In pursuance of this wise policy, in the initial stages of a new 
industry, of festina lente, the Syndicate have not as yet undertaken 
their own spinning. The processes I saw at the mills, were those 
of degumming, cleaning, drying, separating, equalising lengths, 
weaving.and dyeing and thread manufacture. The machinery is of 
the most modern type, and so far as a casual visitor could judge, 
the methods of working no less than the general supervision, most 
efficient. I had previously been shown at the offices of the Syndi- 
cate, samples of the spun goods manufactured from the woven 
fibre turned out at Romford by the Bunbeg Mills Company. 1 here 
can be no doubt that ramie-made cloths and other goods are not 
only far superior to linen but will, ere long compete with silk, by 
reason of their being very much cheaper, and with cotton by reason 
of their greater strength and durability. There are very few 
articles, if any, among manufactured textiles with which ramie- 
made goods cannot and will not enter into competition, from khaki 
and sail cloth to dain tv dresses and tapestries and curtains. 1 he 
principal demand thus far has been for vestings and underclothing, 
but other departments of manufacture are opening out as merchants 
come to recognise that among the advantages of ramie goods are 
that they are rot-proof, that they bleach a pure lustrous white and 
that they are unshrinkable. If the claim that ramie “ even survives 
the attention of the Oriental dhoby, no matter how much it is 
beaten on stone” can be substantiated (and it can soon be put to 
the test) we may anticipate that this, with other advantages men 
tioned, will, in course of time lead to great demand in India. Al- 
ready there has been some manufacture of white washing poplins 
for the Tropics. Sportsmen in the East should note that the manu- 
facturer include “extremely durable unions for riding and hard 
wear" while the general public may bear in mind the claim, and 
put it to the test, that ramie goods are “lustrous as silk, more 
durable than linen, inexpensive and handsome ”. My tour ot the 
Romford factory convinced me that there is a great future for this 
industry, and that Mr. BlRDWOOD had solid grounds to rest upon 
in expressing the conviction that the Indian planter need not be 
apprehensive of flooding the market with raw material, inasmuch 
as the demand is bound to keep alreast with toe supply. When 
they know that they may look beyond China for their supplies 
wrote Mr. BlRDWOOD in the February Anglo-Indian Review , 
“manufacturers will be prepared to increase their out-turn very 
considerably. It would therefore appear that the Indian planter, 
if he will attack the problem soberly and with sufficient capital, 
could not only capture the market hitherto dominated by China, 
but could find fresh outlets for his production. One thing hemever 
he must clearly bear in mind: the manufacturer knows what be 
wants and can get what he wants from existing sources. . . - 
wfll run no risks in his raw material. Indian planters must not 
imagine that knowledge will leap fully armed from their heads or that 
fortune will stop with them at the holding up of a little linger. 
The question whether India is or is not to participate as a pro- 
ducer of the raw material in this nascent industry has a wider 
