The fibre is separated from the stalks by a process of retting similar to that for flax and hemp. In certain districts of Bengal it is the practice to stack the crop for a few days previous to retting in order to allow the leaves to dry and to drop off the stalks. It is stated that the colour of the fibre is darkened if the leaves are allowed to remain on during the process of retting. It is also thought that the drying of the plants before retting facilitates the separation of the fibre. Any simple operation which improves the colour of the fibre or shortens the operation of retting is worthy of consideration. The benefits to be derived from the above process, however, cannot be great, for the bundles are usually taken direct to the pools and streams. The period necessary for the completion of the retting process varies according to the temperature and to the properties of the water, and may occupy from two days to a month. After the first few days of immersion the stalks are examined daily to test the progress of the retting. When the fibres are easily separated from the stalk, the operation is complete and the bundles should be withdrawn. The following description of the retting of jute is taken from Royle’s Fibrous Plants of India:—
“The proper point being attained, the native operator, standing up to his middle in water, takes as many of the sticks in his hands as he can grasp, and removing a small portion of the bark from the ends next the roots, and grasping them together, he strips off the whole with a little management from end to end, without breaking either stem 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 made up into bundles ready for sending to one of the jute presses. The jute is carefully sorted into different qualities, and then each lot is subjected to an enormous hydraulic pressure from which it emerges in the shape of the well-known bales, each weighing 400 ℔.
The crop naturally depends upon the quality of the soil, and upon the attention which the fibre has received in its various stages; the yield per acre varies in different districts. Three bales per acre, or 1200 ℔ is termed a 100% crop, but the usual quantity obtained is about 2.6 bales per acre. Sometimes the crop is stated in lakhs of 100,000 bales each. The crop in 1906 reached nearly 9,000,000 bales, and in 1907 nearly 10,000,000 was reached. The following particulars were issued on the 19th of September 1906 by Messrs. W. F. Souter & Co., Dundee:—
| Year. | Actual acreage. | Estimated yield (100% equal 3 bales per acre). | Estimated total crop. Bales. | Shipment to Europe. | Shipment to America. | Supplies to Indian mills and local consumption. | Out-turn total crop. Bales. | ||
| Jute. Bales. | Cuttings. Bales. | Jute. Bales. | Cuttings. Bales. | ||||||
| 1901—1st | 2,216,500 | 94% = | 6,250,000 | ||||||
| Final | 2,249,000 | 96% = | 6,500,000 | 3,528,691 | 54,427 | 295,921 | 426,331 | 3,100,000 = | 7,405,370 |
| 1902—1st | 2,200,000 | 80% = | 5,280.000 | ||||||
| Final | 2,200,000 | 80% = | 5,280,000 | 2,773,621 | 39,019 | 230,415 | 207,999 | 2,600,000 = | 5,851,054 |
| 1903—1st | 2,100,000 | 85% = | 5,400,000 | ||||||
| Final | 2,250,000 | 93¾% = | 6,500,000 | 3,161,791 | 59,562 | 329,048 | 236,959 | 3,650,000 = | 7,437,360 |
| 1904—1st | 2,700,000 | 87½% = | 7,100,000 | ||||||
| Final | 2,850,000 | 85% = | 7,400,000 | 2,939,940 | 44,002 | 253,882 | 290,854 | 3,475,782 = | 7,004,460 |
| 1905—1st | 3,163,500 | 87% = | 8,250,000 | ||||||
| Final | 3,145,000 | 87% = | 8,200,000 | 3,483,315 | 63,118 | 347,974 | 245,044 | 4,018,523 = | 8,233,358 |
| Outlying | 200,000 | ||||||||
| Madras | 75,384 | ||||||||
| 1906—1st | 3,271,400 | 87% = | 8,713,000 | ||||||
| Outlying | 67,000 | Madras | 100,000 | ||||||
| Final | 3,336,400 | 8,736,220 | |||||||
| (Outlying Districts and Madras, say 250,000 bales additional) | |||||||||
Estimated consumption of jute 1906-1907.
| In Europe | Bales per annum. | ||
| Scotland | 1,250,000 | ||
| England | 20,000 | ||
| Ireland | 25,000 | ||
| France | 475,000 | ||
| Belgium | 120,000 | ||
| Germany | 750,000 | ||
| Austria and Bohemia | 262,000 | ||
| Norway and Sweden | 62,500 | ||
| Russia | 180,000 | ||
| Holland | 25,000 | ||
| Spain | 90,000 | ||
| Italy | 160,000 | ||
| ——— | 3,419,500 | bales | |
| In America | 600,000 | ||
| ——— | 600,000 | ” | |
| In India— | |||
| Mills | 3,900,000 | ||
| Local | 500,000 | ||
| ———— | 4,400,000 | ” | |
| ——————— | |||
| 8,419,500 | bales | ||
Statistics of consumption of jute, rejections and cuttings.
| Consumption. | 1894. Bales. | 1904. Bales. | 1906. Bales. |
| United Kingdom | 1,200,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,295,000 |
| Continent | 1,100,000 | 1,800,000 | 2,124,500 |
| America | 500,000 | 500,000 | 600,000 |
| Indian mills | 1,500,000 | 2,900,000 | 3,900,000 |
| Local Indian consumption | 500,000 | 500,000 | 500,000 |
| Total jute crop consumption | 4,800,000 | 6,900,000 | 8,419,500 |