XIII INDIGO 259 



In India and other eastern countries the mud-like indigo, Boiling the 

 before drying, is boiled in copper vessels for at least two *" ^^°' 

 hours, and afterwards spread on cloths stretched over bamboo 

 frames, in order that the moisture may drain away — which 

 will usually happen in from twelve to fourteen hours. The 

 indigo is then pressed, cut into cakes, stamped and dried for 

 the market. 



It has been calculated that eight pounds of the leaves Returns. 

 yield about half an ounce of indigo ; and, three hundred 

 pounds of the dye may be reckoned on as the annual 

 return from an acre of plants. But, in former days, when Large 

 indigo was cultivated on a large scale in Jamaica, as much jlmaka" 

 as five hundred pounds have been got from an acre of good 

 land. 



S 2 



