* End of calendar year, the remainder being taken to the 31st of March, the end of financial year.

** Approximate number of spindles.

The Calcutta looms are engaged for the most part with a few varieties of the commoner classes of jute fabrics, but the success in this direction has been really remarkable. Dundee, on the other hand, turns out not only the commoner classes of fabrics, but a very large variety of other fabrics. Amongst these may be mentioned the following: Hessian, bagging, tarpaulin, sacking, scrims, Brussels carpets, Wilton carpets, imitation Brussels, and several other types of carpets, rugs and matting, in addition to a large variety of fabrics of which jute forms a part. Calcutta has certainly taken a large part of the trade which Dundee held in its former days, but the continually increasing demands for jute fabrics for new purposes have enabled Dundee to enter new markets and so to take part in the prosperity of the trade.

The development of the trade with countries outside India from 1828 to 1906 may be seen by the following figures of exports:—

Averageper yearfrom1828to1832-3311,800cwt.
”””1833-34”1837-3867,483”
”””1838-39”1842-43117,047”
”””1843-44”1847-48234,055”
”””1848-49”1852-53439,850”
”””1853-54”1857-58710,826”
”””1858-59”1862-63969,724”
”””1863-64”1867-682,628,110”
”””1868-69”1872-734,858,162”
”””1873-74”1877-785,362,267”
”””1878-79”1882-837,274,000”
”””1883-84”1887-888,223,859”
”””1888-89”1892-9310,372,991”
”””1893-94”1897-9812,084,292”
”””1898-99”1902-0311,959,189”
”””1903-04”1905-0613,693,090”

The subjoined table shows the extent of the trade from an agricultural, as well as from a manufacturing, point of view. The difference between the production and the exports represents the native consumption, for very little jute is sent overland. The figures are taken to the 31st of March, the end of the Indian financial year.

Year.Acres under
cultivation.		Production
in cwt.		Exports by
sea in cwt.
18932,181,33420,419,00010,537,512
18942,230,57017,863,000 8,690,133
18952,275,33521,944,40012,976,791
18962,248,59319,825,00012,266,781
18972,215,10520,418,00011,464,356
18982,159,90824,425,00015,023,325
18991,690,73919,050,000 9,864,545
19002,070,66819,329,000 9,725,245
19012,102,23623,307,00012,414,552
19022,278,20526,564,00014,755,115
19032,142,70023,489,00013,036,486
19042,275,05025,861,00013,721,447
19052,899,70026,429,00012,875,312
19063,181,60029,945,00014,581,307

Manufacture.—In their general features the spinning and weaving of jute fabrics do not differ essentially as to machinery and processes from those employed in the manufacture of hemp and heavy flax goods. Owing, however, to the woody and brittle nature of the fibre, it has to undergo a preliminary treatment peculiar to itself. The pioneers of the jute industry, who did not understand this necessity, or rather who did not know how the woody and brittle character of the fibre could be remedied, were greatly perplexed by the difficulties they had to encounter, the fibre spinning badly into a hard, rough and hairy yarn owing to the splitting and breaking of the fibre. This peculiarity of jute, coupled also with the fact that the machinery on which it was first spun, although quite suitable for the stronger and more elastic fibres for which it was designed, required certain modifications to suit it to the weaker jute, was the cause of many annoyances and failures in the early days of the trade.

Fig. 3.—Jute Opener. (The three machines shown in this article are made by Urquhart, Lindsay & Co., Ltd., Dundee.)