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vail. It is only killed by frost. The average crop is about three 

 thousand pounds to the acre, with one thousand pounds of seed. It 

 is either sowed broadcast or planted in drills, and is cut with a reaper 

 or mower, bound and sent to the decorticating and crushing mill. 



While it costs less to grow jute than cotton, this gentleman thought 

 it could never come into extensive competition with it, any more 

 than rubber does with leather. 



In Louisiana jute sown in April is cut in July; that sown in May 

 is harvested in August, and that planted in June is cut in Septem- 

 ber, thus giving a succession of crops, which greatly facilitates labor. 

 The last crop left till frost kills the plant is used for making paper. 

 Of the refuse in clearing, fifty per cent, is employed for paper, and 

 the balance for manure. The hatchel refuse is utilized in uphol- 

 stery. 



Nine-tenths of Manila paper is made of jute. Oilcloths, carpets, 

 gunny-bags, burlaps, sacks, and paper also call upon this commodity. 

 While better suited to coarser materials, jute is nevertheless employed 

 with cotton, flax, etc., in the backings of silks, velvets, and satins to 

 cheapen these fabrics. Jute is also largely used in making up ladies' 

 switches, in place of human hair. 



IMPORTANT INCIDENTAL ADVANTAGES. 



There are also important incidental advantages in connection with 

 the cultivation of jute, which Dr. Heath thought should not be over- 

 looked. The vigorous and luxurious growth of the plant almost 

 exterminates weeds from the soil in which it is sown, while the bit- 

 terness of its juice repels the attacks of insects. A cotton field sur- 

 rounded by a belt of jute is effectually protected from the destructive 

 caterpillar so much dreaded. This crop should come in rotation 

 with other crops; and all waste materials devoted to manure should 

 be composted with other manures and applied as usual. 



A stranger present said that one of the great drawbacks to jute cul- 

 ture in this country is that machinery which works up flax cannot, 

 manufacture the long fibre of the jute without breaking it. It is 

 usually parted into three lengths. To manufacture the full length of 

 the fibre new machinery is required. 



A member added that while a more humid climate is essential to 

 the successfulgrowth of this staple, the physical characteristics of the 

 soil in which the plant flourishes greatly vary. It thrives with an 

 almost equal luxuriance upon the highlands or alluvial bottoms. It 

 will grow upon comparatively dry uplands or in flooded valleys, but 

 it prefers a high, moist, sandy loam. 



The same member explained, in answer to questions asked, that in 

 trade "jute butts" are sections twelve to fifteen inches in length of 

 the lower end of the plant. These coarser portions are made into 

 heavy baling and bagging. The " fibre " is the long silk yarn which 

 is woven into fine fabrics, and the " rejections " are parts of fibre, 

 which, in consequence of being stained, tangled, or woody, are unfit 

 for delicate manufactures. The rejections are generally worked up 

 with the butts. He also stated that the superior cheapness and dura- 

 bility of jute are rapidly displacing flax and hemp for many pur- 

 poses. In our markets jute bags are worth from one-quarter to one- 

 half a cent per yard more than flax bags. Especially for bagging and 

 cotton-bailing is jute fast superseding the use of other fibres. 



