254 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



The former 

 cultivation 

 of indigo in 

 the West 

 Indies. 



Description 

 of the dye. 



The present 

 sources of 

 the dye. 



Habitat. 



Seeds. 



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

 part of the present one, indigo was cultivated to some extent 

 in Jamaica 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. 



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

 suring between two and three cubic inches, and usually 

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

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

 comes from India and other eastern countries, but some of 

 the supplies are got from Central and South America. 



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 hidigofera tinctoria, which is a 

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

 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. 



The best 

 soil. 



Climate. 



Soil and Climate. — Indigo plants, and more especially 

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

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

 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 

 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- 



