INDIGO. 471 



*' Dassee " seed ; but four is not too much if it is up-country seed. A Bengal 

 biggah is only a third of the size of that of Tirhoot. If the weather is dry, 

 the seed very often does not germinate until the occurrence of rain, and it 

 has been known in a dry, light soil, to remain in the ground without injury 

 for six weeks. If seasonable showers occur, the plants make their appearance 

 in four days, or even less ; and they must be watched, in order that they may 

 be weeded on the earliest day that they are sufficiently established to allow the 

 operation to be safely performed. In dry weather, it must not be done while 

 they are very young, otherwise many of the seedlings will have their roots 

 disturbed, and perish from the drought. However, not more than a fortnight 

 should be allowed to pass, after the seedlings have appeared, before the weeds 

 are carefully removed, and this clearing should be frequently repeated until 

 the plants so overshadow the ground that they of themselves keep back tho 

 advance of the weeds. The first weeding is best performed immediately after 

 a shower of rain. 



Irrigation is rarely adopted for the indigo crops in the lower provinces of 

 Bengal, unless they happen to be grown in some situation very favorable to 

 the operation, such as the bank of a river. It is much more attended to in the 

 Western provinces, and in Oude, the water being obtained from wells, which 

 are dug in nearly every cultivated plot. In Oude, Mr. Ballard says that a 

 biggah of land employs three persons to irrigate it, and occupies never less 

 than six days. The ryot, or cultivator, requires for the work a pair of bullocks, 

 which cost him at least 32s., a bucket made of a white bullock hide, at 2s., and 

 a rope for 2s. more, both of which do not last him above a year. He never 

 pays less than 8s. for the rent of a biggah of land near a well. 



In Bengal the plant requires three months to attain its highest state of per- 

 fectionfor manufacturing, but is often cut, from necessity, within half that time ; 

 for the approach of the river compels the premature removal of the crop, unless, 

 indeed, its growth has been so retarded that it would not pay the expense of 

 working. Most indigo factories have consequently to begin in June, or 

 early in July, whenever they may have effected their spring sowings, and the 

 labors of the season are commonly terminated by the middle or end of 

 August. 



When the plants begin to flower is considered the best time for cutting them, 

 and this is just what the botanist would have suggested, because then the 

 proper sap of all plants is most abundant, and most rich in their several 

 peculiar secretions. A vividly green, abundant and healthy foliage, downy at 

 the back, is the surest intimation of the plants being rich in indigo. Plants 

 that are ready for cutting in July and August, are usually the most pro- 

 ductive. 



In the western provinces from sixteen to twenty maunds of plant is considered 

 a good produce per biggah. In the upper provinces the produce of the best 

 crop, which is sown directly the rains commence, is not more then ten maunds 

 per biggah. The factory maund is equal to about seventy-eight pounds. One 

 thousand maunds of plant are considered as producing quite an average quantity 

 of indigo if this amounts to four maunds. Adopting another mode of estimate, 

 Mr. Ballard says, that in Bengal an average crop may be considered to be from 

 ten to twelve bundles, over an extensive cultivation, in a good season, from each 

 Bengal biggah ; the sheaf or bundle being measured by a six-feet cord or chain. 

 Speaking of the produce in Tirhoot, the same gentleman says the " luggie," or 

 measuring rod, varies throughout the district. The common Tirhoot biggah, is, I 

 believe, equal to two-and-a-half or three Bengal biggahs (about an English acre). 

 Its produce varies according to the size of the luggie, the fertility of the soil, and 

 accidents of season; eight to ten hackery loads, however, is generally considered 

 a good average return. South and east of Tirhoot, one hundred maunds from 

 six hundred biggahs, including " khoonti," or a second cutting, is reckoned a 

 successful result. In another part of the district, including Sarun, where the 

 "luggie" is larger, the average produce is about one-third better. As we 

 measure our plant on the ground (he adds), the bundle system is unknown here; 

 but, I believe, forty-five or fifty Tirhoot hackery loads of plants (estimated to 

 yield a maund of dry indigo), will be found equal to two hundred Bengal 

 bundles. ("Trans. Agri. Hort. Soc., vol. ii. p. 23.") 



