JUTE SUBSTITUTES 145 



but had not been very well cleaned. The fibre was 

 about 4 feet long, and was regarded as very suitable 

 for spinning and worth 24 per ton, with medium 

 qualities of Indian jute at 23-^25 per ton. The 

 sample grown from native seed was harsher, more 

 brittle and had not been well prepared ; it was 

 valued at 22 per ton. 



A specimen of native jute cultivated by riverside 

 villagers in the Borgu Province was also examined at 

 the Imperial Institute. It consisted of nearly white, 

 fairly well cleaned, rather harsh* fibre, about 5 feet 

 long, and on the whole of good quality, but rather 

 harsh and weak. 



JUTE SUBSTITUTES 



There are numerous plants of the natural orders, 

 Malvaceae and Tiliaceae, which yield bast fibres similar 

 to jute and capable of replacing it in manufactures. 

 From a commercial standpoint, the two most im- 

 portant of such plants are Abutilon Avicennce and 

 Hibiscus cannabinus which yield the fibres known in 

 the markets of the United Kingdom as " China jute " 

 and " Bimlipatam jute " respectively. The methods 

 of preparing these fibres are essentially the same as 

 those employed in the case of jute. In the following 

 pages, attention is given more particularly to the jute- 

 like fibres of West Africa. 



Abutilon spp. Abutilon Avicennce, the Indian 

 mallow, a plant of the natural order Malvaceae, is 

 cultivated on an extensive scale in China, and the 

 fibre, which is strong and lustrous, is exported under 

 the name of " China jute." It is said to yield about 

 one ton of fibre per acre. The plant has been intro- 

 duced into the United States of America, and grows 

 there luxuriantly ; the seed is able to withstand the 

 severity of the winter, and the plant is thus enabled 

 to propagate itself continuously. A . asiaticum and A . 

 indicum occur in India, and also in parts of West 

 Africa, and yield fibres similar in character to that of 

 China jute. 



Hibiscus spp. A large number of species of Hibiscus, 

 also belonging to the Malvaceae, yield jute-like fibres. 



