!r.-GO HORTU'S JAMATCRN^TS. #25 



we may jnJgC, from this flourishrng stateof it at so earlv a p.v,io 1, tlnf-, in 'ih^ roiro 

 of twcr.iy or tliirty years, it-won! J have yieUieJ five or six tim-s as uiu'.'), an i ;rone on 

 ini-rt'asing, in propomoii to ti)e iioino-deniani!, to the present hciir, bv whirh the- na- 

 tion uiigiit ha\'o s.tved some millions of mo;iey. 'At present, it is enitivateJ hire hy 

 ahuut twenty dirt'erent sett,crs, moiicof vvhoiii reside in the parish oi" St. Thimas in th'tf 

 E,!St. The medium pro. luce in-J.iinaica of one cuTiinir. is fiftv ppnnrls weight per acre. 

 Few, who have cu.tivated it here in. tiie loulantis of late years, gained more than two 

 xuttings, the tirsL in July, the second in Angnst, for wwn. of seasons. 'In llie'^vet rid* 

 lands of the interior parts, it is prooahie four or tivc cuttin|.;s a year mii^ht be to', as 



'in HispaTiiola; where thi^Freneh eidnvate it -on fresli woodlands, to sterihze and pre- 

 pare tliem for su<j;ar, repeating the cut every sjv wce!;s, five times, or even oftener, ipii 

 the yeai-. And tins i<iiid of s )d'seenis the best adapted, as4t iuu|nesti.:-il>lv produces 

 an mdigo of tiie best quality, and wordi-severcd shiliini^s per pound weii;lit'more than 

 wtiat is made from poorer soils, or in situations whicii iiave not seasonable rains. 

 Hence, it wdl not succeed well in tiie loner savannah liwuls of Jamaica, whose stapte 

 is rich encnigii, but not sufficiently watered. Long. 



, Mr. Edwards, after describing the cultivation and the proce.ss of making indigo, 

 lj( akes the following observations ; 



" To what has been said aixive of the nature of the pln-tit, suiting itself to pverv soi!, 

 and producing four cuttings in the vear, if we add the chcajmess of th- buildmgs, ap- 

 .paratus, and labour, and the great value of the commodity, there will seem but little 

 cause tor womler atthesplendid accounts which are transmitted down to lis concerning 

 the great opuience of the first indigo planters. -Allowing the produce of an acre to b& 

 three hundred pounds, and the produce no more than four shillings sterling per pound, 

 the gross profits of twenty acres will be twelve hundred pounds produeed'hy the iab(jm' 

 of only sixteen negroe^s, am! on a capital in land and buildings -scarce deser\ini" con- 

 sideration. 



".Such, witliout doubt, will be the readers first reflections. Unhappily, however, 

 ihe golden hopes whichspeculations like these have raised in the minds of thousands, 

 have vanished on actual experiment, like the visions of the morning. I t4iink I have 

 myself, in the course of eighteen years residence in the West Indies, known at least 

 twenty persons commence indigo planters, not one of whom has left a trace bv whidi I 

 can now point out vWiere his plantation vvas situated, except, perhaps, the remains of 

 a ruined cistern, covered by weeds, and defiled by reptiles. Many of them, too, were 

 men of knowledge, foresight, and property. Tliat they failed is certain, but of tht? 

 causes of their failure, I confess I can give no satisfactory account. I was told that 

 disappointment trod close at their hels at every step. At one time the fermentation 

 was too long continued ; -at another, the liquor was drawn off too soon. Now the piilp 

 nas not duly granulated, and now it wa's worked too much.* To these inconveniences, 

 for which practice would doubtless have found a remedy, were added others of a much 

 greater magnitude: the mortality of the negroes^ from thcTapour of the fermented 



I i i liquor, 



* Mr. Eihvarils, in anotlier plare, obsprves, "that the snti, which improves and invigorntjs the plant, 

 prop-duates at the same time an insert destructive to it. This is a species ofa;iul) or worm, which becomes . 

 tly, and preye on the leaves, and never fails, in the West Indies, to disappoint tlie planters expectations the 

 second year npon the same land ; the only remedy is to change the soil every yeur. The want of due atti-ntion 

 to this important circinnstance has probably been one of the causes that so many pcrsils have failiNi of late 

 y. years, io their attcmptj toreviye tiie culture of this valuable coinmodity," 



