The _Plymouth Cordage Company_ hereby give notice, that they have on hand _One Hundred Tons, Clean St. Petersburg Hemp_, of superior quality, which they are ready to manufacture into _Cordage_ of any size or description to suit purchasers. Their _machinery_ and _water privilege_ is equal to any in the Country--and their _Cordage_ shall in every respect be equal to their advantages. All orders for _Cordage_, in any quantities shall receive immediate attention, at the Ropewalks, from _BOURNE SPOONER_. _Plymouth, March 12, 1825._ tf46 N. B. A number of good Spinners would find employment as above. PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY’S FIRST ADVERTISEMENT ] The large consumption of Sisal during recent years has been caused by the production of binder twine, which has now become an important part of the cordage business. This company first made binder twine in 1882. In 1899 it completed its No. 2 Mill, devoted entirely to this product, and by the completion of the Welland (Ontario) factory in 1906 was enabled to supply its large Canadian trade from that point. The Sheaf of Wheat trademark and the name “Plymouth” on binder twine are now known the world over and, as in the case of the Ship brand on rope, are always recognized as standing for quality. [Illustration: OLD-TIME METHOD OF HACKLING] In the early days to which we have referred, all the yarn for rope-making was spun by hand in the time-honored way. We are able to represent to our readers, by the photographs shown, this now almost lost art. The material shown in the pictures is American hemp, which, because the earlier machines were not adapted to working this softer fiber, continued to be spun by hand long after Manila was spun chiefly on machines. The hemp was first hackled, as is also shown by our photograph, the hackle or “hechel” being simply a board having long, sharp steel teeth set into it. This combed out the tow or short, matted fiber, leaving the clean, straight hemp. This “strike” of hemp the spinner wrapped about his waist, bringing the ends around his back and tucking them into his belt, thus keeping the material in place without knot or twist, and allowing the fibers to pay out freely. The workman in our picture is Johnny Moores, an old-time expert hand-spinner, who could walk off backward from the wheel with his wad of hemp, spinning with each hand a thread as fine and even as could be asked for. In the photograph, in order to show the process more clearly, one large yarn is being spun.