OF COMMERCE. 51 



Some small portion of these imports consists of sunn (the fibre of Crotalaria 

 juncea) and other hemp-like substances ; but the chief quantity is jute. 

 Nearly all imported is used in the kingdom, the reshipments not exceeding 

 12,000 or 15,000 cwt. yearly. Jute, which has long been extensively em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of coarse goods, such as cheajD carpetings, bags, 

 sacks, &c, is now employed in the manufacture of many fine fabrics in 

 Dundee. It is mixed with the cotton warps of cheap broadcloths, and 

 also with silk, and, from its lustre, can scarcely be detected. From 

 6,000,000 to 10,000,000 gunnies, or pieces of gunny-cloth, besides some 

 thousand ready-made bags, are exported annually from India, chiefly to 

 North America : 4,000 to 5,000 tons of fibre and rope made of sunn are 

 also shipped yearly. 



Although gunny-bags and gunnies are occasionally made from other 

 fibres, still the proportion of these is so small that they may be 

 disregarded. 



Each gunny-bag weighs on an average 2 lb. The gunnies are usually 

 in pieces of 30 yards, and weigh about 6 lb. In some years, nearly 

 270,000 tons of jute are exported from India, in the raw or manufactured 

 state, or considerably more than the whole of the flax and hemp fibres 

 consumed in this country. This brings out in a strong light the enormous 

 jute production in India, since, in addition to what is exported, there is a 

 large local consumption. 



Jute is indigenous to the soil of India, and has been cultivated by the 

 natives for their own manufactures for centuries. The extent of the 

 demand is the only limit to the extent of the supply. The present export 

 from India is but one-fourth part of the quantity cultivated for fibre. 

 The whole supply is sent to this country through Calcutta. No vessel 

 can load a full cargo of saltpetre, &c. : the cargoes are, therefore, usually 

 completed with jute. There is not a town in the United Kingdom in 

 which jute is not used, and for a great variety of purposes, such as clothes- 

 lines, halters for horses, sail-lines, skipping-ropes, &c. &c. 



Mr Henley, in a letter sent to the late Dr Forbes lioyle, gives a most 

 interesting account of the manufacture of this fibre in India ; and from 

 some of his remarks the reader will at once perceive how this article finds 

 its way into nearly every house in England, in some form or other. After 

 the jute has been dried and is ready for market, as described already, there 

 is about one foot at the root which becomes brown and dark-coloured : this 

 not being fit for exj^ort, is sold to the poorer inhabitants in Bengal, and 

 gives employment to tens of thousands ; and, to use the language of Mr 

 Henley, we are led to believe that the manufacture of gunny-bags, or 

 chutties, as they are called, employs all classes, and penetrates into every 

 household. "Men, women, and children find occupation therein Boatmen 

 in their spare moments, husbandmen, palankeen-carriers, and domestic 

 servants — everybody, in fact, being Hindoos (for Mussulmen spin cotton 

 only), pass their leisure moments, distaff in hand, spinning gunny-twist. 

 Its preparation, together with the weaving into lengths, forms the never- 



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