Jute

Development of the Trade.

For many years Great Britain was the only European country engaged in the manufacture of jute, the great seat being Dundee. Gradually, however, the trade began to extend, and now almost every European country is partly engaged in the trade, and the work is extending much in North and South America.

The success of the mechanical method of spinning and weaving jute in Dundee and district led to the introduction of textile machinery into and around Calcutta. The first mill to be run there by power was started in 1854, while by 1872 three others had been established. In the next ten years no fewer than 16 new mills were erected and equipped with modern machinery from Great Britain, while in 1907 there were 39 mills engaged in the industry. There are now (1928) 59 mills, containing 50,454 looms, of which 19,353 are used for weaving sackings, and 31,001 for weaving hessians. If it is assumed that there are 20 spinning spindles for each loom, the usual figures, then the number of spindles amounts to 1,009,080.

The Calcutta looms are engaged for the most part with a few varieties of the commoner classes of jute fabrics, but the success in this direction has been really remarkable. Dundee, on the other hand, turns out not only the commoner classes of fabrics, but a very large variety of other fabrics. Amongst these may be men tioned the following : Hessian, bagging, tarpaulin, sacking, scrims, Brussels carpets, Wilton carpets, imitation Brussels, and several other types of carpets, rugs and matting, in addition to a large variety of fabrics of which jute forms a part. Calcutta has cer tainly taken a large part of the trade which Dundee held in its former days, but the continually increasing demands for jute fabrics for new purposes have enabled Dundee to enter new markets and so to take part in the prosperity of the trade.

Spinning and Weaving.

In their general features the spin ning and weaving Of jute fabrics do not differ essentially as to machinery and processes from those employed in the manufacture of hemp and heavy flax goods. Owing, however, to the woody and brittle nature of the fibre, it has to undergo a preliminary treat ment peculiar to itself. The pioneers of the jute industry who did not understand this necessity, or rather who did not know how the woody and brittle character of the fibre could be remedied, were greatly perplexed by the difficulties they had to encounter, the fibre spinning badly into a hard, rough and hairy yarn owing to the splitting and breaking of the fibre. This peculiarity of jute, coupled also with the fact that the flax machinery on which it was first spun, although quite suitable for the stronger and more elastic fibres for which it was designed, required certain modifications to suit it to the weaker jute, was the cause of many annoyances and failures in the early days of the trade.

Batching, Opening and Sof tening.

The first process in the manufacture of jute is termed batching. Batch setting is the first part of this operation; it consists of selecting the different kinds or qualities of jute for any predetermined kind of yarn. The number of bales for a batch seldom exceeds i 2, indeed it is generally about six, and of these there may be three, four or even more varieties or marks. The "stricks" (also in the forms "streek," "strick" or "strike," as in Chaucer, Cant. Tales, Prologue 676, where the Pardoner's hair is compared with a "strike of flax." The term is also used of a handful of hemp or other fibre, and is one of the many technical applications of "strike" or "streak," which etymo logically are cognate words) or "heads" of jute as they come from the bale are in a hard condition in consequence of having been subjected to a high hydraulic pressure during baling; it is there fore necessary to soften them before any further process is entered. The stricks are sometimes partly softened or crushed by

means of a steam hammer during the process of opening the bale, then taken to the "strikers-up" where the different varieties are selected and hung on pins, and then taken to the jute softening machine. The more general practice, however, is to employ what is termed a "bale opener," or "jute crusher." The essential parts of one type of bale opener are three specially shaped rollers, the peripheries of which contain a number of small knobs. Two of these rollers are supported in the same horizontal plane of the framework, while the third or top roller is kept in close contact by means of weights and springs acting on each end of the arbor. Another known type of machine goes by the name of the three pair roller jute opener. The layers from different bales are laid upon the feed cloth on the left, which carries them up to the rollers, between which the layers are crushed and partly separated. The proximity of the weighted roller or rollers to the fixed ones depends upon the thickness of material passing through the machine. The fibre is delivered by what is called the delivery cloth—that shown on the right—and the hatcher usually selects small stricks of about to 21b. weight each and passes them on to the attendant or feeder of the softening machine. These small stricks are now laid as regularly as possible upon the feed cloth of the softening machine, a general view of which is shown in fig. 4. The fibre passes between a series of fluted rollers, each pair of which is kept in contact by spiral springs as shown in the figure. The standard number of pairs is 63, but different numbers are used according to opinions. There is also a difference in the structure of the flutes, some being straight, and others spiral, and each pair may or may not contain the same number of flutes. The springs allow the top rollers of each pair to rise as the mate rial passes through the machine. Advantage is taken of this slight upward and downward movement of the top rollers to regulate automatically the flow of water and oil upon the material ; the apparatus is placed often over the nth and 12th rollers of the softening machine. In many cases the water and oil are applied by less automatic, but equally effective means. The main object is to see that the liquids are distributed evenly while the fibre is passing through, and to stop the supply when the machine stops or when no fibre is passing. The uniform moistening of the fibre in this machine facilitates the subsequent operations; indeed the introduction of this preliminary process (originally by hand) constituted the first important step in the practical solution of the difficulties of jute spinning. The relative quantities of oil and water depend upon the quality of the batch. Sometimes both whale and mineral oils are used, but in most cases the whale oil is omitted. About I to I+ gallons of oil is the usual amount given per bale of 4001b. of jute, while the quantity of water per bale varies from 3 to 7 gallons. The delivery attendants remove the stricks, give them a twist to facilitate future handling, and place them on what are termed jute barrows. The stricks are now handed over to the cutters who cut off the roots, and finally the material is allowed to remain for 12 to 24 hours to allow the mix ture of oil and water to spread evenly and thoroughly over the fibre.