44 



140,000 tons." So likewise with jute. On its in- 

 troduction it had a hard struggle for existence, and I 

 have been told that it was at first pronounced by 

 certain spinners to be only fit to make rope to hang 

 the introducers. The Crimean War, threatening 

 scarcity of flax and hemp, changed the tide of 

 affairs, and caused a great run on jute. Yet the ex- 

 ports in 1857 amounted to only 18 tons, valued at 

 62. At present, next to rice, jute is the chief 

 staple of Bengal, and, exclusive of gunny bags, the 

 average quantity exported annually amounted to 

 7,000,000 cwt., valued at four and a-half millions 

 sterling. In a Blue Book,* published by the India 

 Oflice in 1874, 1 find that France took in 1872-73 

 148,876 cwt. direct from Calcutta, and 550,000 cwt. 

 from England ; Trieste took 9,000 cwt. direct from 

 India; and Holland received 5,357 cwt. from India, 

 and 58,610 cwt. from England. In 1872 Germany 

 took 77,831, Belgium 31,192, Spain 20,768, and 

 other countries 16,176 cwt. via England. 



12. The history of the Rheea trade is not less in- 

 The history of terestmg. The quality of the fibre, which 



Rheea another * 



was known to be far superior to any other, 

 and for which there was an unlimited demand, at 

 prices varying from 50 to 70 per ton, was brought 

 to the notice of Government as far back as 1811. A 

 Government has many things to think of, and it was 

 not until some 58 years had elapsed that decisive 



* Statement, exhibiting the Moral and Material Progress and Condition 

 of India during 1872-73. Ordered by the House of Commons to be 

 printed 2nd June, 1874. 



