INDIGOFERA 



Trade 



THE INDIGO PLANT 



Exports. 



Record Tear. 



Decline. 



Great Britain's 

 Share. 



United States. 



Egypt. 



with the detailed statement of former transactions, given in the 

 Dictionary, it may suffice to review here, and very briefly, the returns of the 

 past few years : 



Exports. The bulk of the factory-made indigo is exported. India 

 uses up only the most inferior grades of the dye. The returns of foreign 

 trade thus very nearly express the total production. The year 1894-5 

 showed the highest production credited to the Indian industry, viz. 

 237,494 cwt., produced from 1,688,042 acres. Up to that point the pros- 

 perity was almost phenomenal a century of advancement, in spite of 

 numerous local upheavals. But the year following the first commercial 

 production of synthetic indigo the crash came, and from that time 

 there has been nothing but continuous curtailments. From 1894-5 

 down to 1906-7 the record is, in fact, a very melancholy one. The 

 exports in 1894-5 were 166,308 cwt., valued at Rs. 4,74,59,153, and in 

 1895-6 they were 187,337 cwt., valued at Rs. 5,35,45,112. But the twelve 

 years following show a continuous decline, until in 1906-7 the exports 

 were only 35,102 cwt., valued at Rs. 70,04,773. Commenting on this 

 subject, J. A. Robertson (Rev. Trade Ind., 1904-5, 28-9), at that time 

 Director- General of Statistics in India, wrote : " The unremunerative 

 level to which prices have been forced down by competition of synthetic 

 indigo has reduced the indigo plantations of Bengal to less than half the 

 area they occupied ten years ago, and over the whole of India the reduction 

 in that period was 66 per cent. Planters in Bengal are strengthening their 

 position by cultivating other crops in addition to indigo, and they can 

 carry on a contest for supremacy with synthetic indigo for many years." 

 " The season of 1904 gave a very poor yield, the deficiency compared with 

 the previous year being estimated in the official reports at 31 per cent, in 

 Bengal and 45 per cent, for the whole crop. The total exports of 1904-5 

 are less by 18'4 per cent, in quantity, and 22'4 per cent, in value, than 

 the exports of the previous year. The fall in the average price was thus 

 4 per cent., and in Calcutta the fall was more marked in the better kinds 

 than in the ordinary qualities." 



Turning now to the countries which have drawn on India for their 

 supplies of indigo, Great Britain formerly headed the list. The exports 

 from India to Great Britain in 1875-6 came to 72,494 cwt. ; in 1883-6 to 

 64,204 cwt. ; in 1895-6 to 66,215 cwt. ; and in 1898-9 (the year after the 

 production of synthetic indigo) they dropped to 30,973 cwt. ; since which 

 date they have steadily declined until in 1904-5 they were only 10,743 cwt. ; 

 in 1905-6, 7,749 cwt. ; and in 1906-7, 7,942 cwt. The record of the United 

 States is somewhat similar, though on a smaller scale. In 1875-6 the 

 share taken by the States came to 4,089 cwt. ; ten years later it became 

 20,737 cwt., and from then a decline has been observed until in 1905-6 

 the amount taken was only 1,530 cwt., and in 1906-7, 1,258 cwt. Egypt, 

 on the other hand, has preserved a fairly constant market, but it has to be 

 explained that Egypt takes mainly Madras dry-leaf indigo. In 1875-6 

 it drew 577 cwt. ; in 1885-6, 11,601 cwt. ; in 1895-6, 13,995 cwt. ; in 

 1903-4, 15,375 cwt. ; in 1905-6, 9,702 cwt. ; and in 1906-7, 9,195 cwt. With 

 most Continental countries the decline in the demand for Indian indigo has 

 been most marked. Germany took in 1895-6, 16,929 cwt. ; in 1903-4, only 

 1,776 cwt. ; in 1905-6, 487 cwt. ; and in 1906-7, 523 cwt. France procured 

 in 1895-6, 21,011 cwt, ; in 1903-4, 1,975 cwt. ; in 1905-6, 970 cwt. ; and 

 in 1906-7, 541 cwt. Japan, which for several years had been one of the 



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