while huge quantities of jute cloth were utilized as the covering
material for food stuffs of various kinds, thus liberating the other
textile fibres and cloth for equally important purposes. It is on
record that in one short period of fourteen days, 150,000,000
sand-bags were collected, packed and despatched from Dundee to be
used as protective elements in various ways and seats of conflict.

A glance into the records of the textile industries will reveal the
fact that the jute fibre was practically unknown in these islands a
hundred years ago. Unsuccessful attempts were certainly made to
import the fibre into Great Britain in the latter part of the 18th
century, and it has been used in India for centuries in the making
of cord, twine and coarse fabrics, because the fibre is indigenous
to that country. And since all the manufacturing methods there, for
a considerable time were manual ones, the industry--if such it could
be called--moved along slowly, providing employment only for the
needs of a small section of the community on the Eastern shores.

The first small imports of jute fibre were due to the instigation of
Dr. Roxburgh and the East India Company, but it was only after
repeated requests that any attempt was made to utilize the samples
of jute for practical experiments The fibre was so unlike any of the
existing staples that those interested in textiles were not anxious
to experiment with it, but ultimately they were persuaded to do so;
these persistent requests for trials, and the interest which was
finally aroused, formed the nucleus of the existing important jute
industry.

Apart from the above-mentioned efforts, the introduction of the jute
fibre into Great Britain was delayed until 1822, when the first