INDIGOPERA 



Indigo. 



TRADE IN RUBBER 



Valuations. 



D.E.P., 

 iv., 363-4. 



Low Yield of 

 Caoutchouc. 



Trade. 



Tonquin, and gave its valuation at 2s. to 2s. Id. per Ib. Dimstan then adds, 

 " This material is evidently deserving of further attention." The Agricultural 

 Ledger? (1903, No. 10) gives the results of additional chemical investigations 

 conducted by Leather, as also a note by Mr. S. Carr, Deputy Conservator of 

 Forests, in which the methods of collection of the latex are described. 



Subsequent samples were forwarded to the Imperial Institute for examination. 

 It was reported that three contained so high a percentage of resin as to throw 

 doubts on their being correctly determined botanically. The others showed a 

 high percentage of good caoutchouc, and were valued in 1904 at from ;5. 

 to 4s. a Ib. [Cf. Morris, Cant. Lect., I.e., 1898, 792 ; Bull. Imp. Inst., Sept. 

 29, 1904, 156-9 ; Wright, Rubber Cult, in Brit. Empire, 1907, 28-9.] 



Willoughbeia edulis, Roxb. ; APOCYNACEJE. The thitchanknwe, possibly also 

 tulaingno of Burma, and the lati-am of Bengal, is an immense climber met 

 with in the forests of Assam, Sylhet, Cachar, Chittagong, Pegu, arid Martaban. 

 It yields a large edible fruit, which from a general resemblance to the mango 

 has suggested the name " climbing mango." At one time high expectations 

 were entertained regarding wuioiiyhiteiu rubber. It has since transpired that 

 much of the rubber in question will have to be transferred to other genera, 

 and that so far as the Indian species is concerned ( ir. <-tiiiiin), it must be no 

 longer considered as a caoutchouc-yielding plant. Recent investigations con- 

 ducted by Dunstan have shown, for example, that the very high percentage 

 of resin (in some samples 84-6 per cent, with only 10-8 per cent, caoutchouc) 

 necessarily exclude it from consideration as a rubber. [Cf. Wright, I.e. 29.] 



Trade in India-rubber and Caoutchouc Manufactures. Such 

 particulars (p. 654) as can be procured regarding the production 

 of caoutchouc in India have been given. It remains to exhibit very 

 briefly the traffic in rubber manufactures. There are no local (Indian) 

 manufactures, so that the supplies of goods are drawn exclusively 

 from foreign countries. In 1876-7 the imports of raw caoutchouc and 

 of india-rubber manufactures collectively were valued at Rs. 1,27,759 ; 

 twenty-five years later (1900-1) they came to Rs. 6,05,594 ; in 1903-4 to 

 Rs. 7,03,003 ; in 1905-6 to Rs. 7,78,905 ; and in 1906-7, Rs. 10,04,782. 



It may be here added that the imports into Great Britain during 1902 

 came to 419,375 cwt., valued at 5,180,262, and in 1906, 607,077 cwt., 

 valued at 9,966,620. Of the last-mentioned amount Brazil alone con- 

 tributed 253,918 cwt., and the total from British Possessions was 90,453 

 cwt. The exports equal about one-half the supply (330,252 cwt. in 1906) 

 the country which takes the largest amount being the United States 

 (126,969 cwt. in 1906). 



D.E.P., 

 iv., 383- 

 469. 

 Indigo. 



Improvement 

 by Selection 

 of Stock. 



INDIGOFERA (INDIGO), the Dye-yielding- Species. A 



genus of LEGUMINOS.E which comprises some 300 species, distributed 

 throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the globe India 

 having about 40. Western India may be described as the headquarters 

 of the species, so far as India is concerned, 25 (thus fully half) being peculiar 

 to that Presidency. On the other hand, on the eastern side of India (the 

 provinces of Bengal, Assam and Burma) there is a marked decrease in 

 the number of species but a visible increase in the prevalence of those that 

 are met with. It is possible, moreover, that many more species afford 

 indigo than those specially cultivated for the dye. Accordingly, culti- 

 vation of richer dye-yielding stocks has been urged as one of the most 

 rational methods of improvement. [Cf. Watt, Anal. Trade and Comm. 

 of Ind., Madras, 1899, 4.] This is of supreme moment in the crisis that 

 has overtaken the industry. Prain and Baker (Notes on Indigofera, 

 Journ. Bot., 1902, xl., 60-7, 136-44) have furnished a very instructive 

 paper, which has already proved of the greatest practical value. So also 



G60 



