The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1879-05-03


without labor; the land must he O.. now
out, or crop requiring less labor m~i
must be substituted. l think that III. ".uS'
tivation of the Indian jute will meet nee I III
emergency, and give relief. 'e
1t is estimated that this crop will rson.
only one-tenth the labor of cotton fune
India exports annually about eiob, l..
dred millions pounds of the fibre. A An
can be formed of the demand in this cue uea
try when we remember that if reon;4
sixty million pounds of bagging to COWS COWS
four million bales of cotton, sixty MILF
pounds for sacks for grain and cotton soog
and as much more for carpets. matt;na,
and other goods.
Clearly there can be no danger Of o,,.-
production or want of demand.
The seeds are sown broadcast 49,,
Yankee ingenuitv would, no doubt, soou
adapt moving machine to the harvest
ing of this gigantic product
experimental for several success;,o
years with jute in this parish, with botb
foreign and creole seed, and found i -
well adapted to our soil and climate 90
cotton.
Planted from the 1st of April to the ,s,
of July, it grew to a height of fifteen fsot
and one inch in diameter, while in Ind;a
where it is the most profitable crop crown
it is said to attain height of only six or
seven feet.
Planted in soverflc we'd" land. wbero
cotton and corn was eaten by the worms
as soon as it sprouted, it grew with anna,
| ing rapidity and was avoided by all insects
1t is said growing belt of lutte around
| "cotton patch" will afford complete
protection from the cotton worm.
Reports Of experiments in our alluyi,l
| lands show the enormous yield of 4 GOO
| pounds of fibre to the acre, and there
has not been found any insect or animal
so voracious as to attack this plant.
Let us suppose that one hundred tbou.
sand acres of land were diverted from tbs
culture af cotton and put in iute, at the
reasonable estimate of three Thousand
pounds per acre, we would have product
of three hundred millions pounds of fibre
| AT four cents, this would sell for twelve
| million dollars. This amount added to the
annual product of our staple; would be a
clear acquisition to the wealth of the
South, as statistics show that the aggre.
| gate price received for short crop of
cotton is as great as that received fora
full crop.
While the culture of jute in the South
| would increase our wealth twelve million
dollars, and introduce diversity of pur.
suits, its manufacture would give contin-
ued and profitable employment to every
idle man woman and child in the State.
The import duty on two pounds of bag
ging is five cents per yard, and if Louis
lana grew only enough of this product to
cover the cotton crop of the South the
amount annually saved by home manu-
facture, free from freights, imports, duties
and other charges would more than pay
the interest on the State debt
In India a very primitive mode of pre-
pairing the fibre for market is used by the
natives. The stalks are thrown into stag
nant water and allowed to ''rot" and the
fibre is then shaken off by hand.
Mr.. B. Laplace an enterprising sugar
planter of this State, who has made some
valuable experiments with this product,
PREF pared the fibre by passing the stalks
through the rollers of his sugar mill, into
a tank of hot water and thence into cold
water, when the bark readily slips from
the stems and is spread in the sun to dry,
hacked and baled for market BY this
process he gains much in beauty, strength
and quality of the fibre.
The manufacture of jute requires no
skilled labor, and but little capital and
machinery. The rough hand looms used
in Kentucky to weave bagging, can be
run by the gin power on plantations.
American enterprise, with superior i'm
plements and machinery, would more
than compensate for the cheap hand labor
of India. There can be no reason why we
should not reap the golden harvest, prom
| ised by the cultivation and manufacture
of the cheapest of fibres. In conclusion, l
crave pardon for the length to which
have spun my suite yarn" in this hurried
letter. VIM H HARRIS.