

 Nursery Co., Ltd., to whom we are greatly 

 indebted for a report on what is doing in *his 

 line in Japan. He writes : — 



The straw hats made from the Pandanus leaf, 

 bleached quite white, resemble the Panama 

 hats in the weave and shape. This industry was 

 started about ten years ago in Formosa origi- 

 nally, and as the demand grew it has been estab- 

 lished in the Loochow Islands where the grass 

 grows wild luxuriantly, and in some provinces 

 of Japan proper. The annual outturn is not 

 certain, but a rough estimate would be 10,000 

 dcz. valued at Yen 200,000. Men's hats cost Yen 

 10-30 per doz. Ladies'— Yeu 35-50, thelatter is 

 for foreign market exclusively. The industry has 

 now been firmly established and appears to 

 grow rapidly. It will, moreover, do so more 

 rapidly if all Chinamen cat off their queues, as it 

 is already felt that the supply is far too short. 



The hat made of young Vhamaerops excels*, 

 leaf bleached white looks somewhat like the 

 Panama hat, but the material is coarser in touch 

 and rougher in texture. This and the Panama 

 hat made from the genuine imported Panama 

 straw {Varudoviea Palrnata) is also made in 

 Japan though on a small scale. 



36 



These hats are entirely made by hand, and no 

 machine whatever is used in the manufacture. 

 If you have the suitable material and your peo- 

 ple be interested in the making, they will need 

 no teaching but simply to undo the cast-ofl' 

 Panama hat and thereby learn where to start 

 and how to work, and they will acquire the 

 dexterity of fingers in a few months. The talipot 

 (Corypha umbraculiferd) produced in Ceylon I 

 judge to be too coarse for the hat making pur- 

 pose, not so pliable as the Panama straw. The 

 length of grass or palm leaf blade should be 24- 

 30 inches; immature pliable materials are prefer- 

 able. Any palm leaves can be bleached by means 

 of sodium peroxide. If any further information 

 is required, I shall be pleased to communicate. 



THE HEMP INDUSTRY IN THE 

 PH ILIPPIN E. 



Manila, Jan. 25th. 

 Dear Sir, — I wrote recently, sending you 

 extracts on the Hemp industry, &c, and men- 

 tioned that men get 1-Srd of the Hemp for 

 cutting and stripping it. I find that they get P2 

 (2 pesos), value 4s., a day, fortius work, or one- 

 half of the hemp, if they prefer it. The work of 

 stripping the Hemp is very hard, and sometimes 

 causes rupture. The Hemp planters will pro- 

 bably find that it will pay them better to sell the 

 stalks whole to the paper bag manufacturers, 

 rather than give men one-half of the Hemp, to cut 

 and strip it for rope. There will be a boom in 

 Hemp planting.^ Land is cheap, and Hemp is 

 easily and cheaply grown.— Yours very truly, 



MANILA COR. 



