490 



JUTE-CULTDRE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Experiments in cultivating jute in the Southern States thus far indi- 

 cate that both the climate and the soil are weTl adapted to its growth, 

 and there is a fair promise that its production will become an extensive 

 and profitable industry in that section. Its fiber supplies material in 

 manufactures for which there is a rapidly increasing demand, and 

 which, except to a very limited extent, does not take the place of cotton ; 

 while, therefore, it will not supplant the latter nor compete with it in the 

 market, it may enlarge the area of profitable rural industry in the 

 South. It is claimed that were the South to divide the labor it now 

 bestows exclusively upon cotton between that and jute, the result 

 would be an increase in the value of thecotton-crop, it having been proved 

 that, beyond certain limits, an increase in the product occasions a 

 diminution in the total value ; that it supplies the raw material for 

 coarse fabrics, which are now largely imported by the cotton-growing 

 States, but which might be manufactured b}^ their unskilled female 

 laborers at a saving of millions ; that it can be raised and prepared for 

 market at a greater profit per acre than cotton. 



The following communication has been received from Mr. E. H. 

 Derby, of Boston, who is an enthusiastic believer in benefits to result to 

 the South, and so to the whole country, from jute-culture : 



As the jute-plant has been acclimated in the Southern States and I ha-ve exerted my- 

 self to aid in its introduction, many questions have been addressed to me from the 

 South as to the culture and harvesting of the plant. I have consequently written to a 

 friend in India, and subjoin extracts from his reply, which will be useful to the planter 

 jf published in your valuable report. I am convinced by this reply and by other 

 letters from the South that the rich lands of Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi, 

 will, with fair cultivation, yield 3,500 pounds, or ten bales, of fiber to the acre, in place 

 of one-tenth of that amount of cotton. I am convinced also that it can be produced 

 .it less than one-tenth the cost of cotton, that the caterpillar will not touch it, and that 

 if planted around the cotton-fields it may possibly protect them from that voracious 

 insect. I am also led by my letters to hope that it will attain to its full growth in 

 three to four months, and that the same field may yield two crops in one season. I 

 have just returned from Scotland, where I visited the jute-faetories in the flourishing 

 city of Dundee, where the import and manufacture of jute is making wonderful pro- 

 gress. 



The subjoined table gives in tons the import and manufacture of jute in that city 

 since 1837 : 



Tons. 



In 1838 '. l,13e 



In 1847 6,966 



In 1854 16, .590 



In 1872., 96,000 



Since 1854 the increase has been about 500 per cent., and in this interval of time the 

 cotton manufacture has not grown at one-fifth of that rate. Some of the jute-yarn 

 which I saw at the factories is spun very fine and sold for 8 or 10 cents a pound. It 

 m used for bags and carpets, and some of the latter, handsomely colored, have sold for 10 

 cents per square yard. It is also interwoven with silk, linen, and woolen threads into 

 cheap cloths. 



By the subjoined extracts you will notice that the jute-seed from one acre will suffice 

 to plant fifty acres, and that the plant is usually gathered some weeks before the seed 

 ripens. I suggested this idea last summer to Mr. Chapman, of Point Coupee, but pre- 

 Bume that most of our planters have this year allowed their seed to ripen, in which case 

 they may have plenty of seed but inferior fiber, and possibly require the ramie-machine to 

 separate the fiber from the stalk, and possibly thus make it available for coarse if not for 

 fine fabrics. The progress of events convinces me that the jute is just what the South 

 requires to diversify its industry and to fill up the gap when cotton is a failure. With 

 the growing demand for it, jute promises to pay much better than cotton. 



I noticed in the jute-mill at Dundee that after the jute was sorted a woman placed 

 a layer of it on the floor, then sprinkled it freely, first with water and afterward with 



