254 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE CHAP. 



The former they liked. At the end of the last century, and at the early 



of \ndtgo ? n P art of the present one, indigo was cultivated to some extent 



Indies 681 in J amaica and Dominica, and Bryan Edwards mentions the 



fact that the old indigo planters of Jamaica amassed much 



wealth. The cultivation was given up, however, on account 



of the precariousness of the crops, and the unhealthiness 



caused by the effluvium resulting from the fermentation of 



the plants in the process of the manufacture of the dye. 



Description Indigo is now met with in commerce in square cakes mea- 



of the dye. surm g between two and three cubic inches, and usually 



stamped on one side with the name of the plantation, initial 



The present letters, or other particulars. Most of the dye now used 



the r dye f comes from India and other eastern countries, but some of 



the supplies are got from Central and South America. 

 Habitat. Indigofera Anil is a native of the West Indies and of tro- 



pical America, it grows in favourable situations to a height 

 of five or six feet ; whilst Indigofera tinctoria^ which is a 

 native of the East Indies and other parts of Asia, is a shrubby 

 Seeds. plant not more than three or four feet in height. Both plants 



bear small pods containing numerous small angular seeds, 

 and they have long tap roots which penetrate deeply into the 

 ground. 



SOIL AND CLIMATE. Indigo plants, and more especially 

 7. Anil which is a troublesome weed in some parts of the 

 West Indies are hardy and will grow on most well-drained 



The best soils in a suitable climate. The best soil, however, for the 

 profitable cultivation of indigo, is a rich loam with a light, 

 free subsoil that permits the running off of all surplus mois- 

 ture. The soil must not be too dry and sandy, nor too wet 

 and clayey, but a medium between these two. If the subsoil 

 be wet, the plants will either die, or grow up sickly, and give 



Climate. very poor returns. Formerly indigo was cultivated in South 

 Carolina, but it was found that the climate there was too 

 cold, for the plants yielded little dye. Now the cultivation 

 is confined entirely to the tropics, in places where the tern- 



