Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-11-21
More About Jute.

MOTE hUUuN O0tCs
The people of the South should begin
to examine the advantages claimed for
this plant to see whether they have any
interest in its cultivation. 1t has already
been well tested in Louisiana, Mississippi
and Florida, so that there is no longer
any doubt about its adaptability to the
climate and soil of the Southern States.
It will grow as luxuriantly here as IN
India, where thousands are engaged in
its cultivation and thousands moe IN Its
handling and manufacture. On rich
bottom lands it will grow fifteen feet in
height, in rows only three feet apart,
and with good preparation OF the land
the Young crop takes care of itself after
one hoeing and blowing. Planted thick
in the drill, it soon takes sole possession
of the soil. and so densely shades the
ground that no weeds or grass can thrive
in its vicinity. On our common pine
and hummock lands in Georgia and
d.
to equal its growth in the rich creek and
river bottoms, but it will grow surpris-
ingiy on them and yield far more profit
than cotton, with much less risk, labor
and expense.
But it does not prevent farmers from
producing cotton all the same. 1t
may, indeed, be cultivated as
an additional crop. Planted in
April it will come off in July and
be out of the way of the fall crops,
while it will put money in the pockets
of the farmers at the very dullest season
of the year. We do not advise our farm
ers to drop everything else, or anything
else, and rush wildly into jute cultiva-
ton, but crop promising so much for
the South ought to receive consideration
at the hands of intelligent, thoughtful
agriculturists, and we think it would be
wise for them to procure seeds and plant
a few acres on trial.
Almost every farm has convenient
creeks or ponds in which the jute can be
stepped to remove the pith or stems,
and the process of stripping, washing
out the gum and baling for market IS SO
simple that the most unintelligent may
perform the labor with facility. Ma
chiuery has been constructed for wash
ingor crushing the pith out of the stems.
In this machinery the stems are passed
between rollers, in the same way that
juice is pressed out of sugar cane, but
jute thus prepared must afterward be
subjected to chemical process, not only
to remove the gum, which remains af-
ter pressing, but also to soften and
whiten the fibre This cannot be dis
pensed with, if the high market values
are to be realized. The chemical pro-
cess now in use does not effect this OBJ
iect 1t greatly improves but does not
perfect the marketable condition of the
fibre. That perfection, so far, is found
only in the water-rotting process, which
may be executed perfectly on nearly
every farm in the country, without the
cost Of mills or chemicals
For the best fibre, however, the jute is
cut green, that is, just about the time the
flowers begin to appear. 1t then has
rich green look, but when it comes out
of the water and is dried few hours in
the sunshine, the fibre becomes white,
soft, smooth and glossy, and it is then
first class article. If the plants are al
lowed to grow old, or left to mature the
seeds, the fibre will be of brown color,
and is an inferior article. In washing
and removing it from the water the fibre
of several plants is grasped together
aud kept straight, so that it is not tan
ged or wadded, but lies straight when
laid down. Ia this condition tits baled
for market. We will have yet more to
say on this interesting subject in future.