In the afternoon they visited La Lys (in full La Société la Lys pour la fabrication du lin, du chanvre et des
étoupes) established in 1838, the biggest flax factory in the world. Flax is much coarser than Japanese
hemp, but the superiority of the processing technique means that the end product is far better than the
Japanese nuno. After Manchester, Ghent was the first city where integrated cotton mills were operated,
whereby mechanical spinning and weaving operated under the same management. In order to reduce wage
costs, the Ghent cotton barons replaced the men by cheaper women. Kume confirms the high number of
women working in the shops.