DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 129 



paper manufacture; the latter chiefly from "jute butts and rejections." In Europe 

 the fiber enters into a great variety of fabrics or cloths, such as curtains and uphol- 

 stery, carpets, etc., and even sheetings and imitations of silk fabrics. It has been 

 applied extensively as a substitute for hemp. For this purpose the fibers are ren- 

 dered soft and flexible by being sprinkled with water and oil, in the proportion of 20 

 tons of water and 24- tons of train oil to 100 tons of jute. Sprinkled with this the 

 jute is left for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, when, after being squeezed by rollers 

 and hackled, the tibers become beautifully soft and minutely isolated, and thereby 

 suited for a number of purposes unknown a few years ago. Its perishable nature is 

 fatal to its obtaining a position much higher than it has already attained, and prob- 

 ably admixture of jute in certain articles, such as sailcloths, must sooner or later be 

 viewed as a criminal offense. 



In coarser woven goods it appears as webbing, burlap, and cotton-bagging stuff. 

 Its use in fine and coarse twines, binding twine, sash cord, etc., is very large, while 

 it is also used extensively in the smaller sizes of rope. Because of its fineness and 

 luster, coupled with its cheapness, it is frequently used to adulterate the manufac- 

 tures from better fibers, and on account of the tendency to rapid deterioration already 

 noted such use is plainly fraud. When employed in hemp twines in this manner, it 

 is artificially given the dark color of hemp, its natural color being a light-salmon. 

 Binding twine is sometimes made of this fiber, colored to resemble hemp, and sold 

 at a good price under a fancy trade name. 



Cultivation. — The largest areas in India are found in Bengal, where there is a wide 

 diversity in soil and climate, and where high lands, low lands, recent alluvial for- 

 mations along rivers (known in India as "churs" — mud banks and islands), dry 

 * lands, humid lands, and even cleared bamboo jungle have been all more or less culti- 

 vated in jute. These lands are classified in India under two general heads— first, 

 "Suna," high land, which is generally reserved for the cultivation of fruit trees, 

 pulses, vegetables, tobacco, sugarcane, and early rice; and, second, "SaTi," or the 

 lowlands upon which the late rice crop is produced. 



The great bulk of jute that comes from the central and some of the eastern districts 

 is grown on "churs" and on inferior soil, but in the "desi," or the littoral districts, a 

 larger proportion is grown inland than on the banks of the rivers. In the early days of 

 this cultivation, however, when jute was raised for home consumption only, it used to 

 be grown only on raised lands close to the grower's homestead. On the whole, the 

 balance of evidence is decidedly in favor of high or "siina'" lands as the best for 

 jute, provided all the other conditions necessary for its healthy growth be attaina- 

 ble, but that lowlands and "churs" are not unsuited, "churs" ranking midway 

 between the two. (Hem Chun der Kerr.) 



In the district of Burdwan the plant is grown on soil composed of rich clay and 

 sand in equal proportions. In Mymensing it grows on "soil consisting of a mixture 

 of clay and sand, or sand combined with alluvial deposit;" in Backergunge, "on 

 loam mixed with a little sand;" in Cooch Behar, "on soil with a certain admixture 

 of sand;" in Tipperah, "on loamy and sandy soil;" in Pubna, "'on land which is 

 neither inundated nor dry, the soil being loam, i. e., half clay and half sand." On 

 the other hand, the jute plant appears not to be averse to clayey soil. It grows in 

 the Barripore subdivision of the Twenty-Four Pergunnahs "on matial or clayey 

 soil;" in Hooghly, according to the district officer and Baboo Joykissen Mookerjee, 

 "on clayey soil," which, in their opinion, is "best suited for jute cultivation;" in 

 Moorshedabad, also on "clayey soil," which is considered there, too, to be "best 

 adapted for jute;" in Noakhally, "on high land, the soil of which is called attalia," 

 i. e., stiff and sticky; and in Cuttack, "on high land, rich and clayey." It also 

 thrives in ferruginous soil, as in Bhowal, in the district of'Dacca, where jute is pretty 

 largely cultivat d; and the fiber produced there is considered to be among the best 

 kinds which find their way to the markets of Dacca andNaraingunge. As a summary, 

 it may be said that in India rich alluvial lands give the best results, particularly in 

 12247— No. 9 9 



