The fibre is obtained from two species of Corchorus (nat. ord. Tiliaceae), C. capsularis and C. olitorius, the products of both being so essentially alike that neither in commerce nor agriculture is there any distinction made between them. These and various other species of Corchorus are natives of Bengal, where they have been cultivated from very remote times for economic purposes, although there is reason to believe that the cultivation did not originate in the northern parts of India. The two species cultivated for jute fibre are in all respects very similar to each other, except in their fructification and the relatively greater size attained by C. capsularis. The capsules or seed-pods in the case of C. capsularis are globular, rough, and wrinkled, while in C. olitorius they are slender quill-like cylinders, a very marked distinction, as may be noted from fig. 1, in which a and b show the capsules of C. capsularis and C. olitorius respectively. Fig. 2 represents a flowering top of C. olitorius. The two plants are thus botanically defined :—

Cοrchοrus capsularis. —Annual; 5-10 feet; calyx deeply 5-cleft; petals 5; leaves alternate, oblong, acuminate, seιτated, two lower seι∙ratures terminating in narrow filaments; peduncles short; flowers whitish-yellow, in clusters opposite the leaves; capsules globose, truncated, wrinkled, and rnuricated, 5-celled; seeds few in each cell, without transverse partitions; in addition to the 5-partite cells, there are other 5 alternating, smaller and empty.

Corchorus olitorius. — Annual; 5-6 feet; erect; leaves alternate, ovate-acuminated, serrated, the two lower serratures terminated by a slender filament; peduncles 1-2 flowered; calyx 5-sepalled; petals 5; capsules nearly cylindrical, 10-ribbed, 5-celled, 5-valved; seeds numerous, with nearly perfect transverse septa; flowers small, yellow.

Both species are cultivated in India, not only on account of their fibre, but also for the sake of their leaves, which are there extensively used as a pot-herb. The use of C. olitorius for the latter purpose dates from very ancient times, if it may be identified, as some suppose, with the mallows (∏∙⅛P) mentioned in Job xxx. 4, “Who cut up mallows by the bushes.” It is certain that the Greeks used this plant as a pot-herb; and by many other nations ground the shores of the Mediterranean this use of it was, and is still, common. Throughout Bengal the name by which the plants when used as edible vegetables are recognized is nalitd∙, when on the other hand they are spoken of as fibre-producers it is generally under the name pat. Both species are cultivated, on account of the fibre they yield, in the greater part of Bengal. The cultivation of C. capsularis is most prevalent in central and eastern Bengal, while in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, where, however, the area under cultivation is limited, C. olitorius is principally grown. In 1872, a year which showed an extraordinary development of the cultivation, there were returned 921,000 acres as under jute in Bengal, to which Pubna contributed 122,000, Dinajpur 117,000, and Rangpur 100,000 acres respectively.

Hitherto jute has not been cultivated to any considerable extent in localities other than Bengal. From remote times it has been grown in the Hankow district of China, but not largely. In the United States of America the cultivation of the plants has also been introduced, but it has not made much progress. Recently considerable attention has been given to the culture of the plant in Egypt, and in the Dundee trade report of the 23d March 1881 there occurs the following statement :—“Some samples of jute grown in Egypt are being shown here. Reports on quality are varied, but, considering it is a first attempt, on the whole satisfactory. It proves beyond a doubt that Egypt is capable of producing this material, and for the trade of the district this is a matter of great importance, as having the fibre grown near at hand will enable our manufacturers to compete more successfully in all markets with the Indian mills.”

A hot moist climate with abundant rainfall and rich alluvial soil appear to be the conditions most favourable for the successful cultivation of the jute plants. The land requires to be well tilled and abundantly manured, and, the ground being so prepared, the general time of sowing the seed throughout northern and eastern Bengal extends from about the middle of March to the end of May. The seed is sown broadcast on the prepared ground, the young plants are thinned out to G inches apart, and the ground carefully weeded. The stalks are ready for cutting down between the middle of August and the middle of October. As a rule the plants are cut down close to the root with a kind of bill-hook or sickle, and the fibre is obtained best in quality when the crop is secured in the flower. It is, however, common to allow the crop to run to seed and even to ripen seed before cutting, a practice which renders the resulting fibre hard and woody, thus intensifying one of the principal drawbacks of the jute fibre.

The fibre is separated from the stalks by the process of retting practised in the case of flax, hemp, &c. (see Flax, vol. ix. p. 294). In certain districts of Bengal it is the practice to stack the crop for a few days previous to retting, during which period the leaves drop off the stalks, and otherwise the stalks themselves are thereby brought into a condition for more rapid retting. The general practice, however, is to tie the crop into bundles sufficient for one man to carry, and to place these at once in water for the purpose of retting. Pools and ponds of stagnant water are preferred for retting where such are available, but the process is also carried on in the water of running streams. The period necessary for the completion of the retting process varies much according to the temperature and condition of the water, and may be said to occupy from two or three days up to a month. The stalks are examined periodically to test the progress of the retting operation, and when it is found that the fibres peel off and separate readily from the woody portion of the stalk, the operation is complete, and the bundles are withdrawn. The following is a description of the method generally practised for separating the fibre from the stalks. “The proper point being attained, the native operator, standing up to his middle in water, takes as many of the stalks in his hands as he can grasp, and, removing a small portion of the bark from the ends next to the roots, and grasping them together, he strips off the whole with a little management from end to end without either breaking stern or fibre. Having prepared a certain quantity into this half state, he next proceeds to wash off: this is done by taking a large handful; swinging it round his head he dashes it repeatedly against the surface of the water, drawing it through towards him so as to wash off the impurities, then with a dexterous throw he fans it out on the surface of the water and carefully picks off all remaining black spots. It is now wrung out so as to remove as much water as possible, and then hung up on lines prepared on the spot to dry in the sun.” The separated fibre is then washed, sun-dried, and made up into hanks, and so is ready for the market. In favourable circumstances the produce of cleaned fibre amounts, on an average, to about 6 maunds per beegah (13∣ cwts. per acre), but official returns from various districts show differences ranging from 5 to 26 or even 30 cwts. per acre. The cost of cultivation also varies much in different localities. According to the official report of Hem Chunder Kerr, it is as much as Rs. 17 per beegah (about £2, 12s. per acre) in Chittagong, and as low as R. 1 (or 3s. per acre) in Manbhum; but such estimates are obviously of little value, as the cultivation is carried on by the ryots without the aid of hired labour, and forms generally only one among the various cultivated products of the land by which a livelihood is obtained. Jute, however, is certainly one of the most cheaply raised and prepared of all fibres; and to this fact more than to any special excellency of character it possesses is due its now extensive employment as a manufacturing staple.

The characters by which qualities of jute are judged are principally colour, lustre, softness, strength, length, firmness, uniformity, and cleanness of fibre. The best qualities of jute are of a clear white yellowish colour, with a fine silky lustre, soft and smooth to the touch, and fine, long, and uniform in fibre. As a general rule the root ends are harsher and more woody than the middle and upper portions, but in fine jute this distinction is not so noticeable as in less valuable qualities. In length the fibre varies from 6 to 7 feet, but occasionally it is obtained to a length of 14 feet, and, generally speaking, in proportion to the length of the fibre is its fineness of quality. Inferior qualities of jute are brownish in colour and, especially at the root ends, harsh and woody, with much adhering dark cortical matter and other impurities. The fibre is decidedly inferior to flax and hemp in strength and tenacity; and, owing to a peculiarity in its microscopic structure, by which the walls of the separate cells composing the fibre vary much in thickness at different points, the single strands of fibre are of unequal strength. Recently prepared fibre is always stronger, more lustrous, softer, and whiter than such as has been stored for some time,—age and exposure rendering it brown in colour and harsh and brittle in quality. Jute, indeed, is much more woody in texture than either flax or hemp, a circumstance which may be easily demonstrated by its behaviour under appropriate reagents; and to that fact is due the change in colour and character it undergoes on exposure to the air. The fibre bleaches with facility, up to a certain point, sufficient to enable it to take brilliant and delicate shades of dye colour, but it is with great difficulty brought to a pure white by bleaching. A very striking and remarkable fact, which has much practical interest, is its highly hygroscopic nature. While in a dry position and atmosphere it may not possess more than 10 per cent, of moisture, under damp conditions it will absorb up to 30 per cent, or thereby.

As already stated, its commercial distinction is based on the botanical species of plant from which the fibre is prepared; but in the Calcutta market a series of commercial staples are recognized based on the districts whence they are drawn, the values of which bear a pretty constant relation to each other. These classes, in the order of quality, are :— (1) Uttariyd or northern jute, coming from Rangpur, Goalpara, Bogra, and the districts north of Sirajganj;— for length, colour, and fineness, this is unequalled; (2) Deswal or Sirajganj jute, which is valued on account of its softness, bright colour, fineness, and strength,—in the last characteristic it is superior to Uttariyà jute; (3) Desi jute comes from Hooghly, Bardwan, Jessore, and the 24 Parganas; (4) Deord jute is produced in Faridpur and Bakarganj,—it is a strong coarse dark and sooty fibre, used principally for rope-making. The other qualities recognized in Calcutta are—(5) Narainganji jute from Dacca, a strong soft long fibre, of inferior colour; (6) Bdkrabadi jute from Dacca, of fine colour and softness; (7) Bhatial jute from Dacca, very coarse but strong, and very suitable for rope-making; (8) Karimganji jute from the Mymensing district, a long, strong, and well-coloured staple; (9) Mirganji jute, the produce of Rangpur, harsh and woody from over-ripeness of the stalks; and (10) Jangipuri jute of Patna, a short, weak, and foxy-coloured fibre of very inferior quality. In the European markets these distinctions are not much remarked, traders’ marks and classification being the accepted standards of quality and condition. Moreover, it is only the finer qualities that are exported, the lower class jute being used locally for gunny bags, ropes, &c.

At Calcutta and various other centres the jute received from local traders is sorted, packed, and pressed into bales of 400 ft> for shipment to the English and other markets. Woody and hard root ends, which will not press into bales, are cut off and sold separately under the name of “cuttings.” “Jute,” “cuttings,” and “rejections” (the last the name of the low-class fibre) are the three heads under which jute fibre is entered in the trade and import lists of Western countries.

The Jute Trade of Calcutta.— The importation of jute into Europe commenced about the end of the last century, but so recently as that period it was confused with hemp. During the earlier years of the present century the imports slowly increased, but, as Hem Chunder Kerr says, “the shipments were so insignificant that little or no notice was taken of them by the custom house authorites.” Since that time a great revolution has taken place. In 1829 the custom house assigned to jute a separate heading, in which year we find the exports amounted to 496 maunds (364 cwt.). From that time the growth of the trade has been upon the whole steady and continuous, and marked by extraordinary progress, as will be evident from the following table of exports, which is compiled from official sources :— [table]

Excepting a comparatively insignificant fraction, the whole of these exports of raw jute have been consigned to Great Britain, the United States of America being the only other country which bulks at all largely in the returns. Occasional shipments were made to America from 1829 onwards; but the quantities were small and very fluctuating till about 1850, up to which year frequently the total imports for a year were under 1000 cwts. From 1850-51 onward a rapidly increasing but still fluctuating demand for raw jute has grown up in the United States, till in 1872-73 the American demand amounted to 307,718 cwts. of jute and 1,158,895 cwts. of cuttings and rejections. An importation of 3072 cwts. was made into France in 1836-37, but there was no steady demand for jute in that country till 1845-46, when 9708 cwts. were taken. Since that time there has been a varying but upon the whole increasing demand, and in 1872-73 there were imported 137,126 cwts. The only other considerable shipments are to East Indian ports; but, taken altogether, it may be said that quite nine-tenths of the raw jute which leaves Calcutta is primarily disposed of in the British market.

Jute Manufacture.— Long before jute came to be known and to occupy a prominent place amongst the textile fibres of Europe, it was in extensive use and formed the raw material of a large and important industry throughout the regions of eastern Bengal, in which the plant was cultivated. Among the native Hindu population the spinning and weaving of jute was, and still is, in various districts, the most important domestic industry. The forms into which the material is worked among the Hindu population—for the Mussulmans do not use jute—are cordage, cloth, and paper. The cordage is twisted into all sizes, from the fine thread used for weaving up to strong ropes for the hawsers of native boats and for tying bales. The more important native application of jute is, however, in the manufacture of gunny cloth and gunny bags, used in extraordinary quantity and number throughout the world, for packing and carrying all manner of goods and merchandise, and by the natives themselves for clothing and numerous domestic purposes. The ordinary mode of weaving gunnies for bags and other coarse purposes is thus described :—“Seven sticks or chattee weaving-posts, called tand pard or warp, are fixed upon the ground, occupying the length equal to the measure of the piece to be woven, and a sufficient number of twine or thread is wound on them as warp called tand. The warp is taken up and removed to the weaving machine. Two pieces of wood are placed at two ends, which are tied to the ohari and okher or roller; they are made fast to the khoti. The belut or treadle is put into the warp; next to that is the sarsul ; a thin piece of wood is laid upon the warp, called chupari or regulator. There is no sley used in this, nor is a shuttle necessary; in the room of the latter a stick covered with thread called singa is thrown into the warp as woof, which is beaten in by a piece of plank called beyno, and as the cloth is woven it is wound up to the roller. Next to this is a piece of wood called khetone, which is used for smoothing and regulating the woof; a ,stick is fastened to the warp to keep the woof straight.” Gunny cloth is woven of numerous qualities, according to the purpose to which it is'devoted. Some kinds are made close and dense in texture, for carrying such seed as poppy or rape and sugar; others less close are used for rice, pulses, and seeds of like size, and coarser and opener kinds again are woven for the outer cover of packages and for the sails of country boats. There is a thin close-woven cloth made and used as garments among the females of the aboriginal tribes near the foot of the Himalayas, and in various localities a cloth of pure jute or of jute mixed with cotton is used as a sheet to sleep on, as well as for wearing purposes. To indicate the variety of uses to which jute is applied, the following quotation may be cited from the official report of Hem Chunder Kerr as applying to Midnapur. “The articles manufactured from jute are principally (1) gunny bags; (2) string, rope, and cord; (3) kampa, a net-like bag for carrying wood or hay on bullocks;

(4) chat, a strip of stuff for tying bales of cotton or cloth;

(5) dola, a swing on which infants are rocked to sleep; ( 6) shika, a kind of hanging shelf for little earthen pots, &c.; (7) dulina, a floor cloth; (8) beera, a small circular staj·d for wooden plates used particularly in poojahs; (9) painter’s brush and brush for white-washing; (10) ghunsi, a waist-band worn next to the skin; (11) gochh-dari, a hair-band worn by women; (12) mukbar, a net bag used as muzzle for cattle; (13) parchula, false hair worn by players; (14) τakhi∙bandhan, a slender arm-band worn at the Rakhi-poornima festival; and (15) dhup, small incense sticks burned at poojahsT Raw jute fibre and old gunnies are also largely used throughout the presidency in the manufacture of paper.

The introduction of jute factories on the European system into Bengal has had a considerable influence on the domestic manufacture of jute, notwithstanding that a vast industry is still prosecuted in the ancient Hindu manner.

The following extracts from official tables will show the extent of this particular branch of industry.

The number of gunny bags imported into Calcutta amounted in 1877-78 to 21,446,000, in 1878-79 to 26,380,000, and in 1879-80 to 20,488,000.

The different districts which contributed chiefly to the trade during these three years are the following :— [table]

The gunny bags exported from Calcutta in the year 1877-78 numbered 79,384,000; in 1878-79, 82,635,000; and in 1879-80, 92,284,000.

It will be seen that the exports of bags exceed the quantity sent into Calcutta by no less than 57,938,000 bags in 1877—78, 56,255,000 in 1878-79, and 71,796,000 in 1879-80. This is of course due to the large manufacture in Calcutta and the suburbs.

The import trade of...