314 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



Indigo from America was for a long period very 

 superior to that obtained from the East; and although 

 this dyeing ingredient was recognised in commerce 

 as coming from the East Indies, it was imported 

 thence in small quantities, and of so indifferent a 

 quality, as not in any way to compete with the 

 western production. Scarcely twenty years ago, 

 this was the relative position of the indigoes from 

 America and Asia. Since then the judicious and 

 spirited exertions of a few enlightened individuals have 

 shown that by careful cultivation and preparation 

 its character might be essentially improved in the 

 British possessions in India. At the present day 

 this article ranks among the most important objects 

 of our commerce with the East Indies, while its 

 quality has been raised far above that received from 

 South America. 



Various species of indigofera grow spontaneously 

 in China, Hindostan, Japan, Java*, and Madagascar, 

 as well as in America ; all more or less differing 

 from each other. Three species are cultivated in 

 America. Ind. tinctoria is not so hardy, nor is its 

 pulp so good as the others, though it yields a 

 greater quantity, and therefore is generally preferred. 

 The Guatimala plant grows much higher, it is 

 hardier, and affords a better pulp than the Ind. 

 tinctoria. The third, Ind. argentea, or wild indigo, is 

 hardier than either of the others, and yields the finest 

 pulp, though least in quantity ; its culture is therefore 

 not so profitable to the grower, and it is seldom 

 found in indigo plantations. 



Indigofera is a knotty shrubby plant propagated 

 by seed. The tinctoria has a root of about a quar- 

 ter of an inch in thickness, and more than a foot in 



* According toThunberg theplantwhich grew wild every where 

 in Java was the "indigofera anil" In his time it was in some 

 small degree cultivated by the Chinese settled in the island, 



