YIELD B8TI M AT K I) TO STOCK 



INDIGOFERA 



Stock Improvement 



Iliate tin- dve-vieldillg capacity of till' (llilllt. tills Illllst, remain BO. 



This, however, does not aflonl the sole possibility for improvement. The 



.lion of the i-iilt i\ at ion of /. su unit mmi ha, alrra.lv been QOl 



With this mitral ion has aris.-n a <-oinpleto separation of tin- seod-prodticin;.' ....,,., i ,.,.,. 

 districts, ami at tin- preM-nt time it is no exaggeration to say that a plant' 



ot know from what district his seed comes. Investigation ha shown 

 that tin- seed-producing area can be separated into two main di\i . 

 each characterised by a very distinct type of plant. The first of these 

 includes the Western Panjab and Indus valley, and the plant here 

 is stunted, flowers early, and possesses a very marked and character 

 alternate arrangement of the branches and leaves. The second area in- 

 cludes the Kastern Panjdb and the United Provinces, in which the plant 

 ill, bushy, and flowers late. Comparing these: 



Wwtem and 



" Since the leaf is the main dye-yielding part of the plant, it is obvious 

 that large benefits are likely to be derived from a limitation of the se.-d 

 producing area. 



(2) " For some years attempts have been made to introduce other species JT verm* 

 of Iniiit/offi-a ; and that species which has yielded the most promising 

 results is /. ffrwctti. Hochst. It must be borne in mind, however, that 

 Java indigo does not fetch the price of good Bengal indigo, although the 

 percentage of indigotin is very high in the former, and that this may mean 

 a specific inferiority in the dye obtained from /. <n-wrtn. 



"A difficulty in obtaining a good germination has alone checked the 

 general cultivation of this plant. The defect has, however, been traced 

 to the large percentage between 90 and 96 of ' hard ' seed. With the Hard sed. 

 introduction of a seed-treating machine this difficulty has been removed 

 and /. Hi'wrffi will probably be extensively cultivated" (Leake) (see 

 p. 661). 



The Localisation of the Indigo-producing Substances in Indigo- 

 yielding Plants. Tin; following is a brief abstract of the content* of the 

 paper on this subject : " Some attempts have been made to tra.ce the func- 

 tion and place of the indigo-yielding substance in the plant metabolism. 

 For instance, Molisch tentatively ascribes to it a position among the anabolic 

 products, and attempts to establish a direct relation between its formation 

 and the chloroplasts. His arguments are largely based upon the localisa- 

 tion of indigo when precipitated within the tissues. He traces a relationship 

 between the chloroplasts and the grains of indigo thus precipitated. This chioropit. 

 relationship is dillicult to uphold, as the present writer has endeavoured 

 to show. The substance may bo found in such tissues as pith, \\lem- 

 paronchyina. phloem, tibrous cortical tissue, epidermis and in embryonic 

 t is, lie, even in the embryo sac. 'In chlorophyll-bearing t issues, it is dillicult 

 to trace any relationship between the chloroplasts and the precipitated 

 grains of indi-o. liy this method of localisation it i.s impossible to bring 

 conclusive evidence to prove the absence of a relation between the indigo- 

 yielding substance and the chloroplasts. To establish such a relation ot her 

 lines of investigation will have to be resorted to " (Leake). 



671 



Localisa- 

 tion of 

 Indigo. 



