142 JUTE AND SIMILAR FIBRES 



EXTENSION OF CULTIVATION 



The whole of the world's jute supply is furnished by 

 India with the exception of comparatively insignificant 

 quantities produced in other countries. The plant is 

 grown to a limited extent in Mexico, Egypt and 

 China, and has been introduced into the United States 

 of America. Successful experiments have recently been 

 made in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and in West Africa. 

 Efforts are being made to extend the cultivation in 

 India to other Provinces than Bengal and Assam, and 

 certain irrigated tracts in the Punjab, Central Pro- 

 vinces and Madras are regarded as affording favourable 

 conditions for the purpose. In all these places, how- 

 ever, the facilities for the cultivation are less favour- 

 able than in Bengal, and it is considered* unlikely 

 that under present conditions the industry will be 

 undertaken on an extensive scale outside Bengal, 

 Bihar and Assam. 



An account of attempts to establish jute cultiva- 

 tion in British West Africa is given in the following 

 paragraphs. So far the attention given to cotton and 

 other agricultural crops has interfered with progress 

 in this direction. 



JUTE GROWING IN WEST AFRICA 

 From the facility with which the jute plant can be 

 cultivated and its fibre extracted, it seems very prob- 

 able that there are numerous localities in West Africa 

 suitable for its cultivation and that the natives would 

 soon be able to acquire the method of preparing the 

 fibre for the market. The crop would not prove a 

 rival to cotton since it can be grown on land quite 

 unfitted for the cotton plant. There are large areas 

 in which the climatic conditions appear likely to be 

 well adapted to the growth of the plant. The lower 

 reaches of the Niger and the lagoon country of Nigeria 

 seem to be particularly favourable. 



Jute was first cultivated experimentally in West 

 Africa in 1896, when large quantities of seed were 

 supplied to several places on the coast. The experi- 

 ments demonstrated that fibre of a good quality could 



