528 FIBRES 



under the same conditions, only reach 7 to 8 ft. It has 

 been noticed that, as a rule, the former ripen later than 

 the latter, there being a month or more between the 

 earliest and latest races. In colour of stem a large 

 number of intermediate types between purple, red, and 

 pure green have been found, including one whose stem 

 is green, but whose leaf petioles are red. After careful 

 elimination of identical types about twenty races of 

 C. capsularis remain which show more or less marked 

 individuality, either in colour of stem or in time of 

 ripening. 



Recent work by Mr. Burkill and myself has shown that 

 intermediate colour types between red and green are 

 probably due to chance hybridization; nevertheless, self- 

 fertilization takes place under ordinary circumstances to 

 the extent of about 98 per cent. This is equivalent to 

 saying that the seed of a jute plant almost invariably 

 produces plants similar to the parents. It follows, there- 

 fore, that a superior race of jute would, given ordinary 

 precautions, not be in greater danger of being swamped 

 by adjacent inferior races. It follows also, on the other 

 hand, that by judicious selection the cultivator can easily 

 obtain a pure strain of any type of jute in his field which 

 he may prefer. 



Early green races of jute are extensively cultivated in 

 the following districts : 



Purnea, 



Jalpaiguri, 



Rangpur, 



Mymensingh (Jamalpur). 



Dinajpur. 



While early red races are common in : 



Jalpaiguri, 



Rangpur, 



Mymensingh (Sarisabari). 



It appears that early, and usually smaller, races are 

 chiefly, if not entirely, grown in the Northern districts. 

 In these tracts, moreover, few very late races are to be 

 found. On the other hand, while practically no very 



