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GUNNY
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GUNNY , a sort of See also:cloth, the name of which is supposed to be derived from ganga or gania of Rumphius, or from gonia, a See also:vernacular name of the Crotolaria juncea—a plant See also:common in See also:Madras. One of the first notices of the See also:term itself is to be found in See also:Knox's See also:Ceylon, in which he says: " The filaments at the bottom of the See also:stem (See also:coir from the coco-See also:nut husk, Cocos nucifera) may be made into a coarse cloth called gunny, which is used for bags and similar purposes." See also:Warden, in The See also:Linen See also:Trade, says: " A very large proportion of the jute grown in See also:Bengal is made into cloth in the districts where it is cultivated, and this See also:industry forms the See also:grand domestic manufacture of all the populous eastern districts of Bengal. It pervades all classes, and penetrates into every See also:house-hold, almost every one, See also:man, woman and See also:child, being in some way engaged in it. Boatmen, husbandmen, palankeen See also:carriers, domestic servants, every one, in fact, being See also:Hindu—for Mussulmans spin See also:cotton only—pass their leisure moments, See also:distaff in See also:hand, See also:spinning gunny twist. It is spun by the takur and dhara, the former being a See also:kind of spindle, which is turned upon the thigh or the See also:sole of the See also:foot, and the latter a See also:reel, on which the See also:thread, when sufficiently See also:twisted, is See also:wound up. Another kind of spinning See also:machine, called a ghurghurea, is occasionally used. A bunch of the raw material is hung up in every See also:farmer's house, or on the protruding stick of a thatched roof, and every one who has leisure forms with these spindles some coarse See also:pack-thread, of which See also:ropes are twisted for the use of the See also:farm. The See also:lower Hindu castes, from this pack-thread, spin a finer thread for being made into cloth, and, there being a See also:loom in nearly every house, very much of it is See also:woven by the See also:women of the lower class of See also:people. It is especially the employment of the Hindu widow, as it enables her to See also:earn her See also:bread without being a See also:burden on her See also:family. The cloth thus made is of various qualities, such as clothing for the family (especially the women, a See also:great proportion of whom on all the eastern frontier See also:wear almost nothing else), coarse fabrics, bedding, See also:rice and See also:sugar bags, sacking, pack-See also:sheet, &c. Much of it is woven into See also:short lengths and very narrow widths, two or three of which are some-times sewed into one piece before they are sold. That intended for rice and sugar bags is made about 6 feet See also:long, and from 24 to 27 inches wide, and doubled. A considerable quantity of jute See also:yarn is dyed and woven into cloth for various See also:local purposes, and some of it is also sent out of the See also:district. The See also:principal places where chotee, or jute cloth for gunny bags is made are within a See also:radius of perhaps 15o to 200 See also:miles around See also:Dacca, and there both labour and See also:land are remark-ably cheap. The short, See also:staple, common jute is generally consumed in the local manufacture, the finer and long stapled being reserved for the export trade. These causes enable gunny cloth and bags to be sold almost as cheaply as the raw material, which creates an immense demand for them in nearly every See also:market of the See also:world." Such appeared to be the See also:definition of gunny cloth at the See also:time the above was written—between 185o and 186o. Most of the See also:Indian cloth for gunny bags is now made by See also:power, and within about 20 M. of See also:Calcutta. In many respects the term gunny cloth is still applied to all and sundry, but there is no doubt that the See also:original name was intended for cloth which was similar to what is now known as " cotton See also:bagging." This particular type of cloth is still largely made in the hand loom, even in See also:Dundee, this method of manufacture being considered, for certain reasons, more satisfactory than the power loom method '(see JUTE and BAGGING). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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