CORDAGE FIBRES. 



CHAPTER I. 

 INDIAN JUTE. 



JUTE is grown almost exclusively in the province of Bengal. 

 The commercial fibre is chiefly derived from two species 

 of plant, i.e., the Corchoms capsularis and the C. clitorus. 

 The fibres exist in the plant as a skin under the cuticle or 

 bark of the stem. The finest jute is grown on the high 

 ground, and the middle qualities on the river banks, deltas, 

 &c., known as " Salilands." A hot, damp climate, without 

 too much rain, is best suited to the proper development of 

 the plant. 



The textile qualities of jute were known to the natives long 

 before the advent of the white man, who discovered that from 

 it they wove a coarse cloth and formed it into cords and 

 ropes. Samples were sent to manufacturers at home, who at 

 first found the material rather hard to spin. It was in the 

 year 1832 that the Dundee flax spinners first tried jute, and 

 ever since that date the trade has gone on increasing. Since 

 1857 a number of large jute mills have been erected in the 

 neighbourhood of Calcutta, and at the present day the Indian 

 jute-spinning industry rivals, if it does not exceed, the Dundee 

 trade in importance. 



The average annual jute crop amounts to about 1,500,000 

 tons. About half of it is manufactured in India ; in fact, 

 Indian competition has nearly driven Dundee out of the 

 market for heavy goods, although Dundee still holds the field 

 for special fabrics. 



