IXDIGO. 



503 



through the I)avk of a tree into another jar. 

 It is left there for eight or nine diiyg, during 

 which time part of tlie water escapes hy trick- 

 ling through a small aperture half way down 

 the side of the containing vessel, leaving the 

 sediment at hottom. This residuum is after- 

 wai'ds poured into a hroad hut very shallow hole 

 formed in the sand, which absorbs the remaining 

 liquid, and leaves the indigo in solid cakes on 

 the surface. 



The Hindoo method at Ambore is somewhat 

 similar, though more elaborate. The plants are 

 first boiled in earthen pots of about eighteen 

 inches in diameter, disposed in the ground in 

 excavated ranges, from twenty to thirty feet long, 

 iind one hroad, according to the number used. 

 When the boiling has extracted all the colouring 

 matter ascertainable by the colour exhibited, the 

 extract is immediately poured into another small 

 jar fixed in the ground for its reception, and it is 

 then filtered through a cloth, and laded by means 

 of small pots into a larger jar disposed in adjoining 

 liigher ground. The cbntents of the larger jar, 

 when three-quarters full, are agitated with a 

 split bamboo extended into a circle, having a 

 diameter from tliirtecn to twenty inches; this 

 lioop is twisted with a sort of coarse straw, witli 

 which the manufacturer proceeds to heat or agi- 

 tate the extract until a granulation of the fecula 

 takes place. This operation occupies nearly 

 three-quarters of an hour. A precipitant com- 

 pound of red earth and water,* about four quarts, 

 is poured into the jar. The whole stands during 

 the night; in the morning the supernatant liquor 

 is drawn off through apertures in the side of the 

 jar, the lowest reaching to within five inches of 

 the bottom, thus leaving just sufficient space to 

 retain the fecula, which is taken out and dried 

 in bags. 



The method by scalding has only been very 

 partially adopted among the English in the East; 

 tlie dyers of this country not reporting fiivour- 

 ably of indigo thus made. It is said that it 

 contains much less colouring matter than that 

 obtained by fermentation, and that the dye pro- 

 duced is not so pennanent. 



The indigo factories in the East Indies are 

 conducted very differently from those in the 

 West, on account of the dissimilar circumstances 

 of the population of the two countries. In the 

 West Indies the indigo plantations, and the 

 works connected with its preparation, are all the 

 same property, and under the same superinten- 

 dence. In Bengal and other of the British 

 possessions in India the cultivation is exclusively 



• This red earth and water debase the indigo. In 

 the northern parts of the coast of Coromandel the 

 natives use a cold infusion of tlie bark of the jambo- 

 lonj? tree (jamholifera pedunculata)^ which is a very 

 powerful astringent to precipitate their indigo. This 

 indigo is of a very good qnality.— Z)r lioniuty/i. 



left to the Ryots, or native farmers, who are 

 j)rovided with seed liy the factor, and bound to 

 deliver at a certain rate of price the whole of 

 tlie plants produced from tliese seeds. The cul- 

 tivators, in consequence of failures in crops, or 

 other accidents, too frequently require advances 

 from their employer; and thus, though nominally 

 free, they are in reality subjected to him, and 

 compelled to raise the indigo exclusively for the 

 supply of h is factory. These factories are generally 

 on a very large scale, by which a much gi-eater 

 quantity of colouring matter is produced, than 

 would result if natives were employed in its 

 preparation as well as in its cultivation. It is 

 calculated that in the European metliod one man 

 can bring to issue one vat, containing fifty bundles 

 of indigo plants, which, according to quality^ 

 will afford from ten to thirty pounds of indigo; 

 whereas by the Indian method, one man employed 

 during the same time will produce only one 

 pound of indigo. 



The extensive indigo factories are nearly 

 always remote from the seat of tlie English 

 precedencies. The superintendence of an esta- 

 blishment is seldom intrusted to any but one of 

 its proprietors; who, entirely excluded from the 

 society of liis countrymen, consents to many 

 privations, with the hope that in a few years he 

 may reap sufficient wealth to ensure to his future 

 life those enjoyments for whoso possession he has 

 been willing to sacrifice, as it were, a part of his 

 existence. As soon as he has accomplished this 

 end, he usually resigns his situation to a junior 

 partner, who pursues the same couree. 



These expectations are not, however, always 

 fulfilled. The profits of an indigo property are 

 in some seasons greater than those afforded hy 

 almost any other investment. One acre of rich 

 land, by proper cultivation and management, 

 may be made to yield annually 500 pounds of 

 indigo, and in some years indigo of the best 

 quality has in England been as high priced as 

 eleven shillings per pound. According to both 

 Edwards and Stcdman, 300 pounds are produced 

 on ordinary land, and the labour of four persons 

 is required for the cultivation of five acres, and 

 the subsequent preparation of the produce. 



The large returns consequent on favourable 

 crops, and the high prices of the home market 

 for a few successive years, lead to the belief that 

 the profits will always be thus excessive; and 

 although the frequent and disastrous casualties 

 which follow tlicse periods of prosperity, should 

 excite doubts as to the realization of all the 

 extravagant expectations which are so sanguinely 

 indulged, yet the confidence which each person 

 has in his own peculiar "luck," or superior 

 management, too readily induces him to become 

 a participator in the cares and hopes of an indigo 

 factory. 



It might be supposed that establishments thus 



