profitable than tobacco, and that the planters hoped to grow enough 

 indigo to take over India's profitable indigo trade. Since no more is 

 heard of indigo cultivation in the colonies until about ninety years 

 later, one assumes that the project failed. This indigo may have been the 

 plant sometimes called wild indigo or yellow wild indigo {Baptisia tinctoria) 

 mentioned by John Clayton, who supplied information for an 1 8th-century 

 book on the flora of Virginia (Gronovius, 1762, p. 64). 



Dutch settlers also attempted to grow wild indigo in New York City 

 and Albany as early as 1650 (Bishop, 1866, vol. 1, p. 348). Other scattered 

 references to wild indigo appeared throughout the colonial period and in 

 the later 19th century. One informs us that as late as 1873 some South 

 Carolina planters still cultivated it, contending that in spite of indigo's 

 low price — 75 cents per pound — it was still more profitable than cotton 

 ("Baptisia Tinctoria," 1895, p. 81). 



Introduction of a species of Indigofera to South Carolina in 1 739 and its 

 subsequent commercial success must be credited mainly to the intelligent 

 and persistent efforts of Eliza Lucas Pinckney. Her father, Governor of 

 Antigua at the time, sent her seeds of various plants that might be suited 

 to growing conditions in Carolina. After many trials she managed to 

 produce enough indigo in 1747 to make up a shipment for England. It 

 met with approval in England and remained the staple crop of the colony 

 from the late 1740s until the war, reaching its peak in 1773, when 1,107,660 

 pounds were exported to England (Sheffield, 1784, table 1). 



During the war this crop was neglected in favor of rice; after the conflict 

 it could no longer compete with the cheaper but better quality East Indian 

 variety. Thus toward the turn of the 18th century cotton took over from 

 indigo as Carolina's important crop. Georgia and Louisiana cultivated 

 some indigo but never succeeded in making a large-scale commercial 

 success of it. 



The French had introduced indigo to Louisiana in 1718, and 10 years later 

 its export began. With the help of French bounties, indigo production and 

 exportation continued until later in the century when it was learned that 

 cotton could be produced more profitably (Bishop, 1866, vol. 1, p. 348). 



Natural indigo was used throughout the 19th century, for it was not 

 synthesized until the 1870s, and more than 20 years passed before methods 

 were devised for producing it in quantities and at prices suitable for mar- 

 keting. Synthetic indigo has replaced that of natural origin to such an 

 extent that natural indigo is now practically impossible to obtain in this 

 country. 



Indigotin, the main constituent of indigo, is prepared from the leaves 

 of various species of Indigofera. Only about four ounces of indigotin are 

 extracted from 100 pounds of plant material, according to a 20th century 



15 



