492 



sown broadcast on broad beds ; some on sandy river land, and the rest ou stiff clay 

 land. The latter did very miicli better than the former. The cultivation was the 

 same, but many of the plants on the sandy soil died out after haviug attained their 

 full growth, while those on the clay lauds remained green and vigorous and matured 

 their seed. The plant requires moisture. The seed was sown in May, and the plants 

 could have been cut in September. A frost, on the 15th of October, which injured the 

 cotton, did not leave its mark on the jute. It attained the height of 15 feet, and in 

 appearance somewhat resembles a plantation of young peach-trees before being re- 

 moved from the nursery. I had the plants cut in- October and steeped ten days in 

 stagnant water, after which the fiber was easilj' stripped off. 



Xew Orleans, Louisiana. — Jute-seed received from the Department of Agricul- 

 ture was planted on the 11th of Ajiril. The soil was well plowed and harrowed 

 and in good condition. Patch No. 1, rich soil, 3 feet above ordinary gulf-tide, planted 

 in drills 3^ feet apart ; patch No. 2, very rich soil, one foot above tide, planted in chops 

 4 feet by 2} ; patch No. 3, same as No. 2, planted broadcast ; soil very dry at planting. 

 Seed covered one-half inch deep did not germinate until rain on the 22d of April. May 

 12. Passed the cultivator through patches 1 and 2. May 27. Chopped with hoe the 

 large weeds from the same; jute 2 feet high ; no further cultivation. Patch 3 received 

 no attention after planting.. Almost continuous drought this summer ; jute suffered, 

 but not so much as corn and other crops. July 10. Cut a portion of patches 1 and 2 

 9 and 10 feet high ; put the same in bayou- water for seven days, and got beautiful fiber 

 the entire length of the plant. July 15. Planted again the laud which was cut on 

 ohe 10th. At this date, October 10, this second crop is 8 feet high, looking well, 

 although it has suffered much from excessive drought. Wishing to save as much seed as 

 possible for a more extended planting the nest season, I could afford but a fractional part 

 of an acre on which to arrive at some idea of what amount of fiber we may expect per 

 a«re. On the 28th of August I cut a portion of patches 1 and 2, plants measuring from 

 11 to 13 feet: seed-burs about halfgrown. (This was in accordance with direction in 

 Agricultural Report of 1871, page 172.) The quantity of fiber saved satisfied me that 

 the yield of these patches would be quite equal to 4,000 pounds per acre. 



Patch 3, broadcast, is exceedingly dense and heavy ; portions being matted with 

 native weeds, it is impossible to make a reasonably accurate estimate of yield per 

 acre. 



Wishing to test the aquatic qualities of jute, I selected patch 2, as liable to over- 

 flow by heavy rain. The season heiug almost entirely without rain, I transplanted 

 some of my July planting, when 2i feet high, into water sevecal inches deep. The 

 plants have continued to growtiueiy, and are nosv looking well ; this in a continuous 

 dood of water for several weeks. 



The above correspondeut (F. W. Jolinstone) states: "The seed we 

 are now gathering appears larger than that planted — evidently improved. 

 It takes just 600 of the Calcutta seeds to equal in weight 500 of the 

 Louisiana." But it is quite probable that when the newly gathered 

 seed is thoroughly dry it will lose this excess in size and weight. 

 Under date of October 22 he forwarded to the Department three sam- 

 ples of jute-fiber, with a report, of which the following is an abstract: 

 Sample ISTo. 1 was cut four aud a half months from sowing, when the 

 most forward seeds were half ripe ; No. 2, three months from sowing, 

 when the first blooms appeared. This he thinks the best time, as at 

 that stage female labor cau do the cutting, and there being then only 

 one quality of fiber, the expen.se of slow and tedious assorting and of 

 cutting butts is avoided. Xo. 3 was from the second crop, planted July 

 15, and cut two months later. He further reports : 



Some of the July planting, second crop, is now fully matured for fiber ; some planted 

 the first week in August will make a full crop, unless the frost is unusually early. In- 

 quiries from South Carolina to California are being made of me for seed for next sea- 

 son. I have none to spare. Mr. Chapman, of Red River Landing, is asking $5 per 

 pound. He has two varieties, the pod-bearing and the bur-bearing seed. The pod- 

 bearing variety he thinks much superior to the other. This he got, I think, three years 

 ago, from the Department of Agriculture. The seed the Department sent out last 

 spring was exclusively the bur-bearing, which is brown in color, while the pod-bearing 

 is green. I have some plants which have been flooded constantly for two months now 

 seeding in 6 inches of water. 



Charleston, South CaroUna.—l have done what I could to encourage experi- 

 ments with jute, and have distributed hundreds of packages of seed raised by my- 

 self. Experiments have been in the highest degree encouraging. The plant seems to 

 iSourish quite as well as in India. 



