July i, 18S5.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



^ori'i^sponilenoo. 



To the Editor of ike " Ceylon Observer. " 



THE CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION OF 

 JUTE. 



Tavoy, British Burma, 16th April 18S3. 



Dear Sir, — I see by the Obsert'er that a Queens- 

 land man is in quest of instructions for jute oultiv- 

 atiou : so here goes. 



Instuu€tion.s for Jute Cultivation. — .S'oi7 and Ch- 

 mate. — Jute thrives best on loamy soil, rich clay and 

 sand, or sand combined \rith alluvial deposit, and on 

 land which is neither inundated nor dry. A clayey soil 

 and a ferruginous soil are not unfavourable to the 

 growth of the plant. But laterite and gravelly soil 

 are unsuitable. A hot, damp atmosphere is most 

 favourable to the growth of the plant. Alternate 

 rain and sunshine are most congenial. The plant 

 suffers less injury from excess of rainfall than from 

 the entire want of it. Too much rain at the begin- 

 ning of the season and early Hoods, however, are 

 injurious and destructive to the young plants. Drought 

 stunts their growth and very often even destroys 

 them, if not sufficiently developed. But heavy rains 

 have no such destructive effect on the plants, 

 so long as they do not drown the plants and there 

 is sufficient sunshine to afford the warmth necessary 

 to strengthen the plant so that it will not fall to the 

 ground. 



Modes of Cultivation. — The preparation of the soil 

 should be commenced early in low lands where there is 

 considerable risk of water rising very high early, but 

 deferred to a later period in high lands when no such 

 apprehension is entertained Friable, sandy soils are 

 ploughed as early as in March, but when there is 

 much clay and the soil is hard, tillage is deferred 

 till after the first showers of rain in April. The number 

 of ploughinga required is dependent entirely on the 

 nature of the soil : a clayey, hard soil requires a 

 greater number of ploughings than a light sandy or 

 loamy soil. Under any circumstances the land should 

 be so ploughed as to render the soil finely pulver- 

 ulent and to expose every part of it repeatedly 

 to the sun. The oftener and the more thoroughly 

 the laud is ploughed the larger is the yield. The 

 seeds should be sown about the middle of May as 

 the first showers have fallen ; they are Eown broad- 

 cast on a clear, sunny day and harrowed over twice, 

 that is, a double stroke of the harrow. Except in 

 low situations, seeds are never sown until after a 

 shower of rain to help germination. On germination, 

 which takes place within four to eight days after 

 sowing, the fields are again harrowed, and all the 

 weeds removed. Overcrowding should be avoided. It 

 checks the full development of the plant. About 12 lb. 

 (twelve pounds) of seed should be sown to the acre 

 " Imperial." The crop should be thinned wherever 

 it becomes too thick, by the removal of the more back- 

 ward plants. Ordinarily the space left between the 

 plants is six indies, and the thinning is carried to 

 that extent, but sometimes the plants are left wider 

 apart : this must be decided by the quality of your land. 



Cuttinr/. — The plant is cut generally near the root, 

 unless the lower end is overrun with suckers. The time 

 considered best for cutting is when the plant is in 

 Hower end just before the appearance of the pods. The 

 fibre of the plants then out is of superior quality. 

 The fibre of the plants which have not fiowered is 

 weak, while the fibre from plants in seed is harsh 

 and waTiting in gloss, though it is heavier and stronger 

 than the fibre of the plints cut in flower Whrnever 

 practicable the plant should bd cut either when 

 flowering or when the llowcring is just completed. 



Preparation of Fibre. — The stalkt when cut shonld 

 be made up in bundles according to size — long, middl- 

 ing or short — and allowed to remain few dayn in 

 the field and then thrown into water and thnre s'eeped. 

 In steeping the stalks are covered wiih a layer of 

 refuse, tops of the jute plant or other jungle 

 plants, or with clods of earth, or cowdung, trunks 

 of plantain trees, or with straw smeared with mud 

 in order partly to protect the upper part of the liundlej 

 from the action of the sun and pirtly to keep the 

 stalks sutficiently below the surface of the water, and 

 to hasten the process of rotting. There are two ways : 

 the bundles are either first sunk by the root tiid. 

 which is harder, leaving the upper end exposed 

 above the water, and then after 10 or 12 days the 

 upper end is pressed down to the same level with the 

 root ends, so that the whole length of the stalks 

 may rot uniformly, or the bundles are turned over 

 while steeping. The duration of steeping is reg. 

 ulated partly by the condition of the plant 

 at the reaping time, that is, whether it was 

 in flower or in seed. Much also depends upon the 

 temperature of water while the steeping lasts. 

 Understeeping has the eflfeot of leaving runners 

 and pieces of bark adhering to the fibre, causing 

 it to separate unequally and stopping chiefly at the 

 Bmall knots which appear on the stem, and thus 

 ciusing the black speies so often eeen in jute. On 

 the other hand, oversteeping impairs the strength 

 and flexibility of the jute fibre and imparts to it a 

 dull, muddy colour. While the bundles are under 

 water they should be examined from time to time 

 to see how far the rotting has progrecsed, and 

 when the rotting has so far gone on that the 

 fibre peels off readily, the bundles should be taken 

 I ut of the water and at onee put in hand for the 

 8' paratinn of the fibre. 



This separation prociss may be done thus :— The 

 operator, standing up to hie middle in water, 

 takes as many of the stalks in his handi a~ he 

 can grasp, and removing a small portion cf the 

 bark from the ends next the roots and grasping 

 them together, strips off the whole from end to 

 end without breaking either stem or 6bre. Having 

 prepared a certain quantity into this half state, he next 

 proceeds to wash off, which he does by taking 

 a large handful and swinging it round hia head ; 

 he dashes it repeatedly against the nurface if the 

 water, drawing it through towards him so as to 

 wash off the impurities ; then, with a di xterons 

 throw, he fans it out on the surface of the water, 

 and carefully picks off all remaining black spots. 

 This done, he wrings out the water and hangs the 

 libre out to dry. The cleaner the water in which 

 it is washed and the more frequent the washing, tho 

 cleaner and more whiter becomes the fibre. When- 

 ever readily accessible, running water is therefore 

 preferred for this process. After washing, the fibre is 

 dried in tho sun from one to five days. When dry 

 the fibre is made up into bundles and is then ready 

 for the market. 



The quantity will depend upon the quality of tho 

 toil and the cultivator ; the value, upon the quality 

 of the article produced, and the great secret is in 

 giving attention, "strict attention," to the prepar- 

 ation of the fibre. — I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 

 JAMES D. WATSON. 



THE COWUMPTION OF llROTON OIL. 



Dear. Sir, — There was an article in the Tropical 

 Ai/riculliirisC referring to the consumption of oils, and 

 "croton oil" was put down at 14,000 tons annuall y 

 for wool-dressing. Now I can 't find any statixtics 'o 

 back up this statement: can you? It i» a mis'ake 

 surely for cotton oil ! If not, it is a fine thing to go ii) 



