Fibres. 



IS 



[July, I90t). 



two-fifths in 1907-08. If paid-up capital 

 and debentures are taken together, 

 the rupee investments amounted to 

 £5,643,000 and the sterling to £3,020,000 

 in 1907-08, 



Increase in Production. 



The increase in actual production has 

 been even greater than the growth in 

 productive power as indicated by the 

 number of looms and spindles, owing to 

 the enhanced demand for jute manu- 

 factures, and possibly also to improved 

 organisation of the industry and greater 

 skill on the part of the workers, Thus 

 the average annual exports of gunny 

 bags for the quinquennium 1879-80 to 

 1883-84 were 54,900,000, while those of 

 gunny cloth were 4,400,000 yards, the 

 whole being valued at £833,000. In 1907- 

 08 the corresponding figures were 

 293,000,000 bags and 790,000,000 yards of 

 cloth of a total value of £12,199,000. So 

 during the period the exports of gunny 

 cloth rose from an insignificant figure 

 to a gigantic total, and their value was 

 greater than the value of the exports 

 of bags. The average price of Hessian 

 cloth (10£ oz„ 40 in.) in 1907-08 was 17s. 

 lOd. per 100 yards, as compared with 19s. 

 6d. in 1906-07 and 15s. 2d. in 1905-06. The 

 rise in the value of jute manufactures is, 

 of course, largely due to the increased 

 value of the raw material, the output of 

 which, though showing a considerable 

 increase, has not risen in proportion to 

 the demand in India and abroad. 



Growth op Exports. 



It is noteworthy that exports of raw 

 jute have risen with the outturn of jute 

 manufactures in India, though by no 

 means proportionately. During the 

 period from 1879-80 to 1883-84 the price 

 of ordinary jute was Rs. 23J per bale of 

 400 lb., and the average annual export 

 of the fibre was 7,500,000 cwt. In 1907-08 

 the exports were 14,200,000 cwt., and 

 the price was Rs. 42, as compared with 

 Rs. 65| in 1906-07 and Rs. 44 in 1905-6. 

 Thus the fall in 1907-08 was greater than 

 the rise in 1906-07. The last estimate 

 for the season's jute crop was 6,310,800 

 bales, or a decline of 35 per cent, on the 

 preceding one. The imports into Cal- 

 cutta and Chittagong for the six 

 months to December last amounted to 

 5,837,000 bales, while the exports 

 amounted to 3,196,000, and the takings 

 of the local mills to 2,391,000 bales. 



The trade returns for the nine months 

 ended December 31st last show that 

 India's exports of raw jute and jute manu- 

 factures, as compared with the corres- 

 ponding period in 1907, were as follows :— 



Eaw Jute. Bags. Cloth. 



1908 ... Cwt. 13,562,829 No. 224,747,780 No. 610,807,253 



£ 10,264,260 £ 4.030,778 £ 4,282,776 



1907 ... Cwt- 10,670,926 No 212 747,488 N . 632,106,238 



£ 9,440,694 £ 4 333,829 £ 5.345,963 



These figures serve to show that in 

 spite of financial troubles and a dimin- 

 ished demand from certain markets 

 the trade of the current financial year 

 has been by no means unsatisfactory. 



DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



DRUGS, 



(Report on the Work of the Imperial 

 Institute, 1906-1907. No. 584.) 



Samples 









Samples 







Samples 





awaiting 





reported on 



6 

 & 



reported on 



d 



investigation 



0" 



during 1906. 





during 1907. 





at the end of 



525 











1907. 





Gold Coast ... 



4 



Gold Coast 



3 



Sierra Leone 



4 



Sierra Leone..,. 



13 



Northern Ni- 





Northern Ni- 





Uganda 



1 



geria 



4 



geria 



1 



Rhodesia ,.„. 



1 



Sudan 



2 



Lagos 



1 



Zanzibar „. 



1 



Nyasaland .. 



1 



British East 





Transvaal 



1 



Natal 



1 



Africa 



1 



Sudan 



3 



India 



1 



Somaliland . 



1 



India 



3 



S. Settlements 



19 



India 



30 







Federated Ma- 





Straits Settle- 









lay States... 



1 



ments 



1 







New S. Wales 



1 



New S. Wales 



1 







B. Honduras 



2 



Foreign Coun- 









For.Countries 



2 



tries 



2 







Total . 



37 



Total „J 



42 



A considerable number of drugs have 

 been dealt with during the two years 

 1906 and 1907. In this connection it 

 may be noted that Indian Podophyllum 

 (P. Emodi) and Egyptian henbane (Hyos- 

 cyamus muticus), the constituents of 

 which have been previously examined at 

 the Imperial Institute and shown to be 

 of medical value, are now being regular- 

 ly exported for use as drugs. 



The most important of these investi- 

 gations conducted in the two years re- 

 ferred to are those carried on for the 

 Government of India, and include the 

 chemical examination of Indian species 

 of Aconites, Hyoscyamus, Datura and 

 Strychnos, and also Indian opium and 

 opium alkaloids. Considerable progress 

 has been made with the first four of 

 these enquiries, which are, however, not 

 yet completed. 



The investigation of the best process 

 of extracting the alkaloids from Indian 

 opium is now practically complete. A* 



