The Jute Industry: from Seed to Finished Cloth | Page 5

in favour; plants harvested at this stage usually yield
a large quantity of good fibre which can be perfectly cleaned, and
which is of good spinning quality.
The plants are cut down by hand and with home-made knives; in
general, these knives are of crude manufacture, but they appear to be
quite suitable for the purpose. A field of jute plants ready for cutting
will certainly form a delightful picture, but the prospect of the
operation of cutting indicates a formidable piece of work since it
requires about 10 to 14 tons of the green crop to produce about 10 to 15
cwt. of clean dry fibre.
CHAPTER III.
RETTING
The method of separating the bast layer (in which the fibres are
embedded) from the stem of the plant requires a large supply of water,
since the plants must be completely submerged in the water for a period
varying from 8 to 30 days; such time is dependent upon the period of
the year and upon the district in which the operation is performed.

The above operation of detaching the bast layer from the stem is
technically known as "retting," and a good type of retting or steeping
place is an off-set of a run, branch, or stream where the water moves
slowly, or even remains at rest, during the time the plants are under
treatment.
The disintegration of the structural part of the plant is due to a bacterial
action, and gas is given off during the operation. The farmer, or ryot,
and his men know what progress the action is making by the presence
of the air bells which rise to the surface; when the formation of air bells
ceases, the men examine the plants daily to see that the operation does
not go too far, otherwise the fibrous layer would be injured, and the
resulting fibre weak. The stems are tested in these examinations to see
if the fibrous layer, or bast layer, will strip off clean from the wood or
stem. When the ryot considers that the layers are separated from the
core sufficiently easy, the work of steeping ceases, and the process of
stripping is commenced immediately. This latter process is conducted
in various ways depending upon the practice in vogue in the district.
In one area the men work amongst the water breaking up the woody
structure of the retted plants by means of mallets and cross rails fixed
to uprights in the water; others break the stems by hand; while in other
cases the stems are handed out of the water to women who strip off the
fibrous layer and preserve intact the central core or straw to be used
ultimately for thatching. The strips of fibre are all cleaned and rubbed
in the water to remove all the vegetable impurities, and finally the fibre
is dried, usually by hanging it over poles and protecting it from the
direct rays of the sun.
If the water supply is deficient in the vicinity where the plants are
grown, it may be advantageous to convey the fibrous layers to some
other place provided with a better supply of water for the final washing
and drying; imperfect retting and cleaning are apt to create defects in
the fibre, and to cause considerable trouble or difficulties in subsequent
branches of the industry.
Fig. 3 illustrates photomicrographs of cross sections of a jute plant. The
lower illustration represents approximately one quarter of a complete

cross section. The central part of the stem or pith is lettered A; the next
wide ring B is the woody matter; the outer covering or cuticle is
marked C; while the actual fibrous layer appears between the parts B
and C, and some of the fibres are indicated by D. The arrows show the
corresponding parts in the three distinct views. The middle illustration
shows an enlarged view of a small part of the lowest view, while the
upper illustration is a further enlarged view of a small section of the
middle view. It will be seen that each group of fibres is surrounded by
vegetable matter.
[Illustration: FIG. 3 PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF CROSS SECTIONS
OF A JUTE PLANT]
Another method of stripping the fibrous layer off the stems or stalks,
and one which is practised in certain districts with the object of
preserving the straws, consists in breaking off a small portion, say one
foot, at the top end of the stem; the operative then grasps the tops by
the hand and shakes the plants to and fro in the water, thus loosening
the parts, after which the straws float out, leaving the fibrous layer free.
The straws are collected for future use, while the fibre is cleaned and
washed in the usual way.
CHAPTER IV.
ASSORTING AND BALING JUTE FIBRE
The Indian raw jute