XIV, 6 King: Phili23pine Bast-fiber Ropes 613 
Comparatively speaking, jute as it occurs in commerce is a 
very inferior fiber; in fact, it is the cheapest fiber used in the 
United States. It is only because of the facility -with which 
it is cultivated, together with its adaptability for spinning, that 
it has such great importance in the present industrial economy. 
The fiber, which is initially relatively weak, soon deteriorates 
under the influence of moisture. It is produced in greater quan- 
tities than any other fiber except cotton and sisal and is prin- 
cipally used for making the burlap employed in the manufacture 
of gunny sacks. Jute is also used in the manufacture of cordage, 
twine, carpets, rugs, and cheap plushes and velvets. It is some- 
times used as a cotton adulterant. Jute butts are excellent 
material for so-called “linen” paper. Watt states that jute is 
also used as a substitute for silk. 
The fiber constituting the rope tested in this investigation is 
altogether different from the filamientous jute of commerce, to 
which reference is always made when speaking of jute in a 
technical sense. As Plate IV, fig. 3, shows, the fiber here tested 
is in the form of crude strips of bast that have not been sub- 
jected to the retting process and show little if any resemblance 
to the fiber as it is used in the textile industry. 
Each strand of the rope averages eight strips thick. The 
strips have a mean width of 4 millimeters, vary in thickness 
from 0.23 to 0.41 millimeter, and average 1,186 millimeters in 
length. On one side the bast ribbons are mahogany red and 
on the other pinkish cinnamon, so that the rope has a mottled 
appearance, as Plate IV, fig. 3, clearly shows. 
When dry, rope made of crude Corchorus olitorius bast strips 
has a medium tensile strength and breaking length. Wetting dim- 
inishes the tenacity of the fiber considerably. After twenty-four 
hours’ immiersion in fresh tap water, the mean tensile strength 
is reduced 28 per cent. Wetting also induces less concordant 
strength values. The maximum variation from the mean in the 
five wet specimens was 18 per cent. The five dry test specimens 
gave exceptionally good agreement, the maximum variation from 
the mean being only 7 per cent. Two of the dry, and three of 
the wet, test pieces failed in eye-splices. 
A summary of the tests of this species made in the Bureau 
of Science is given in Table XXIV. 
