While many attempts have been made to cultivate jute plants in various parts of the world, the results seem to indicate that the necessary conditions for the successful cultivation of them are completely fulfilled only in the Bengal area, and the geographical position of this province is mainly responsible for these conditions. On referring to a map of India, it will be seen that Bengal is directly north of the bay of that name, and is bounded on the north by the great Himalayan mountains. During the winter period when the prevailing winds are from the north, large areas of the mountainous regions are covered with snow, but when the winds change and come from the south, and particularly during the warmer weather, the moist warm air raises the general temperature and also melts much of the snow on the mountain tracts. The rain and melted snow swell the two great rivers on the east and west of Bengal--the Patna and the Brahmaputra--and the tremendous volume of water carries down decayed vegetable and animal matter which is ultimately spread on the flat areas of Bengal as alluvial deposits, and thus provides an ideal layer of soil for the propagation of the jute plants. The cultivation of land for the growing of jute plants is most extensively conducted in the centres bordering on the courses of the rivers, and particularly in Mymensingh, Dacca, Hooghly and Pabna, and while 90 per cent. of the fibre is produced in Bengal, Orissa and Bihar, there is 10 per cent. produced outside these areas. The _Corchorus Capsularis_ variety is usually cultivated in the higher and richer soils, while the _Corchorus Olitorius_ variety is most suited for the lower-lying alluvial soils, and to the districts where the rainfall is irregular; indeed, the _C. Olitorius_ may be grown in certain other districts of India which appear quite unsuitable for the _C. Capsularis_. The farming operations in India are rather simple when compared with the corresponding operations in this country; there is evidently not the same necessity for extensive working of the Indian soil as there is for the heavier lands; another reason for the primitive Eastern methods may be the absence of horses. The ploughs are made of wood and faced with iron. Bullocks, in teams of two or more, are harnessed to the plough as shown in Fig. 1 where a field is being ploughed as a preliminary process in jute cultivation. The bullocks draw the plough in much the same way as horses do in this country. The operation of ploughing breaks up the soil, while the rough clods may be broken by hand mallets or by the use of the "hengha"--a piece of tree boll harnessed at the ends to a pair of bullocks.