Annual Report of the Indian Central Jute Committee for the Year 1940-41

It will suffice to say that the consequences of these errors of optimism first on the part of the leaders of the industry and then on the part of the represetives of growers were to increase the hours of mills to figures which were unjustified by the state of prospective demand for jute goods and to produce a volume of the crop which was unlikely to be absorbed either in the foreign market [...] For although they were expected to help in the increased consumption of jute by the Mills the authors of the Agreement must have been aware that in the demonstrably weak statistical position of raw jute in relation to that of manufactures and in the absence of effective machinery for the maintenance of prices and grades even with the maximum of good will on the part of the Mills it was exrem [...] The protection of the jute plant from the attacks of pests and diseases is an important item of work in the programme of the Laboratories and work in this connection already done includes a study of the relative capacities for resistance of the different varieties of jute the effect of application of fertilizers on resistance and the method of biological control. [...] These include trials with blended yarns of flax and jute the moisture relationships of jute the utilisation of jute waste the improvement of the quality of cuttings the niechanico-chemical retting of jute the reduction of hygroscopicity of jute and the possibilities of making jute seaming twine. [...] In order to assist the readers of this report to appraise the work that is being done at the Technological Research Laboratories of the Committee a summary of the programme of work laid down by the Committee of the work already done and of the work that still remains to be done has been attached to the Director's Report on the work of this section in a tabular form on the work of this Section (A