Page:The Cyclopedia of India (Specimen Issue).pdf/168

 Q.-—

Jute

Tu oi the jute tn Bengal rs Cm rm. masrn' och as Elise an. in its t pe is We... ...-.. Fri“. m... which the ﬁbre is ' has been cultivated in the province from time immemorial. For very am... new... who “.53 e ' ts ’ yi the ﬁbre. But a which was 'nted in 1873 by lab: £1.33 .1..."°°”"L'°;.:l n s will. dispute. The Cornmiasion slurred that the late at commerce is yielded' erentlybytwodistinct species at Ts'ls'arm. namely. Cor- e was dilutes and Conﬁrms; up sularta. The Bengali word M in- cludes both these plants. and also the ﬁbres obtained lrom them. It seems that formerly there was con- siderable contusion as to the diaer- ent Indian libreyielding plants. The same vernacular terms new: employed to denote various plants. ﬁbres and cloths. with the result that it is now dillicult to determine which particular plant is intended by ancient ‘mgm. But his; the u o t t ' ac-
 * mm... . ..

tailed reference to these points is unnecessary. Foruoneol the Item gall words were adopted by Em to indicate the ﬁbre obtained ‘31: Carbon: dtlorirrs or Cor- clumu (sprinters). The Europeans introduced a new title. " jute." the origin oi which seems to be doubt- tul. Nor is it an easy matter to say when the term was ﬁrst used. It is ‘ table. how- ever that as tar as the middle 0! the seventeenth century. the Euro can nations interested themse in the mac factors of canvas and eordage

TBS CYCLOI’EDIA OF INDIA

The

Industry of Bengal.

from Indian ﬁbres. There were at that time lactories and ropeworks at Several places, chieﬂy cut the Orb. sa seaboard. under the control at theEast IndiaCompany. Reference is also made by aDutch writer— Funcis Valentyn—to factories at PaﬁmlbehanniamandatHooglr ly. But 31 it is almost cer. tain that the ﬁbre of C urchins was used at the factories, there is no trace of the word “ jute." Nor do the earlier travellers in India—«.5, Bernier. Fayrer and Sir Thomas Rom—employ the term. The ﬁrst mention of it ap to he in the ' ‘Commercial In to the Proceed- ings ol the late Board of Trade in t796". It is there stated that jute had been sent to the Honourable Court of Directors on more than one occasion. ln adespatch. dated 4th December woo, the Secret Com- mittee ol the Court 0! Directors speak ol ﬂ! and ruse. but not at isle. So that the word was not then in general use. But stm alterwards it seems to have beconu- popular ; and. so tar as the Govern- ment correspondence is concerned, to have entirely so every other name tor the hre. The de- rivation oi the word is. as has been iglicated. ls’ornewhatusbscurﬁh. But e um ya exp tiou is tﬁzt the fact: ink is simply the Anglide lorln oi the Unya fhol. and the ancient Sanskrit flat. At least this is the deriva- tion which has been accepted by the Government of Bengal. it is sup. ported by the (set that the Euro- Kam were ﬁrst connected with jute the Oriana district. The verna- cular names tor the ﬁbre are multi- tudinous; «my district has a special designation tor almost earl: variet ': and the same variety is called diﬂerent names indiﬂertmt districts.

juteiscultivatedinalargenmnber madam 25m?“ onilwnga'l ' s m "m and to a smaller extent in Assam. Taking the latest available statistics, the principal Bengal districts are the following. The represent the number of acres which it is estimated

were sown during 1905.- ﬂo-nhlv to. “Jan Ito-ash :: .I’h‘ Pu ;. :uﬁa Pup- we {ran 0! sags. 8W sarto- 7:er .. I3...) .. o. . I.” m“ .. the: M .. a“ .. 505.. la* .. 3w

'- In each of the other growing dis tricts the area is below r5.ooo acres. The total area under lute cultiva~ tion in the province ts estimated for the current year at 3,: .600 acres. which aunt-gen; to a t '3pt'l'cento t w le ute‘grow. if; area 0! British India. The total yield is estimated at nearly 8‘: million bales of 4oolbs. each. Assam crop is relatively insignio ticant ; the estimated normal area under jute being. according to the oﬂicialstatistics. 59. acres. But for the lyear 1005 t area sown was caculated at about 36.590 acres. with an estimated yield at about 82.800 bales ol4oo lbs. The éute Commission oi 1873 published gum nl area and yield which are interesting tor pu 0! com- parisoo. In 1872 t total area under jute in Bengal and Assam was 925.899 acres. and the yield 3.568.485 mounds. or .2. 13.697 holes at 400 lbs. In thel ' year the areawas reduced to 517.:07 acres. with a yield of 7,756,105 maunds. or say 1. 51.231 bales at 400 lbs. Nothing urtherisneeded to show the tremendous advance