264 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



Imperata arundinacea, Cyrillo. 



South-Europe, North- Africa, Southern and Eastern Asia, Aus- 

 tralia, Polynesia. The Lalang-grass of India. Structurally almost 

 a sugar-cane in miniature. Valuable for binding sand, especially in 

 wet localities. Available also for thatching and for litter of resist- 

 ing quality. Pretty in table-bouquets. Apt to become irrpressible 

 in cultivation-grounds. Browsed on by pasture-animals, though 

 harsh ; ought to be suitable for ensilage. 



Indigofera Anil, Linn.* 



Recorded as indigenous to the West-Indies, and extending spon- 

 taneously through continental America from Carolina to Brazil. 

 A shrub, several feet high. Pods sickle-shaped, short, compressed. 

 One of the principal indigo-plants under cultivation, both in the 

 eastern and the western hemisphere. Only in the warmer parts of 

 the temperate zone can we hope to produce indigo with remunera- 

 tive success. But many of the hardier species seem never yet to 

 have been tested for pigment. Over 100 have already been recorded 

 from extra-tropical Southern Africa alone. An Indigofera of 

 Georgia, said to be wild, perhaps I. Anil, yields an excellent 

 product. The pigment in all instances is obtained by maceration of 

 the foliage, aeration of the liquid and inspissation of the sediment. 



Indigofera argentea, Linn. (/. cwruka, Roxburgh.) 



Tropical and extra-tropical Northern Africa, Arabia and perhaps 

 India. A shrub, several feet high, closely allied to I. Anil, and 

 likewise a good Indigo-plant. 



Indigofera tinctoria, Linn<$.* 



Warmer parts of Asia, as far east as Japan ; recorded also from 

 tropical Africa and even Natal as wild. A shrubby plant, attaining 

 a height of 6 feet. Pods straight, cylindrical, many- seeded. Exten- 

 sively cultivated in warm zones for indigo, and probably hardy in 

 mild temperate regions. The plant is frequently sold fresh by the 

 grower to the factories. The indigo-plant requires a rich friable soil, 

 neither too moist nor too dry. The seeds are sown in furrows about 

 a foot apart, and in hot damp climes the plant can be cut in about 

 two months, as soon as it begins to flower ; in six or eight weeks it 

 yields a second crop, and under favorable circumstances as many as 

 four crops can be gathered in a year. The plants have to be renewed 

 every year, as the old ones do not yield an abundant produce. 

 Bright sunshine favours the development of the dye-principle, but 

 frequent rains cause a more luxuriant growth [Hartwig]. In 1884 

 Great Britain imported 104,000 cwt. of indigo, valued at 2,484,000 ; 

 in 1889 the import there was 90,238 cwt., valued at 1,777,000. 



