It might be stated that while only 368 cwt. of jute fibre was reported as being shipped from Calcutta to this country in 1828, the imports gradually increased as time passed on.  The yarns which were made from the fibre were heavier or thicker than those in demand for the usual types of cloth, and it was desirable that other types of cloth should be introduced so that these yarns could be utilized.  About the year 1838, representatives of the Dutch Government placed comparatively large orders with the manufacturers for jute bags to be used for carrying the crop of coffee beans from their West Indian possessions.  The subsequent rapid growth of the industry, and the demand for newer types of cloth, are perhaps due more to the above fortunate experiment than to any other circumstance.

By the year or season 1850-51, the British imports of jute fibre had increased to over 28,000 tons, and they reached 46,000 tons in the season 1860-61.  Attention meanwhile had been directed to the possibility of manufacturing jute goods by machinery in India—­the seat of the cultivation and growth of the fibre.  At least such a probability was anticipated, for in the year 1858 a small consignment of machinery was despatched to Calcutta, and an attempt made to produce the gunny bags which were typical of the Indian native industry.

The great difference between the more or less unorganized hand labour and the essential organization of modern mills and factories soon became apparent, for in the first place it was difficult to induce the natives to remain inside the works during the period of training, and equally difficult to keep the trained operatives constantly employed.  Monetary affairs induced them to leave the mills and factories for their more usual mode of living in the country.

In the face of these difficulties, however, the industry grew in India as well as in Dundee.  For several years before the war, the quantity of raw jute fibre brought to Dundee and other British ports amounted to 200,000 tons.  During the same period preceding the war, nearly 1,000,000 tons were exported to various countries, while the Indian annual consumption—­due jointly to the home industry and the mills in the vicinity of Calcutta—­reached the same huge total of one million tons.

The growth of the jute industry in several parts of the world, and consequently its gradually increasing importance in regard to the production of yarns and cloth for various purposes, enables it to be ranked as one of the important industries in the textile group, and one which may perhaps attain a much more important position in the near future amongst our national manufacturing processes.  As a matter of fact, at the present time, huge extensions are contemplated and actually taking place in India.

CHAPTER II.  CULTIVATION

Botanical and Physical Features of the Plant.  Jute fibre is obtained from two varieties of plants which appear to differ only in the shape of the fruit or seed vessel.  Thus, the fruit of the variety Corchorus Capsularis is enclosed in a capsule of approximately circular section, whereas the fruit of the variety Corchorus Olitorius is contained in a pod.  Both belong to the order Tiliacea, and are annuals cultivated mostly in Bengal and Assam.