290 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



action of the water is to loosen the fibrous bark from the woody stalk. 

 The natives test the jute from day to day, and when they find that the 

 bark is ready for removal, they enter the water and withdraw the stems 

 by a succession of jerks. Their reason for effecting this separation in 

 the water is that the soft and even pressure of the fluid prevents the 

 rupture of the fibers. After its removal the inner bark is stripped of 

 its rind, freed from all woody adhesions, thoroughly washed, and imme- 

 diately dried. It then readily separates into minute fibers, and is ready 

 for the market or for domestic spinning. 



In the provinces where jute is raised the distaff is in every hovel. 

 The Mohammedans, deterred by some religious scruple, restrict them- 

 selves to the manufacture of cotton ; but all Hindoos of the indus- 

 trial classes, robust men, in the intervals of other employments; children, 

 too young for severer tasks ; the aged, too infirm for hard work ; invalids, 

 incapable of active exertion ; and even the despised Hindoo widow, 

 whose social degradation and misery powerfully appeal to the sympa- 

 thies of Christendom for relief, engage in the spinning and weaving of 

 jute. The manufacture of this staple, utilizing the leisure hours of the 

 strong and the dexterous handicraft of the weak, affords occupation to 

 the myriads ; but wages are so extremely low and the competition of 

 industries so limited, that jute-yarn and gunny-cloth can be purchased 

 almost as cheaply as an equal weight of the crude material. No por- 

 tion of this substance is wasted. The leaves and ashes are used for ma- 

 nure, the stalks for baskets and fuel, the seed for oil and oilcake, the 

 roots for fuel and paper, and the silky floss which escapes from the fibers 

 in the process of manufacture is wrought into hats. 



Till recently the government of India has never fostered the cultiva- 

 tion of jute; but without its patronage this industry has, within the 

 last half century, risen to a world-wide importance. lu 1828 the total 

 foreign sale of jute was less than 40,000 pounds, worth $300, Now, Cal- 

 cutta, which is the great point of distribution, exports immense quan- 

 tities of this staple to Bombay, Madras, Ceylon, Burmah, Singapore, 

 Penang, Java, Australia, Brazil, the west coast of South America, France, 

 Great Britain, and the United States. Only about one-fourth of the 

 crop is reserved for domestic consumption. According to the fashion of 

 the different countries, pepper, coffee, sugar, rice, cotton, soda, lime, the 

 matte and regulus of the precious metals, and many other articles ot 

 commerce, go to market in a dress made of gunny-cloth. 



The statistics of the development of the jute-culture in India are im- 

 pressive and suggestive. In 1862, India exported 10,000,000 pounds of 

 fiber and rope and 300,000,000 yards of gunny-cloth. In 1863, Great Brit- 

 ain employed more than 30,000 spindles in spinning 80,000,000 pounds of 

 Indian jute. Eecently this staple has risen to the dignity of the fourth 

 place in the exports of India ; only cotton, opium, and rice exceed it in 

 commercial importance. Some of the Indian factories are immense. 

 There is an establishment at Barnagpoor, near Calcutta, which employs 

 more than 4,500 workmen and annually manufactures more than 

 30,000,000 pounds of jute. In 1872, the total exportation of Indian jute 

 was 700,000,000 pounds, of which Great Britain re(;eived upward of 

 395,000,000 pounds. In the same year more than 000,000 acres were 

 devoted to the cultivation of jute in India ; and in the thirteen provinces 

 in which jute is principally raised, out of a population of 15,725,000, 

 more than 1,350,000 were wholly or partially engaged in this occupation. 

 These figures conclusively show the vast magnitude and importance of 

 this industry to India. Other statistics will illustrate the value of this 

 staple to an exclusively manufacturing community. 



