109 



CORCHORUS, Linn. 



Corchorus capsularis, Linn., Sp. PL p. 529. 



Leaves 2-4 long, j-1 in. broad, glabrescent, oblong, acuminate, 

 coarsely toothed, base generally prolonged into tail-like append- 

 ages ; petiole 1^ in. Stipules J-J in. Capsules oblate, subglobose, 

 wrinkled, muricate, 5-valved, valves without transverse septa. 

 Seeds few in each cell (Fl. Br. Ind. i. 1875, p. 397). 



The globose capsule, without a beak, distinguishes it readily 

 from C. olitorius, which has an elongated capsule with a beak. 



III.— Rumpf, Amb. v. t, 78 ; Lam. Encycl. t, 478. f. 3 (fruit) ; 

 Wight, Ic. PL Ind. or. i. t, 311 ; Jacq. Eclogae PL Rar. ii. t. 119 ; 

 Hook. Kew Journ. Bot. ii. 1850, t. 3 ; Schnizlein, Ic. t, 212, f. 24 ; 

 Vidal, Fl. For. Filip. t. 20 B; Zippel, Ausl. Handels, Nahrpflan. 

 t. 30 ; Journ. Proc. As. Soc. Beng. N.S. iii. December, 1907, 

 p. 637, f. 7 (leaf in comparison with leaves of the varieties Mama 

 figs. 1-3, corylifolia, f. 4, and pyrifolia, f . 5) . 



Jute. 



Cultivated experimentally in Nigeria, and other parts of Africa. 

 Largely cultivated in North-East India ; country of origin 

 uncertain. In 1895 the experimental cultivation of this plant was 

 taken up ; large quantities of seed were supplied by Messrs. 

 Elder, Dempster & Co. to Lagos and Old Calabar, in common with 

 other places on the West Coast of Africa. The fibre produced 

 at Old Calabar in 1896 was good, but short, owing to late season 

 and poor soil. The seed was received in August, sown on the 

 20th of this month, reaped in November, and samples (retted for 

 about 12 days) despatched on the 1st December, 1896. Although 

 sufficient to show that fibre of good quality could be produced in 

 the country, the experiments were on too small a scale to prove 

 the success of production on a commercial scale, and took no 

 account of the labour and problems involved, other than the con- 

 ditions of climate and soil. In the present instances the dry 

 season was well advanced before growth was complete, and the 

 soil was light and sandy, conditions that would cause the plants to 

 flower and mature early. 



In 1905 the subject was renewed by the Chamber of Commerce, 

 Dundee, who brought before the Colonial Office the efforts that 

 had been made by those interested in the jute industry of 

 Dundee to encourage the growth of jute in West Africa, with, up 

 to then, only moderate success. Messrs. Elder, Dempster & Co. 

 offered to give free passage to and fro, and Dundee manufacturers 

 through their Jute Association, or otherwise, were prepared to 

 assist in procuring seed, and to contribute to the necessary 

 expenses. It was represented that the chief difficulty lay in 

 finding suitable experts (Dundee Chamber of Commerce to 

 Colonial Office, 30th March, 1905), but the late Director of Kew 

 was of opinion that this could be met by the Bengal Dept. of 

 Agriculture. This course he accordingly recommended (Kew to 

 Colonial Office, 12th April, 1905), and it was subsequently urged 

 by the present Director (Kew to Colonial Office, 17th February, 

 1906). Jute seed was distributed, and a Memorandum on the 

 Cultivation (by the Inspector-General of Agriculture, India) 



