Don Nelson, age 13, of Hattesburg, Miss., for his question:
WHERE DOES JUTE COME FROM?
Jute is a shiny, soft fiber that can be spun into strong threads. It is a rainy season crop and it grows best in warm, humid climates. India and Bangladesh export large amounts of jute while Thailand exports a small amount. Many other countries produce jute and use it locally.
Jute is one of the cheapest natural fibers and it is second only to cotton in the amount produced and variety of uses. Both the fiber and the plant from which it comes are commonly called jute.
The chief use of jute is to make the cloth that is used for making gunny sacks and the wrappings used for bales of raw cotton. Fibers are also woven into coarse curtains, chair coverings, burlap and carpets.
Sometimes very fine threads of jute are made into imitation silk. The fibers are used alone or blended with other fibers to make twine, cordage and rope. Jute butts, the coarse ends of the plant, are used to make inexpensive grades of cloth.
In order to grow jute, farmers scatter seeds on cultivated soil. About a month later, when the plants are almost six inches tall, they are thinned out. Weeds are carefully removed from around the remaining plants several times during a growing season.
About four months after the jute is planted, harvesting starts. The plants are usually harvested after they bloom, but before the blossoms go to seed. At this time, the stalks are from eight to 12 inches high.
Workers cut the stalks off close to the ground, and the stalks are tied into bundles and steeped or soaked until the outer bark starts to rot. Jute makers call this process "retting."
Retting softens the tissues and permits the fibers to be separated. The fibers are then stripped from the stalks in strands six to 10 feet long and washed in clear, running water. Next the fibers are hung or spread on thatched roofs to dry.
After the jute fibers have dried out for two or three days, they are tied into bundles.
Jute is graded or rated in quality according to its color, its strength and the length of its fibers.
Then the jute is made ready for export. It is pressed into bales that weigh about 400 pounds each. The bales are then shipped to manufacturers all over the world.
Jute that is used locally is pressed into bales that weigh only between 125 and 325 pounds.
Jute belongs to the basswood family of plants.
Gunny is the name of a cloth that is made from the coarse jute fibers, and it is used mainly to make burlap bags or sacks. The word "gunny" comes from the Hindu word "goni," which means "sack."
In the textile industry, gunny also refers to inexpensive burlap.