B. Crude exotic flax, combed to different degrees of fineness for spinning different numbers of thread. C. Belgian flax, at 2 francs per kilogram, spun in No. 80 in the raw state, containing all of its natural gum. D. Exotic flax, at 50 centimes the kilogram, spun in No. 80, with gum and all other impurities extracted, bleached and colored without loss. E. Bleached upon the grass without lime or caustic. F. Exotic flax, No. 70 to 80, for lace manufacture, sewing-thread, etc. G. Exotic flax, woven into plush, a coarse specimen, but susceptible of additional fineness. H. Cotton made from exotic flax, coarse made, without machinery. K. Threads of exotic flax, indicating its strength. I believe that the material and process of Mr. De Turck are worthy of the serious attention of our spinners. The following correspondence, with which I have been recently favored, throws additional light upon the discovery by Mr. J. De Turck: [Letter of Mr. Romanch Du Caillond, flax-spinner, corresponding member of the committee appointed to examine into the resources of Tonkin.] Mr. PRESIDENT: Mr. J. De Turck, a manufacturer of Lille, France, writes to me for information concerning the dolichos of Tonkin (dolichos-cat-yang of CochinChina). This plant is noted in the list of vegetable-bearing plants by the Nos. 366, 367, and 368 in the Annuary of French Cochin-China for the year 1878. By a process of his own invention, Mr. De Turck has been able to utilize the stalks of the dolichos as a textile. He claims that he has obtained many results which, on account of the low price of the raw material, make this discovery very valuable. Mr. De Turck would therefore like to be informed (1) Whether the three varieties of dolichos-cat-yang (dâu-bac, dâu-deâ, dau-den) are found in large quantities in Tonkin? (2) Whether he could be placed in communication with some house of Tonkin which would undertake to furnish him bales of the plant? (3) Whether he could obtain an unlimited quantity of the stalks of this plant? A reply to these inquiries by the secretary of the committee, or some resident French merchant who would enter into an agreement for a supply of this article, would be highly esteemed. P. S.-I inclose in my letter a sample of dolichos-cat-yang. [Reply to the letter of Mr. Romanch Du. Caillond by Mr. Voignier, chief veterinary surgeon and Secretary.] HANOI, July 15, 1887. SIR: I have been instructed by Colonel Heintz, the president of the committee of examination of the resources of Tonkin, to give you all possible information, and will follow the order indicated by your inquiries. I shall enter into some details regarding its cultivation, for the subject is most important. In reply to the first question, I have consulted Mr. R. P. Bon, a missionary at He-So, who is a high authority in botany, and says that the dolichos-cat-yang to which you refer in your letter (inclosing a specimen) is simply the dolichos cultivated everywhere throughout Tonkin. Here it bears the name of dâu. The plant produces the dolique, or Tonkin bean, and, next to rice, is the most important crop of the country. This plant is cultivated on thousands of acres of land bordering on the sea, by the side of the rice-swamps of Hung-hoa, and the banks of all the rivers. The seed is sown in February and March in the north and a little later in the south. When inundations are feared, the dolique is planted alone or with other seeds to form clusters; in the latter case Indian corn or castor-beans are planted, as, in addition to the shade which they afford, they produce a valuable crop. It is This crop is suitable to lands which are too elevated or too porous for rice. also cultivated as an alternate crop with rice, to prevent the exhaustion produced by two successive rice-crops on the same land. Its greatest value is as a substitute It is cultivated also to rid the land of weeds. for rice, when the floods or drought have interfered with sowing or have destroyed the crop. This was the case this year in both north and south; the rice planting of the month of May was, in a great measure, prevented by the exceptional dryness of the previous winter, and in the south by the annoyances from the river pirates. The Tonkin farmers fell back upon the dolique. I have seen in the month of February, in the provinces of Nam-Dink and of NinkCink, and in May, in Day at the Black River and around Hung-hoa, the fields covered with dolique of fine appearance and vigorous growth, in contrast with meager and puny rice-fields. Thanks to the abundance of dolique produced in the north, a famine has this year been avoided. It usually ripens about the first of May, or a month earlier than the rice crop. This fact is very important and greatly adds to its value, as the granaries are then empty or nearly so, and this timely supply is oftentimes a great relief. When the country is deprived of this resource it often becomes necessary to cut the rice in an unripe state for immediate use, which invariably produces great mortality among the people. At the time of harvesting the dolique the country is all astir. Women and children overrun the fields, gathering the ripe pods in small baskets. The men in long files are seen wending their way to their villages, with long bamboo sticks upon their shoulders, on the ends of which the well-filled baskets are balanced. As there is no rest for the land in this country, the stalks are buried with the plow. Occasionally a few are saved for fuel, bedding for the buffaloes, or compost heaps in the open field; but the quantity thus used is small. The rice harvest also is upon them and calls for the labor of all hands. It is thus seen at a glance that the dolique is an important crop for Tonkin, and can relieve a deficiency of rice, than which it is acknowledged to be more nourishing. In the fine collection of seeds sent by Mgr. Puginier to the exposition at Hanoi I discovered 26 varieties of dolique, differing from one another in size and color, and there are probably as many more attainable. According to the opinion of R. P. Bon all of these varieties can be classified under the three following heads : (1) The white-dâu-tseng--which is identical with that called dâu-bac in CochinChina. (2) The red, corresponding with the dâu-deâ, mentioned in your letter. (3) The black, or dâu-den. The great number of sub-varieties to which these give rise are dwarfs or trained on poles, the latter being generally found in the inclosures of villages. In general the dolique is smaller than even the smallest French bean. In the open fields the small varieties are cultivated; they are hardy, resist storms, and yield abundantly. The pods are from 8 to 20 centimeters (0.3937 of an inch) in length, flat, with a protuberance like a spindle where each seed is formed, and they stand on end like long thorns, and the field appears bristling with them. They are gathered as soon as they are ripe. In reply to the second question: Nobody has, to my knowledge, undertaken to collect the stalks of the dolique. To establish commercial relations with any one for that purpose, Mr. De Turck could apply to the bureau of instructions of the protectorship, to the chamber of commerce of Hanoi or Haiphong, and advertise in such a manner that French, Annamite, or Chinese merchants would engage in the trade. In reply to the third question: As before said, there are so many thousand acres of land devoted to the cultivation of dolique, the stalks of which rot upon the ground, there could be no question about obtaining large quantities of the stalk. The Tonkin husbandmen only avail themselves of a part of the advantages of their products. They give to the army service rice straw, turnip-tops, and hay, which latter they have only just now learned how to secure; but it would be necessary for some one to suggest to them the advantages to be derived from securing the stalks of dolique. This plant would have the advantage over ramie of being cultivated for its stalk and seed. The initiatory step for M. De Turck, or some one acting for him, would be to secure a staff of Annamites or Chinese, and, at some central point near a stream, erect drying sheds or simply floors to assist open-air drying of the stalks. This step would be necessary, as the harvest often takes place in the midst of rain, and the stalks should be well dried and pressed to diminish bulk and save freight. The paraphernalia and outfit to secure a successful preparation of the stalk would cost but little, as hand labor is very cheap. CHAS. P. WILLIAMS, UNITED STATES CONSULATE, ROUEN, FRANCE, Consul. November 10, 1887. FRENCH STEAMSHIP LINES TO BRAZIL. REPORT OF CONSUL MASON. There has been a recent addition of two regular steam-ship lines to the already extensive mercantile service between Marseilles and the South American ports, notably those of Brazil and the Argentine Republic. These additional lines have been established during the present month by old and well-known steam-ship companies belonging to the port of Marseilles, and the new service is announced to continue as follows: (1) Compagnie Fraixsinet.-Steamer leaves Marseilles the 1st of each month for Genoa, St. Vincent, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres. (2) Compagnie Nationale.-Leaves Marseilles the 25th of each month for Genoa, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres. The steamers of these lines are of iron, and range from 2,000 to 2,800 tons register and from 1,800 to 2,500 horse-power. Their principal freight traffic will be from Marseilles, but their most valuable service will be the transportation of emigrants from Genoa to the new countries south of the equator, which have become in recent years more than ever an El Dorado for the redundant population of Italy. In addition to the foregoing, the following long-established service will be continued as heretofore: (3) Compagnie Florio-Rubattino (Italian).-Steamer every fortnight from Marseilles via Genoa for the Plate River, and one each month for Valparaiso and other Pacific ports. (4) Société Générale de Transports Maritimes.-Steamer each ten days from Marseilles for Lakar, Santos, Rio Janeiro, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres, touching at Barcelona and Gibraltar. (5) Compagnie Cyprien-Fabre.-Steamer each month from Marseilles for Montevideo, Buenos Ayre, and Rosario. There is thus established what is equivalent to considerably more than a weekly steam-ship service between Marseilles and the principal Atlantic ports of South America, and nothing could illustrate more forcibly than this the steadily growing commerce between Mediterranean countries and the rapidly developing territory of Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argentine Republic, where many thousands of Italians and other emigrants go annually to find new and permanent homes. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, FRANK H. MASON, Consul. Marseilles, October 18, 1887. FEMALE LABOR IN THE MANUFACTURE OF READY-MADE CLOTHING IN GERMANY. REPORT OF CONSUL MILLAR. The Imperial Government of Germany has just issued an elaborate report containing the results of investigations into this question, which has attracted considerable attention in Germany. The report may conveniently be dealt with under four heads: The classes of females employed, the wages they earn, their mode of living, and their general character. CLASSES OF WORKERS. As regards the first point, the workers in this branch of employment may be divided into two classes, professional workers, whose labor is their only means of subsistence, and amateurs, for whom it is only the occupation of their leisure hours. The professional workers are drawn chiefly from the families of the working classes and from country girls who come to town to enter domestic service, and then take to sewing as a more congenial, if less profitable, employment. The amateurs, or "lady workers," as they are sometimes called, are chiefly found in the families of minor officials in public and private services. Their chief object is to gain additional pocket money for dress and amusements, and, as they do not feel the pressure of actual want, they have no interest in keeping up the market price of work. Consequently they take work at relatively low rates for the sake of a small actual gain in money, and their competition has thus a very bad effect on the market, as it tends to reduce prices continuously, while making work more difficult to get. Each of these classes, again, is subdivided into workers in ready-made dresses and workers in underwear. The conditions vary considerably in these two branches, especially in the matter of wages, which forms the second head of this report. The workers in the ready-made clothing branch are the worse off, because the work is not only worse paid, but lasts only during the season, while their colleagues in the other branch are sure of continuous employment. In Berlin, the chief seat of these industries, cloak makers earn from 8 to 9 marks a week, beginners and the less skillful hands from 4 to 5 marks. The season lasts only four or five months, and the rest of the year the workers have to find other employment. The makers of underclothing earn from 5 to 15 marks weekly. The average is difficult to fix, because the work is so varied, and is frequently done by piece-work. Perhaps it may be said that a skillful seamstress will earn from 12 to 15 marks weekly. As a specimen of the prices paid for piece-work the following are given: 1 dozen shirts, the fronts, collars, and cuffs being supplied ready sewn 1 dozen button-holes (hand-work) 1 gross button-holes (machine-work). 50 to 85 pfennigs. 2.50 to 6.50 marks. A deduction of about one mark weekly has to be made for thread and sundries which the seamstresses have to supply themselves; and where the work is done at home the cost of fuel, light, and maintenance of the machine also comes into consideration. WAGES. In Posen the daily wage; in the factories vary from 50 to 60 pfennigs for ten or eleven hours' work. Piece-work done at home is paid for as follows: Overshirts, 4 marks; night-shirts, 2 marks, and various articles of ladies' wear from 1 to 2 maiks per dozen. As a day's work varies from three-fourths dozen of the dearer to 2 dozen of the cheaper articles, the average weekly earning of a worker may be put at 12 to 15 marks, as in Berlin. In the ready-made dress. branch the average does not exceed 1.50 marks. In Breslau wages are somewhat lower, and range from 90 pfennigs to 2 marks. Young women who act as superintendents, or who do work in private families, earn more. In Erfurt wages are very low among quilters. They seem to average about 7 marks a week for good workers; but six weeks in the year they are unemployed. Hand-sewers are worse paid; all the year round they do not earn more than 44 to 5 marks a week. In Dusseldorf, Reuss, Barmen, and Elberfeld trade is much depressed by Berlin competition. It is said that good seamstresses can earn from 2.50 to 3 marks daily, and good embroiderers from 2 to 2.50; but the average appears not to exceed 1.50 marks. In Saxony these branches occur chiefly in the districts of Plauen and Chemnitz. The average wages are reported to be now from 5 to 10 marks weekly. In Leipsic, where, however, the trade is not carried on to any great extent, the workers are chiefly paid by time, fair workers earning on the average 8 to 10 marks, good workers 11 to 12 marks. Piece-workers can earn from 16 to 18 marks a week by working twelve hours a day, but a sixth has to be deducted for thread, oi., and sundries. In Bavaria the manufacture of these articles is also not carried on to any very large extent. The supply does not do more than meet the demand in Bavaria itself. The average wages are stated to be about 9 marks. In the smaller German states the condition of the workers does not differ materially from that in the larger kingdoms. MODE OF LIVING. Passing to the third head, the mode of living of the workers, it will at once be evident that workers on the minimum wages are entirely precluded from any attempt at independent existence apart from the aid of their families. But as many of those who earn from 10 to 15 marks do manage to exist apart from their friends, it may be of interest to see how it is done. The answer is a painful picture of the straits to which the pressure of competition has reduced a whole class of useful members of society. In Berlin the daily expenses of the seamstresses have been calculated to be as follows: Sleeping accommodation and coffee (breakfast).. Bread and butter for lunch... Dinner, generally eaten in a restaurant or people's kitchen". Bread and butter in the afternoon Supper Two bottles of beer. Or 8.40 per week. Pfennigs. 20 15 30 15 20 20 1.20 Persons with practical acquaintance with economical living in Germany assure me that for the above sums it is possible in the cheaper quarters of the towns to obtain measurable quantities of eatable food; but there is also no doubt that the above figures represent the minimum of actual expenditure. Considering, further, that no provision is made for washing, repairs, or replacement of clothes, it is evident that the barest economy will scarcely be able to make the wages meet the demands. And if we add the outlay for that weekly amusement which the German nature imperatively demands, |