136 JUTE AND SIMILAR FIBRES 



the fibre can be easily separated. In some districts, 

 the crop is stacked for two or three days before 

 retting, whilst in others the stalks are made into 

 bundles and immersed in water immediately after 

 reaping. They are sometimes immersed in running 

 water, but more often in stagnant ponds ; the former 

 plan is said to give the best fibre, especially as regards 

 colour. The bundles are covered with a layer of 

 refuse tops of the jute or of other plants, or with clods 

 of earth or logs of wood, in order to make them sink ; 

 stones are preferable to earth as being less likely to 

 injure the colour. It is stated that the stems should 

 be covered so as to be protected from direct sunshine. 

 In some places, the bundles are turned over during 

 the steeping. 



The time required for satisfactory retting varies 

 with the age of the plants, the temperature of the 

 water, and with other conditions, and lasts from a 

 week or ten days to a month or even more ; after 

 the right point is reached, further retting is injurious 

 to the fibre, so the pools must be visited daily and the 

 conditions of the stems examined to see whether the 

 fibre separates properly. When the retting is far 

 enough advanced the bundle is unfastened, and the 

 cultivator, standing up to his waist in the water, 

 having first removed adventitious roots, loosens 

 portions of the fibre at the end of the stems, and 

 grasping these he skilfully strips off the whole from 

 end to end without breaking either stem or fibre. 

 When a certain amount of fibre has been stripped off, 

 he washes it by taking a large handful, swinging it 

 round his head, dashing it repeatedly on the surface 

 of the water, and drawing it through the water so as 

 to wash off the bark-; he then spreads it out on the 

 surface of the water, and carefully picks off any 

 pieces of bark which still remain. It is then wrung 

 out so as to remove as much water as possible and 

 hung on lines to dry. It is said that jute dried in the 

 shade is of a better colour than that dried in the sun. 



The operations vary somewhat in different locali- 

 ties ; the fibre is sometimes loosened by means of a 

 wooden beater before separating it from the stem, and 



