JAPANESE DISCOVERY

Evening Star, Issue 17393, 1 July 1920, Page 2

JAPANESE DISCOVERY

Japan has discovered a new fibre to mix with cotton which promises to*canse a revolution in cheap fabrics in the Far East. It is a kind of eea grass known as sugamo, which, when properly treated and mixed with raw cotton, makes a thread strong and useful for cheapening the material wh ch is now so hgh in price, says K. Hoshino in the ‘Japan Magazine/' The annual value of raw cotton imports to Japan is about 1500,000,000 veil, with about 18.000,000 yen for ramie, and 52,000,00 yen f' v '"Oir ; but if the nvx n’ raw cotton with tea grass proves a success such large imports oi raw cotton wih not he necessary. Tins sea grass flourishes plentifully about the shores of Japan, so that there* will be no difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply if it comes into gen d use among spinners. The botanical name of the grass is Pin! lospadix scou’eri, or sugamo in Japanese, but in the different places where it nrov.s d fierent names are used by the Japanese, such as umisuae, eb-ino, ryuguno, and so on. The quantity available is believed to be unlimited. It is an evergreen seaweed about an eighth of an inch to sfi in width, rather long and thick, sometimes extending to a length of 16ft, not unlike kelp. It grows luxuriantly about rocks facing the open sea. It is one of the rare marine phanegrogamaa in Japanese waters, and usually is found in water about four to five fathoms deep, at low water. When once it takes root on a rock it grows in ab-ndance, branching out in all directions, and as the roots collect sand or other substance they form a soil on the rock to nourish the roots.