138 JUTE AND SIMILAR FIBRES 



Jute differs considerably from cotton, flax and hemp 

 in chemical composition. It consists of a highly 

 iignified form of cellulose, whereas the other fibres 

 mentioned are composed of a more or less pure form 

 of this substance. A specimen of " extra fine " 

 Calcutta jute, examined at the Imperial Institute by 

 the methods described on pages 2-6, gave the following 

 results : moisture, 9-6 per cent. ; ash, 0-7 per cent. ; 

 loss on a-hydrolysis, 9*1 per cent.; loss on /3-hydro 

 lysis, 13*1 per cent.; cellulose, 77^7 per cent. 



Jute is much weaker than flax or hemp and is not 

 nearly so durable. It can be dyed with ease and is 

 capable of combining directly with basic dyestuffs. 

 It cannot be satisfactorily bleached, as treatment 

 with bleaching powder and alkalis renders the fibre 

 weak and brittle. The fibre is very susceptible to 

 the prolonged action of water and rapidly undergoes 

 deterioration. It is stated that jute rarely arrives 

 in the United Kingdom in as good a condition as that 

 in which it leaves India. This is considered to be 

 due to a renewal during transit of the incipient fer- 

 mentation set up in the fibre during the retting process. 

 It not uncommonly happens that the fibre at the 

 centre of a bale becomes quite rotten, and is then said 

 to have suffered " heart damage. " The cause of this 

 injury is attributed to a large extent to the fraudulent 

 practice of watering the jute before shipment. 



The fibre is employed in the Calcutta mills chiefly 

 for making the coarser classes of jute fabrics, especi- 

 ally gunny cloth and gunny bags, whilst in Dundee 

 it is used for the manufacture of hessians, bagging, 

 tarpaulins, sacking, carpets, rugs, matting, and 

 backing for linoleums and oil-cloth. 



The fibre at the base of the jute stem is hard and 

 coarse. It is therefore customary to cut off about 

 6-8 inches from the lower end of the fibre before 

 baling it, since if this portion were allowed to remain 

 it would reduce the spinning quality of the material. 

 These " root-ends " or " butts " are baled separate^ 

 and are sold for paper-making. 



