318 



The World's Commercial Products 



are in flower, and the method 

 employed is either cutting 

 with a sickle or pulling up 

 the whole plant by hand. 

 The stalks are gathered into 

 bundles and placed in stag- 

 nant water to undergo a 

 retting process, which is 

 effected in varying periods 

 of from two or three days to 

 a month. While the bundles 

 are under water they are 

 examined from time to time, 

 and, when the fibres separate 

 readily, the bundles are taken 

 from the water in preparation 

 for the final separation of the 

 fibre from the stem. Various 

 methods are adopted, a com- 

 mon one being for the opera- 

 tor to beat or shake the 

 stems in water until all the 

 resinous matter of the bark 

 is washed away. The man 

 stands in the water, takes 

 as many stems as he can 

 conveniently hold, and strips 

 off the bark in long strands. 

 i ^k This completed, he dashes 



aLrff ' z. T - \^ the remaining fibre upon the 



-J^ w* ^ surface of the water until 



it is freed from vegetable 

 debris, and after a further 

 washing the jute is wrung 

 out, dried upon lines, and finally made up into hanks ior the market. 



The uses of jute have been recognised in India from the most remote times, but the employ- 

 ment of the fibre as a textile by Western peoples dates back only to the last century, the first 

 recorded export of jute from India being in 1828. Jute is most largely used for the manufacture 

 of " gunny " bags and cotton baling, but is also a most important cordage and twine material ; 

 the waste material resulting from these manufactures is used in paper manufacture. Dundee 

 is the centre of the jute industry in Great Britain. 



Ramie, Rhea, China Grass 



Ramie, Rhea, or China Grass, is an example of a product which, were it not for the difficulty 

 and expense of its production, would probably occupy a most prominent place on the market. 

 The fibre is without doubt one of the strongest and finest known ; it is brilliantly lustrous and 

 silky, very durable, and is said to be less affected by moisture than any other fibre. Moreover, 

 it is of exceptional length, and can be dyed readily. 



No small amount of confusion has hitherto existed with regard to the fibres variously 

 known to commerce as China grass, ramie, and rhea, and even at the present time there is 

 constant evidence that the confusion still exists. Briefly put, the facts are that the fibres 



From Stereograph Copyright, Underwood & Underwood, London and New York 

 NATIVES MAKING ROPE, MONTENEY, MEXICO 



