Wo have received from Messrs. A. M. Hart, Ld., a copy of the "Journal of the Booiety of Aris" for the 6th of April, which contains a very interesting paper under the above heading, read before on the 4th of April by Hart. Mrs, Hart is fforta to Donegal. Her work in this connection was scknowledged by Mr. Balfour who, when Secretary of State for Ireland, gave hor grant of £1,000 in aid of her I schools, ' Moreover, she has spent about £10,000 of her private fortune in encouraging Irish industries.
manufacture of Ramie into of particular interest to in China for, for many 78 the natives have utilised it in manufacture of grass cloth, Ramie, or Behmeria niven, is plant somewhat resembling hemp. It can be grown in any moderate climate, and the fibre} in unsurpassed in strength, is practically unaffected by moiaturo, and has a silky lustre comparable to that of jute. Ramie has been used for textile purposes for many years in the countries to which it is indigenous, but attempts to utilise it io the came manner in Groat Britain have, up to now, been sorry failures, although the spinning of Ramio yarn has mot with some success on the Continent, In Germany and France it has boon used to a limit. ed degree as woft on woollen or cotton yarns, but the chief impetus to the industry was the discovery that it made excellent gas mantles. M: Hart oxporimontod in a small way where so many others have failed, and exer very servioematerial, some as light as gossamer, some as heavy as canvas. The chief difficulty to be overcome la the weaving ofa pure Ramie warp, owing tu the inelasticity of the fibre. When once woven into cloth Ramie is more durable than any other fabric, and for reason it la not popular with the retail trade. boon made to} devise suitable machinery for preparing Ramio for the spinner, but so far tis found that the hand-prepared fibre is far superior. It is hero that the Chinese excel, and where labour is cheap the growers do well to rely upon manual Isbour only. The cultivation of the plant, if properly conducted, is a very profitable investent, If suckers be planted, the stems ould be ready to be gathered within months, and under ordinary conditions four crops a year may be obtained.
If Mrs. Hart, by her efforts, succeeds in atimalating the Ramie cloth industry, it should find a very largo market, and not the least Isadable of her objects i the fostering of Ramio culti i Tndia and the African colonies.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.