•REPORT OF THE BOTANIST. 167 



sbould go on experimenting and observing until we learn what are the 

 most i>rofitable and useful kinds. 



THE JUTE- PLANT, ( COKCHOEUS.) 

 Plate 2. 



Fij;-. 1. Coicliorns capsnlaris, the jute-plant. 



2. Tbe matured pod. 



3. The expanded flower. 



4. Corcborus olitorius, or Jew's mallow. 



I'erhaps no vegetable product has been more rapidly introduced into 

 general cultivation and has acquired greater importance during the past 

 thirty years than the jute-plant. 



An article in the monthly report of the Department for November 

 and December gives some very interesting items of its successful cul- 

 tivation in many of the Southern States, from seed distributed by the 

 Department, and as its culture seems likely to be still more extended, 

 some information as to the nature and qualities of the plant will no 

 doubt be acceptable. 



The material for the account which we here present has been mostly 

 obtained from "Science Gossip." 



Jute is a fiber obtained from the inner bark of two species of plants 

 belonging to the natural order Tiliacea\ an order which is represented 

 in our country by the linden or bass tree. It is from the European linn 

 that the material well known to horticulturists as '' bast matting" is 

 obtained. The two common jute-plants are Cor chorus capsular is and 

 Corcliorus olitorius, the former being g(inerally considered the more val- 

 uable. The plants are annuals, growing from 4 to 12 feet high, accord- 

 ing to the quality of the soil and the location, the stems at the base 

 becoming an inch or more in diameter. The leaves are alternate, lance- 

 olate in outline, toothed on the margin, with the lower pair of teeth 

 prolonged into a slender thread. The flowers are small, half to three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter, yellow iii color, having five petals and 

 a large number of small stamens. 



The fruit consists of a capsule, Avhicli in C. capsularis is nearly round, 

 and in C. oUtori^is cylindrical and narrow. These capsules contain 

 many small seeds. It is sown at different periods, according to the cli- 

 mate anti variety, usually in April or May, and it flowers in July or 

 August, when it is ready to be cut for the fiber. In Louisiana two crops 

 have been obtained in one season. If cut at the first commencement of 

 blossoming, the plants are more easily cut, and furnish a finer fiber than 

 if left to mature. It is said that in India the stems or stalks of the jute 

 are of almost equal value with the fibrous portion. They are beautiful 

 white and straight stems, of a light, brittle wood, somewhat like willow 

 switches, and have a multitude of uses among the natives, such as for 

 the manufacture of gunpowder and fireworks, for the mnking of fences 

 and inclosures, for pea-brush, and for the construction of those acres of 

 basket-woriv which the traveler remarks near every native village. 

 The thick and coareo butts of the older plants are cut off for about 9 

 inches. These butts are sold to paper-makers, and wrought up into 

 coai'se, thick fabrics. 



The jute fiber, as prepared for the market, has much resemblancs to 

 that of hemp, but is softer and more glossy, and, under the microscope, 

 more transparent and slender, and apparently with thinner cell- walls. 



The principal employment of jute in India is for the manufacture of 



