100 Select Plants for Industrial Culture 



machine has been constructed by Mr. Le Franc, of New Orleans, for 

 separating the jute-fibre. With it a ton of fibre is produced in a day 

 by four men's work. This apparatus can also be used for other fibre- 

 plants. The seeds of the Corchorus, which drop spontaneously, will 

 reproduce the crop. 



Corchorus capsularis, Linn.* 



From India to Japan. One of the principal jute-plants. An 

 annual, attaining a height of about twelve feet, when closely grown, 

 with almost branchless stem. A nearly allied but lower plant, Cor- 

 chorus Cunninghami (F. v. Mueller) occurs in tropical and sub-tropical 

 Eastern Australia. Jute can be grown where cotton and rice ripen, 

 be it even in localities comparatively cold in the winter, if the summer's 

 warmth is long and continuous. The fibre is separated by steeping 

 the full-grown plant in water from five to eight days; it is largely 

 used for rice- wool- and cotton-bags, carpets and other similar 

 textile fabrics, and also for ropes. In 1884 Great Britain imported 

 5,111,000 cwt. of jute, valued at 3,600,000. In 1883 the quantity 

 amounted even to 7,372,000 cwt. of the value of 4,520,000, and a 

 large quantity is also sent to the United States. Jute is sown on 

 good land, well ploughed and drained, but requires no irrigation, 

 although it likes humidity. The crop is obtained in the course of 

 four or five months, and is ripe when the flowers are replaced by fruit- 

 capsules. Good paper is made from the refuse of the fibre. Jute 

 has been found, like hemp, to protect cotton from caterpillars, when 

 planted around fields (Hon. T. Watts). In India jute often alternates 

 with rice and sugar-cane ; as a crop it requires damp soil. It does 

 not require drained land, according to Mr. C. B. Clarke. Unlike 

 cotton, it will bear a slight frost. Under favorable circumstances 

 2,000 to 7,000 Ibs. may be obtained from an acre. It is best grown 

 on temporarily flooded ground, as otherwise it proves an exhaustive 

 crop. Two hundred million pounds of jute were woven in 1876 in 

 Dundee, and fifty million gunny-bags were exported from Britain in 

 one single year, according to S. Waterhouse. Jute does not decay so 

 easily as hemp, when exposed to moisture. 



Corchorus olitorius, Linne".* 



South-Asia and North- Australia. Furnishes, with the foregoing 

 species, the principal supply of jute-fibre. As it also is an annual, 

 it can be brought to perfection in the summers of the warm temperate 

 zone. The foliage can be used for spinage. The fibre is not so 

 strong as hemp, but very easily prepared. It will not endure long 

 exposure to water. The seeds will keep for several years. The 

 allied Corchorus trilocularis (Linne), of Indian origin, is likewise wild 

 in eastern tropical and sub-tropical Australia. 



Cordyline Banksii, J. Hooker. 



New Zealand. This lax- and long-leaved Palm-Lily attains a 

 height of 10 feet; its stem is usually undivided. This and the fol- 

 lowing species have been admitted into this list for a double reason, 



