CORCHORUS 



Cultivation 



THE JUTE PLANT 



Hongkong. 



China and 

 Cochiu-Cbina. 



Tillage. 



Seasons. 



Seed. 



Not Selected. 



Sowing Seasons. 



Thin Sowing 

 preferable. 

 Spacing 4 to 6 

 Inches. 



Rotation. 



Recent 

 Experiments. 



Conclusions. 



For Bardwan. 



For Cuttack. 



of Tonkin and Annam being exported via Hongkong. But it may be added that 

 perhaps the foreign areas of which India need have any serious anxiety are China 

 and Cochin-China. \Cf. Sly, Extension of Jute Cult., in Agri. Journ. Ind., i., pt. iii., 

 251 ; Finlow, in Kept. Agri. Dept. E. Beng. and Assam, July 25, 1907, app. ii.] 



Preparation of Soil. It may be stated that, when the crop is to be 

 raised on low lands, where there is danger of flooding, ploughing com- 

 mences earlier than on the high lands. The more clay in the soil, the more 

 frequently is it ploughed before sowing. The preparation thus commences 

 in November or December, or not till February or even March. The soil is 

 generally ploughed from four to six times, the clods are broken and pul- 

 verised, and at the final ploughing the weeds collected, dried and burned. 



Seed and Sowing. It would appear that no special attention is paid 

 either to the selection of superior fibre-yielding seed or to the attainment 

 of stock specially suited to the fields on which it is to be raised. The 

 cultivators, as a rule, neither buy nor sell seed, and there is consequently 

 little or no exchange of stock. In the corner of a field a few plants are left 

 to ripen seed, and the supply thus obtained is sown broadcast. The 

 sowings, according to the position and nature of the soil, commence about 

 the middle of March and extend to the end of June, but bil land is usually 

 sown in February to March. About 8 Ib. of seed to the acre is the amount 

 generally employed. Broadcasted sowings would appear to be the rule, 

 but Mukerji recommends drill sowings, the lines being 9 inches apart, thus 

 allowing of wheel or bullock hoeing. Thin sowing gives better yield but 

 coarser fibre. The spacing most approved is when the plants are 4 

 to 6 inches apart. Irregular branching shortens the length of the fibre. 

 Long cultivation on the same soil results in the plants becoming much 

 branched. For results of experiments in thin and thick sowing, consult 

 the Experimental Farm Report Sibpur (1901-2). 



Rotation. Since passing to press the present review of information 

 on the subject of jute, an instructive report has come to hand on certain 

 experiments performed at the farms of Bardwan and Cuttack. This has 

 been written by F. Smith (Agri. Journ. Ind., 1907, ii., pt. ii., 140-60), 

 and deals with the results obtained during the past three years in Bardwan 

 and the past year in Cuttack. He tells us that the following experiments 

 were carried out : (a) manure tests ; (&) cutting at different stages ; (c) 

 variety experiments ; (d) spacing experiments ; (e) thick versus thin 

 sowing in the production of seed ; (/) drill versus broadcast sowing ; and 

 (g) rotation experiments with paddy. Space cannot now be made 

 available to deal with the details exemplified, but it may be useful to 

 furnish Smith's general conclusions (I.e. 160) regarding the rotation of 

 jute with paddy : 



"1. On aman paddy land, both jute and paddy can be grown in 

 rotation with each other on the same land in the same year. 



" 2. For the Bardwan district, the third week of April should see the jute 

 sown to enable the jute crop to be harvested in the last week of July and 

 the aman paddy to be transplanted in the first week of August. The land 

 should be cultivated for eight to ten days between the harvesting of the 

 jute and the transplanting of the aman paddy. 



" 3. For the Cuttack district, the jute seed should be sown in the last 

 week of March and the jute crop harvested in the end of July. 



" 4. The jute seed-bed can be well prepared by eight ploughings with the 

 ordinary country plough, and by three ladderings with the ordinary country 

 ladder. 



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