6 CORDAGE FIBRES 



running at a speed of about 200 revolutions per minute. In 

 the rear of the cylinder, and horizontal with its centre, are a 

 pair of fluted rollers, driven independently of the toothed 

 cylinder by a separate belt. By a suitable arrangement of 

 three pulleys one of them being a loose one and a long 

 handle for shifting the belt from one to the other, the feed 

 rollers may be stopped or driven at will in either direction. 

 In this way the operative is enabled to spread a " strick " of 

 fibre upon the endless feed sheet, introduce the bad end 

 between the feed rollers as far as required, retain it there 

 until the toothed cylinder has acted upon it sufficiently long, 

 and then withdraw it again without danger. 



The hard and" flat ends are cut away and thrown down 

 below the cylinder, and may be sold for spinning into coarse 

 sacking yarns. 



In the provinces where jute is raised the distaff is in every 

 hovel. The Mohammedans, deterred by some religious 

 scruple, restrict themselves to the manufacture of cotton ; but 

 among the native Hindu population the spinning and 

 weaving of jute is still an important domestic industry. 

 Gunny cloth is woven in several qualities, according to the 

 purpose for which it is intended. That intended for bags to 

 carry poppy or rape seed and sugar must be comparatively 

 closely woven. A more open cloth serves for rice and seeds of 

 a like size, while a still coarser cloth serves for covering 

 packages. Rice, cotton, sugar, coffee, pepper, and other 

 articles of East India commerce, are almost wholly carried in 

 jute gunny bags, which are made and exported from Bengal. 



At Dundee, the ordinary fabrics made from jute are 

 Hessians, sackings, carpets, tarpaulins, and backings for 

 linoleum or floorcloth. The latter fabric is usually woven 

 on wide looms. Dyed carpets, curtains, and table covers are 

 also made, and are cheap and attractive in appearance, but 

 not very durable. Millions of small, brightly dyed prayer 

 carpets for Moslems have been sent from Dundee to the 



