CORCHORUS 



COMPOSITION OF JUTE Improvement 



Offlc. Paper* on Jute. 1901-3 ; Exp. Farm Rept. Sibpur, Beng., 1901-2, 

 tig question of thick verttu thin sowing) ; Exp. Farm Rept. Bardwan, 

 1901-2, f> ; liMir, 7, -'I :n ; BengalAdmin. Rept., 19Q1-2, 17-20; Ann. Rept. Dept. 

 Agri. Beng., 1902-3, 2 ; 1903-4, 3 ; Select. Papers, Inquiry, Jntr. Deterior., 1903-4; 

 TI-..IM () Haas, Jute-Oultuur., Batavia, 1904; Hanausek, Micro. Tech. Prod. 

 (\Vmt. . and Barber, transl.), 1907, 81-2.] 



THE JUTE FIBRE AND JUTE MANUFACTURES. 



Industrial Properties. Jute is a bast fibre. As found in commerce Industrial 

 isists <>f fibro-vascular bundles. These contain six to twenty ultimate Properties, 

 fibres firmly coherent along their contiguous walls. The ultimate fibres 

 n n- of the normal fusiform type and 1*5 to 3 mm. in length. In section 

 x-v are seen to be thick- walled and polygonal. Jute is, moreover, an 

 iggregate fibre and consists chemically of two substances, cellulose and 

 non-cellulose. Cotton is pure cellulose, a substance that withstands 

 very considerably the action of heat and moisture, and is even little affected 

 3y the ordinary chemical agents employed in the treatment of textiles. 

 lute, on the other hand, is highly susceptible, and is readily acted on by Eei ^ il y^ jd 

 urater and by even feeble chemical agents. It is the type of the fibres 

 io\v spoken of as consisting of lignified-cellulose or, as it has been 

 died, bastose. Dunstan (Imp. Inst. Tech. Repts., 1903, 60-8), while 

 contrasting pure cellulose with ligno-cellulose, says the most generally 

 accepted view is to regard the latter as resulting " from the overlaying 

 of normal cellulose by non-cellulose matters." He then explains that 

 this overlaying weakens the cellulose. Another theory, however, is that 

 ligno-cellulose is not encrusted cellulose but a distinct compound. Cross chemical 

 and Bevan (Journ. Chem. Soc., 1889) were the first authorities to study 

 ite critically. Their experiments and conclusions are too technical to be 

 lly discussed here, but it may be said that they resulted in certain prac- 

 tical experiments having been conducted in India with a view to ascertain : 

 (a) the stage of growth at which the fibre was in its best condition, Practical 

 and (b) to discover whether by chemical treatment it was possible to ^ 

 ward off the tendency possessed by the fibre for a continuance of the 

 retting, or rather rotting, process within the bales. It was admitted 

 sely that the fibre as produced by the cultivator was very much superior 

 to the same when delivered at the factory, more especially if it had passed 

 through the damp heat to which it is unavoidably subjected in the hold 

 of a ship during the voyage from India to Europe or America. It was 

 felt, in other words, that if the fibre could be put through some simple chemical 

 chemical process, the effect of which would be to protect it against in- T* 8 * 11116114 - 

 cipient fermentation, much would thereby be accomplished towards 

 placing jute on a more certain and higher platform in the textile world 

 than it at present occupies. It was, in fact, just possible some such treat- 

 ment might even improve the quality as well as the durability of the 

 fibre, without adding materially to its cost of production. Unfortunately, 

 however, the treatment recommended proved unavailing, and Dunstan 

 was thereby led to affirm that " the logical conclusion is, that attempts N 

 at special treatment of the fibre in India, before being supplied to the 

 jute mills, or before shipment, are not to be advocated. The most hopeful 

 directions for further experimental inquiry are these : (1) of improving 

 the stock by selection, and (2) of determining the most suitable time for 

 reaping, the object being to secure that the fibre is cut at the best time." 

 From the brief account already Ljivt-n, it may have been discovered 

 that for some years past the scientific officers of the Government of India 



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