INDIGO. 



499 



root of about a quartet of an inch in thicliuess, 

 and upwards of a foot in length.' Tlie root has 



Indigo. 



a faint smell, somewhat resembling parsley. 

 From this root issues a short bushy stem of 

 nearly the same thickness ; this stem rises about 

 two feet from the ground ; it is hard and almost 

 entirely ligneous, and without any appearance 

 of pith in the inside. The leaves are winged, or 

 consist of small leaves ranged in two or three 

 pairs on each side of a long foot-stalk, which is 

 surmounted by an odd leaf ; they are of an oval 

 form, smooth and soft to the touch, furrowed 

 above, and of a darker colour on the upper than 

 the under side. From about one-third of the 

 stem to the extremity, there are ears that are 

 loaded with very small flowers, from twelve to 

 fifteen in number ; these are destitute of smell ; 

 they are succeeded by long crooked brown pods, 

 which contain small yellow seeds. The wild 

 indigo has shorter pods and black seeds. The 

 seeds of the Guatimala are green, and the stalks 

 red. This plant requires a smooth rich soil, well 

 tilled, and neither too dry nor too moist. Indigo 

 is entirely the production of a warm climate ; it 

 has been observed that it is " the child of the 

 sun," and cannot be advantageously cultivated 

 any where except within the tropics. A higher 

 temperature than 60° is absolutely necessary both 

 for its vegetation and maceration. 



The seed is sowed in little furrows about the 

 breadth of the hoe, and two or three inches in 

 depth. These furrows are made a foot apart 

 from each other, and in as straight a line as pos- 

 sible. A bushel of seed is suf&cient for five 

 acres of land. Though it may be sown in all 

 seasons, spring is mostly preferred for the purpose. 

 Soon after sowing, continual attention is re- 

 quired to pluck the weeds, which would quickly 

 choke up the plant, and impede its growth. 

 Sufficient moisture causes it to shoot above the 

 surface in three or four days, and it is usually 

 fit for gathering at the end of two months. 

 When it begins to flower, it is cut with a sickle 

 a few inches above its roots. The ratoons, or 

 subsequent growth from the same plant, ripen in 

 six or eight weeks. Sometimes four crops are 

 obtained in one year from the same roots ; but 

 in North America and other parts where the sun 



is less fervid, the cultivator obtains but two, or 

 perhaps only one crop. The produce diminishes 

 fast after the second cutting, and therefore it h 

 said to be absolutely necessary to sow the seeds 

 afresh every year, or every two years at farthest. 



The Arabs in Egypt however sow the seed of 

 this plant only once in seven years, and obtain 

 two crops in a year. The sun which so rapidly 

 improves and invigorates the plant, propagates 

 at the same time an insect destructive to it. 

 This is a species of grub or worm, which, becom- 

 ing a fly, preys on the leaves and too often dis- 

 appoints the planter's expectations, especially 

 when the plant is grown a second year upon the 

 same land. The only known remedy is to 

 change the soil every year. This plant has not 

 only to contend against the vicissitudes of the 

 seasons and the ravages of the insect peculiar to 

 it, but the leaves, which are its most valuable 

 part, are liable to the depredations of cater- 

 pillars, myriads of which sometimes attack a 

 plantation, and devour all the leaves in the short 

 space of twenty-four hours. 



The real nature of indigo was not generally 

 known in Europe until a long period after it had 

 been obtained direct from India, the country of 

 its production, and many erroneous notions 

 existed as to its nature at a comparatively recent 

 period. In the letters patent granted to the pro- 

 prietors of mines in the principality of Halber- 

 stadst, not many centuries ago, indigo was classed 

 among the minerals, to obtain which the works 

 were permitted to be erected. 



Marco Polo, indeed, who flourished in the 

 thirteenth century, and who is the earliest Euro- 

 pean traveller into China and India on record, 

 relates that he saw indigo made in the kingdom 

 of Coulan, and describes the process by which it 

 was prepared. " Indigo," says the old Venetian, 

 "of excellent quality and large quantities, is 

 made here (Coulan). They procure it from an 

 herbaceous plant, which is taken up by the roots 

 and put into tubs of water, where it is suff^ered 

 to remain till it rots, when they press out the 

 juice. This, upon being exposed to the sun, and 

 evaporated, leaves a kind of paste, which is cut 

 into small pieces of the form in which we see it 

 brought to us." This passage of the Italian 

 ought at least to have prevented the Germans 

 from considering the product as a mineral which 

 they were to seek in the bowels of the earth ; but 

 illiberal ignorance had thrown discredit on Marco 

 Polo, and ranked him among those travellers 

 whose lies were proverbial. At two other places 

 in India, Guzzerat and Kambaia, Marco speaks 

 of indigo as an article of extensive manufacture. 

 Much curious information in regard to the trade 

 in this article at the middle of the fourteenth 

 century, is contained in the works of Francesco 

 Balducci Pegolotti. At that time indigo was 

 imported in leather bags and in chests in the 



