CHAPTER VI 

 JUTE AND SIMILAR FIBRES 



JUTE is one of the cheapest fibres, and is used tor the 

 manufacture of coarse fabrics, such as sacking, hes- 

 sians, horse-cloths and inexpensive carpets, and also 

 for making inferior kinds of cordage. Practically the 

 whole of the crop is produced in India. It was almost 

 unknown to European commerce before the year 1 830, 

 although it had long been employed by the natives 

 of Bengal for making twine and cloth. 



THE JUTE PLANT 



Jute is a bast fibre, that is, a fibre found between 

 the bark and the inner woody portion of the stem ; 

 it is derived from two species of plants, Cor chorus 

 capsularis and C. olitorius, belonging to the natural 

 order Tiliacese. These plants are annuals, grow to a 

 height of 8 to 15 feet, and have long, straight, cylin- 

 drical stems, about -f inch thick, which do not bear 

 any branches except near the summit. The leaves 

 are about 2-4 inches long, about an inch wide towards 

 the base, and gradually taper upwards until they end 

 in a long, sharp point ; the margins are coarsely ser- 

 rated, and the base is prolonged into tail-like append- 

 ages. The flowers are yellow, and occur in groups of 

 two or three together. The fruit of C. capsularis is 

 a small, wrinkled, nearly globular, flat-topped capsule, 

 whilst that of C. olitorius is a long, cylindrical, four- 

 or five-celled capsule with an elongated beak. These 

 differences in the form of the fruit are the chief dis- 

 tinguishing characters of the two species. There are 

 numerous races of each of these species, and especially 



