IND 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



I NO 



751 



whole is spoiled: they frequently, therefore, draw out a 

 handful of the weed, and when they find the tops grow very 

 tender and pale, and observe the stronger leaves change 

 their colour to a less lively pale, then draw the liquor off 

 without delay. They soon learn to know this critical point, 

 by the height of the fermentation, and grain of the tincture ; 

 of which they frequently beat a little in a silver cup kept for 

 that purpose ; the pulp being thus extracted, the tincture is 

 discharged into the beaters, and there worked up by two or 

 three negroes, each with a bucket, or by an engine ; they 

 agitate it until the dye begins to granulate, or float in little 

 flosculae in the water, which separation is greatly forwarded 

 by a gradual addition of clear lime-water: the different 

 stages of this operation are distinguished by examining a 

 small quantity of the liquor in the silver cup from time to 

 time ; and a little experience soon teaches them when to 

 stop, by a single drop upon the nail, at any degree of height, 

 as they would have their Indigo of a deep copperish blue, or 

 of a paler colour : the liquor is now left undisturbed, until 

 the flosculse settle, then the water is discharged, and the 

 magma, or mud, let out by a lower vent into its proper 

 receptacles ; this is again, by some, put into a caldron, 

 and heated over a gentle fire, but not so as to boil, and 

 then emptied into little bags to drain ; by others, it is not 

 heated, but immediately put into the bags ; it is afterwards 

 put into square boxes, with the sides not above four inches 

 deep, that it may dry the sooner, without crumbling. Pro- 

 pagation and Culture. In the West Indies, Indigo seems to 

 thrive best in a free rich soil, and a warm situation ; but, to 

 answer the planter's ends, it should be cultivated where it 

 may be frequently refreshed with moisture : having chosen 

 a proper piece of ground, and cleared it, hoe it into little 

 trenches, not above two inches or two inches and a half in 

 depth, nor more than fourteen or fifteen inches asunder; 

 in the bottom of these, at any season of the year, strew the 

 seeds pretty thickly, and immediately cover them : as the 

 plants shoot, they should be frequently weeded, and kept 

 constantly clean, until they spread sufficiently to cover the 

 ground. Those who cultivate great quantities, only strew 

 the seeds pretty thickly, in little shallow pits, hoed up 

 irregularly, but generally within four, five, or six inches of 

 one another, and covered as before : plants raised in this 

 manner are observed to answer as well, or rather better, 

 than the others, but require more care in the weeding. 

 They grow to perfection in two or three months, and are 

 observed to answer best when cut in full blossom ; this is 

 done with rape hooks, a few inches above the roots : they 

 are then tied in loads, carried to the works, and laid by 

 strata in the steeper. Seventeen negroes are sufficient to 

 manage twenty acres of Indigo ; and one acre of rich land 

 will, with good seasons and proper management, yield five 

 hundred pounds of Indigo in twelve months ; for the plant 

 ratoons, and gives four or five crops a year, but must be 

 afterwards replanted. Mr. Miller is of opinion that the 

 planters of Indigo sow their seeds too thick, which draws 

 up the plants with slender stems, not sufficiently furnished 

 with leaves, and those leaves not so large and succulent as 

 if the plants were allowed a greater share of room. It is a 

 common observation among the cultivators of Woad, that 

 when the plants spire, and have narrow thin leaves, they 

 produce little dye; they not only therefore make choice of 

 rich strong land, but carefully thin the plants, to allow them 

 room to spread, and produce large succulent leaves. If 

 the planters of Indigo in America would imitate the culti- 

 vators of Woad in this practice, they would certainly find it 

 highly advantageous. Another error is, suffering the plants 



to stand too long before they cut it ; for the older it is, the 

 drier and firmer are the stalks, and the less will be dissolved 

 by fermentation ; nor will the faces of old plants be half so 

 beautiflil : it is therefore highly desirable, that the planters 

 should try the effects of sowing thin, keeping the plants per- 

 fectly clean, and cutting them while young and full of juice. 

 The dearness of labour in the West Indies may be the prin- 

 cipal objection to this method of cultivation. To avoid this, 

 the seeds might be sown with a drill plough ; and, by the 

 use of the hoe-plough, ten acres may be kept free from 

 weeds, at as little expense as one with the hand-hoe ; and, 

 by stirring the ground often, and earthing up the plants, 

 they would grow much stronger, be less liable to be destroyed 

 by insects, and produce larger and more succulent stalks 

 and leaves. Though all seasons will admit of sowing Indigo, 

 care must be taken to avoid a drought, because the seeds 

 may be eaten by vermin, carried away by the wind, or choked 

 by t'he weeds ; the planters usually choose a season that 

 promises ra'in, and then they are sure of seeing the plant 

 spring up in three or four days, and in about two or three 

 months after, it is fit for cutting : in rainy seasons the cutting 

 may be repeated every six weeks ; cutting in dry weather 

 kills the plant, which, if that is avoided, continues to afford 

 fresh crops fbr two years. 



34. Indigofera Disperma : Two-leaved Indigo, Leaves 

 pirrnate, oval; racemes elongated; legumes two-seeded. 

 Native of the East Indies. 



35. Indigofera Argentea ; Silvery-leaved Indigo. Leaves 

 ternate and pinnate, obovate, .silky ; legumes torulose, pen- 

 dulous. The whole plant silky and glaucous. Found in 

 Egypt and the East Indies. 



Inocarpus ; a genus of the class Decandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 bifid; divisions roundish, nearly equal. Corolla: one-petal- 

 led, tubular; tube cylindric, the length of the calix, (Thun- 

 berg says, shorter ;) border five or six parted, longer than 

 the tube ; divisions linear, acute, undulated, often reflex. 

 Stamina: filamenta ten or twelve, very short, inserted into 

 the tube, the alternate ones inferior; antherse ovate, twin, 

 upright. Pistil: germen oblong, villose, superior; style 

 none ; stigma an excavated point. Pericarp : drupe ovate, 

 incurved, compressed, large, one-seeded. Seed: a nut, 

 interwoven with woody fibres ; kernel compressed, oval. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: bifid. Corolla: funnel- 

 form. Stamina: in a double row. Drupe: one-seeded. 

 The only known species is, 



1. Inocarpus Eduhs. Forster describes it as a lofty tree 

 the thickness of a man's body, with a brown chinky bark ; 

 the branches woody, round, spreading, variously divided ; 

 leaves subdistich, ovate-oblong, scarcely cordate, blunt and 

 retuse, seldom acute, spreading, netted with abundance of 

 veins, a span long, and on young trees a foot ; racemes fili- 

 form, quite simple; pedicels very short, scattered, clustered; 

 flowers dusky white, scarcely half ^an inch in length. The 

 kernel, which is kidney-shaped, and about an inch in dia- 

 meter, is sweetish, but not so pleasant as the Chestnut, 

 harder, and less farinaceous. The bark is astringent, and is 

 used to cure the dysentery. The natives of New Guinea 

 smear the heads of their arrows with the expressed resinous 

 juice; and the kernel of the nut is roasted and eaten by the 

 inhabitants of the Society and Friendly Islands, in the New 

 Hebrides, New Guinea, in the Molucca Isles, and at Am- 

 boyna, where it is indigenous. 



Inoculating ; or Budding : this is commonly practised on all 

 sorts of stone fruit, particularly Peaches, Nectarines, Cherries, 

 and Plums, also Oranges and Jasmines, and is preferable 



