238 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMER. 



Aug. 



What are Jute and Oimiiy Bags ? 



The word "jute" is derived from the Bengalee 

 term Chuti, which means false or deceptive, on 

 account of the fibre having the appearance of 

 beautiful siltj when it is exposed to the sun for 

 drying. It is the fibre of a plant which is very 

 extensively cultivated throughout Bengal, and of 

 which there are several varieties. One of these 

 species furnish the gunny so well known in com- 

 merce. The word " gunny " is a corruption of 

 Goni, the native name on the Coromandel coast 

 for the fibres of the Corchorus Olitorius. These 

 fibres are made into the coarse cloth which we 

 call gunny ; also into cordage, and even paper. 



Jute is indigenous to the soil of India, and hns 

 been cultivated by the natives for centuries. The 

 manufacture of gunny-bags, orchutties, as they 

 are called, gives employment to tens of thous- 

 ands of the poorer inhabitants in Bengal. "Men, 

 women and children," says Mr. Henley, "find 

 occupation therein. Boatmen in their spare mo- 

 ment?, husbandmen, palanquin-carriers and do- 

 mestic servants — everybody, in fact, being Hin- 

 doos (for Mussu men spin cotton only), pafs 

 their leisure moments distaff in hand, spinning 

 gunny twist. Its preparation, together with the 

 weaving into lengths, forms the never-failing re- 

 source of that most humble, patient and despised 

 of created beings, the Hindoo widow. This man- 

 ufacture spares her from being a charge on her 

 family ; she en always earn her bread. Among 

 these causes will be discerned the very low prices 

 at which gunny manufactures are produced in 

 Bengal, and which has attracted the demand of 

 the whole commercial world. There is, perha'ss 

 Eo other article so universally diffused over the 

 globe as the Indian gunry-bag. All the finer 

 and long-stapled jute is reserved for the export 

 trade, in which it bears a comparatively high 

 price. The short staple serves for the local man- 

 ufactdrers ; and it may be remarked that a given 

 weight of gunny bags may be purchased at about 

 the same price as a similar weight of raw mate- 

 rial, leaving no apparent margin for epinaing 

 and weaving." 



Dr. J. Forbes Watson states that 300,000 tons 

 of jute are grown in India, of which upwards of 

 100,000 tons are exported as gunny-bags, besides 

 40,000 tons in t^e raw state. The produotion 

 admits of unlimited extensioti. 



The demand for gunny-bags is so great that a 

 London company has established a large manu- 

 factory in Calcutta for their manufacture and 

 about $300,000 h\8 been already expeded. Im- 

 mense numbers are nsed in the Bombay and 

 Madras Presidencies, and in Fenang, Singapore 

 Batavia, and the whole of the Indian Archipela- 

 go, for packing pepper, coffee, sugar, e<c.; on 

 the west coast of South America for nitrate of 

 sode, borate of lime, regulus of silver, etc.; in 

 the United States for packing cotton ; in fact, it 

 is superseding all other materials for this pur- 

 pose. 



Each gunny-bag weighs on an average two 

 pounds. Gunnies, or pieces of gunny cloth, are 

 usually thirty yards long, and weigh about six 

 pounds. From 6,000,000 to 10,000,000 gunnies, 

 besides some thousand ready made bags, are ex- 

 ported annually from India, chiefly to North 



America ; 4,000 to 5,000 tons of fibre and rope 

 made of sunn, a similar fibre, are also shipped 

 yearly. 



The whole supply of jute to this country comes 

 to us through Calcuttfi. Cargoes are usually 

 completed with it. It is used in every town in 

 the United Kingdom, and for a great variety of 

 purposes. It has long been extensively employed 

 in the manufacture of coarse goods, such as 

 cheap carpetings, bags, sacks, etc. The high 

 price of flax of late years has also led to its ex- 

 tensive use in yarns hitherto purely flax or tow. 

 It is mixed with the cotton warps of cheap broad- 

 cloths, and also with silk, and from its lustre can 

 scarcely be detected. In Dundee, Scotland, es- 

 pecially, it is employed in the manufrcture of 

 many fi ne fabrics, and the quantity now imported 

 into that place is estimated at 40,000 tons annu- 

 ally. The total imports of this fabric have in- 

 creased rapidly of late years. — Annual of Scien- 

 tific Discovery. 



— The worst use to which jute is put is in 

 making rope, as it is almost worthless for this 

 purpose. Farmers often mistake it for manitla, 

 which is quite another thing. For oat-sacks, 

 Osnaburghs are better, and for corn the common 

 cotton grain sack is the cheapest in the v.nd. In 

 shipping corn in gunnies, more or less will always 

 leak out through the seams, and it is estimated 

 that from five to tea bushels are lost in this way 

 on a car load, in three or four handlings. 



A gunny will hold two atd one-fourth bushels 

 when well filled. These cost about sixteen cents, 

 while the cotton grain sack will at this time cost 

 about double. On the Mississippi grain is sold 

 in gunnies, the gunnies inc'uded. It would be 

 better to ship in sacks and have the sacks re- 

 turned. Ed. 



How Green Tomatoes ake as Good as Ripe 

 Ones. — The very best pickle ever made, says the 

 Bangor Whig, may be maue by the following re- 

 cipe. The tomato "cooked" and combined in this 

 way is altogether a diffprent affair from the old 

 fashioned tomato pickle, made by putting the 

 green tomato in vinegar, a la cucumber, which 

 was never fit to be eaten. The pickle described 

 below, however, is a condiment fit for a king, and 

 no man who ever gets a taste of it, rightly made, 

 will ever have any green tomatoes to spare. We 

 have used this pickle in our family for two years 

 past, and recommend it confidently : 



Take one peck green tomatoes— not peeled — 

 a dozen and a half small sized onions, and slice 

 both onions and tomatoes ; add half pint white 

 mustard seed, half ounce allspice, half ounce 

 cloves, half a dozen whole peppers (ripe) or a 

 tablespooB'ul of cayenne ; salt enough to season. 

 Cover the whole with vinegar, and boil two hours. 



