JUTE PRODUCTION 



139 



COMMERCIAL VARIETIES AND PRICES 

 Jute is grouped commercially in four main classes, 

 known as Serajgunge, Naraingunge, Daisee and 

 Dowrah. Serajgunge is soft and from white to grey 

 in colour. Naraingunge is of a darker colour than 

 Serajgunge, ranging from pale buff to reddish-brown ; 

 it is of good strength and excellent spinning quality. 

 These two varieties are employed for the manufacture 

 of the best jute yarns. Daisee is dark-coloured, but 

 is soft, long, and of good quality, and is largely used for 

 making carpet yarns. Dowrah is strong but harsh 

 and of inferior quality. Each of these classes is 

 graded according to quality and colour, and receives 

 a corresponding baler's mark. 



The market price of jute is subject to severe fluctua- 

 tions . This may be illustrated by reference to the prices 

 per ton of " first native marks " (a fibre of medium 

 quality) in December of each of the years 1903-1916. 



* 



19 15 



. 20 O 



. 25 10 



35 10 

 1 8 10 

 26 10 



1903 . 



1904 . 



1905 . 



1906 . 



1907 . 



1908 . 



1909 



42 



PRODUCTION AND EXPORT 



The area devoted to jute in India is approximately 

 3 million acres, and the average annual production 

 amounts to about ij million tons. The official sta- 

 tistics for the years 1906-7 to 1913-14 are as follows : 



Year. 



Area. 

 Acres. 



1906-07 

 1907-08 

 1908-09 

 1909-10 

 I9IO-II 

 I9II-I2 

 1912-13 

 1913-14 



3,523,558 



2,835,453 

 2,756,820 

 2,828,669 

 3,090,827 

 3,323,951 



Production. 

 Tons. 



,629,900 

 ,753,200 

 ,126,950 

 ,286,900 

 ,416,450 

 ,470,480 

 ,700,320 



,588,200 



