The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1883-01-13
THE CULTIVATION OFJUTE.

JUG grows IuOSt luAuiAlully Oli
moist alluvial soils, or any fertile lands
wnerc corn and cotton will grow. 1t
should be the aim OF the planter to
produce stalks about one inch in diam
cter at The butt, and as many as possi-
bic on an acre, 3 to Is feet high. Jute
will grow well in some rich soils, if
drilled, l l-2 to 2 inches in diameter;
but this is not as desirable here as in
India, as it is more profitable for the
Indian to remove the pith from SIM
gle stalk producing two ounces of fibre
than from smaller one yielding but
one ounce. But hcmachine will strip
two stalks one inch each in diameter
as quickly ly~as from ono two inches,
producing a better quality of fibre.
I All intelligent planters will know
best how to treat their own soil to OBJ
tain the largest yield. On deep, rich,
moist soil ,jute may be sowc broadcast,
if sown early, and will produce from
5000 to 1000 pounds to the acre, while
less rich soils will be more likely to
produce a full crop if planted in drills
from a few inches to three feet apart,
according to the estimate of the plan
ter of the strength of the soil. Tie
Western grain drilling machine will
probably prove the most economical
implement for planting jute. In all
cases the ground should be we'll pre-
pared before seeding, thoroughly and
deeply ploWed, and narrowed in the
most complete manner. The amount
of seed required for an acre will be con-
trolled entirely by the method Of plant
ing and strength of soil, ranging from
to - pounds per acre. The seed may
be planted in March or April TO June,
according to locality, making the plant
| ing season last three months, thereby
extending the harvesting season three
months.
Jute should be cut while in flower or
commencing to form seed, to produce
the best quality of fibre. The machine
may be placed in a sugar-house or cot
ton Clubhouse, and the stalks handed
to it like sugar cane to sugar mill; but
it is believed that it will prove most
economical to place it with portable
engine in the field, there removing the
pith and outer bark. The ribbons are
then placed in water IN bundles to
water-rot, which will require about ten
days, when they are removed, washed,
dried and baled for market at a cost of
l 3-4 to q cents per pound, depending
upon the price ana quality of labor,
rent of land and facilities for rotting.
In most cases the assistance ola stream
or bayou, or natural pond, may be OBJ
tanned for this purpose.
A pond containing Il5 cubic yards
of water, say SOx3OX5 feet, will be large
enough to contain the jute ribbons that
will make ten tons of fibre or ten days
machine work, ola ton day. At the
end of each day, a days work of the
machine, a ton of fibre will be remov-
ed from the vat or pond, leaving room
for days work of fresh ribbons.
Therefore all the time lost in rotting
jute is but ten or twelve days for the
season. The cost Of building and
maintaining pond Of the size men
toned for period of five years or
more, should not cost to exceed one
twentieth of a pound Of fibre, suppos-
ing that about 100 tons a year are pre-
pared in the pond.
1t is not improbable that at no time
in the history Of the world has so inn
portant an invention been brought out
under SO favorable circumstances as the
jute machine of 1882. Eli Whitney in
vented the cotton gin in 1874, when
scarcely any cotton was growing, eX-
cept for home consumption. Our most
valuable and important inventions
have greatly increased the demand for
the product for which the machine or
invention was produced. Mr.. Smiths
machine makes its appearance when
100000 of bales of jute are already
produced, and American soil, labor
and ingenuity can double and quadru
pie that amount in few years if the
markets of the world call for it. And
there can be hardly any limit to cheap
jutc manipulated in innumcrable ways
by American skill and energy. Cot
ton was picked from the seed chiefly,
we believe, by women and children be-
fore the cotton gin was discovered.
Jute is now in like manner, handled
by the fingers of East Indian laborers.
Even at the present low prices of jute
| it is believed that by the use of the ma
chine it can be sent to market, and
sold at a profit of 100 per cent. And
dividing the labor now spent on over
5000, 900 bales of cotton annually be-
tween jute and cotton, it would greatly
increase the price of the latter product.
4 COSTLY CELLAR.