The great difficulty encountered by the French manufacturers consisted in the cotton. France did not furnish cotton higher than No. 70; the English ranges from 160 to 200. The prohibition of English cotton obliged them to obtain it by smuggling until 1834, when it was admitted on paying a duty. Now they make their own, and are able to rival Nottingham in the prices of their productions. A great number of Nottingham lace-makers have emigrated to Calais.
The Caen blond first suggested the idea.
The first net frame was set up at Brussels in 1801. Others followed at Termonde, 1817; Ghent, 1828; Sainte Fosse, etc.
D. Wyatt.
Mr. Ferguson, the inventor of the bullet-hole, square net (tulle carré), and wire-ground (point de champ ou de Paris), had transferred his manufacture, in 1838, from Nottingham to Cambrai, where, in partnership with M. Jourdan, he made the "dentelle de Cambrai," and in 1852 the "lama" lace, which differs from the Cambrai inasmuch as the weft (trame) is made of mohair instead of silk. Mr. Ferguson next established himself at Amiens, where he brought out the Yak, another mixed lace.