MONDAY, JUNE 29. AFTERNOON SESSION, 



2.30 P.M. 



Section VI. Jute and Hemp. 



Chairman: MR. C. C. McLEOD, Chairman of the London 

 Jute Association. 



THE CHAIRMAN : Gentlemen The first paper to be read 

 this afternoon is one by Mr. R. S. Finlow, Fibre Expert to 

 the Government of Bengal, on "Jute and its Substitutes." 



JUTE AND ITS SUBSTITUTES. 



By R. S. FINLOW, 

 Fibre Expert to the Government of Bengal. 



[ABSTRACT.] 



Jute has been, cultivated in Bengal since very ancient times, 

 but the export of raw jute, which marks the commencement 

 of the great development of the crop, is quite modern. Even 

 as late as the end of the first quarter of the nineteenth century 

 the export of raw jute from India amounted to only a few 

 hundreds of maunds say 30 tons. Difficulty was experienced 

 at first with jute, as with most other new products, in finding 

 a market for it, but the trade in the raw fibre gradually ex- 

 panded, the development being greatly aided by the Crimean 

 War, until at the present time jute has practically completely 

 replaced all other fibres as a basis for the manufacture of 

 gunnies. To-day the total produce of jute in Bengal amounts 

 to something like 1,750,000 tons, grown on upwards of 

 3,000,000 acres. 



For its growth jute requires a high temperature and also 

 abundant moisture in the soil. It is, however, contrary to 

 what is generally supposed, not a crop which requires the land 

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