254 



INDIGO 



children are finally sent into the fields to break up any lumps 

 of earth which may still remain. 



Sowing takes place just before the rainy season, in Bengal 

 usually at the beginning of March, and by the middle of June, 

 just before they begin to flower, the plants are ready to cut. 



The stems quickly sprout up again after cutting, so that 

 two and sometimes three harvests are obtained from the same 



INDIGO. BEATING WHEEL 



plant. Nevertheless, the indigo crop is a precarious one ; too 

 much or too little rain, or rain too soon after the seed is sown, 

 will spoil the whole crop, and the sowing has to be done all 

 over again. 



As soon as the plants are cut, they are loaded up on carts 

 and sent to the factory. ' At a moderate -sized factory some 

 hundreds of cart-loads of plant are treated every day 

 throughout the manufacturing season. The scene presented 

 in the morning round the steeping vats, with long lines of 



