13 



this seed proved to have in some way or other lost its germi- 

 nating power ; enquiries were therefore made with a view of 

 obtaining seed from Natal, and several letters were addressed 

 to me on the matter. Enquiries made in India showed that 

 small shipments of the seeds had been obtained from Natal and 

 sent to Java, but much reticence was shown on the subject. I 

 was at first under the impression that the Natal plant was 

 either I. striata or I. tristis, both of these plants having been in 

 former years pointed out to me as the plant that had been used 

 by Van Prehn & Murray, but experiment showed that these 

 species do not contain the pigment in large quantity. The 

 plant that had been used by Dr. Addison, sen., was then pointed 

 out to me by Colonel Addison, and this confirmed the conclusion 

 to which I had previously come, viz., that the plant was the 

 one known to the natives as um-Pegembetu, and I am now 

 certain that this is the correct plant, since a packet of seed 

 given to me by Mr. McGlashan, of East London, and which his 

 son obtained from Holland, has been planted here and proves 

 to be identical with the Natal plant, which I have identified aa 

 Indigofera grata, E. Mey. I have sent dried specimens of the plant 

 and seed obtained from it to India for comparison. That this 

 is the correct plant I have now no doubt, and see no reason why 

 Indigo should not in future be successfully grown in the Colony. 

 I am aware that it has been said that the reason that Van 

 Prehn & Murray failed to manufacture the pigment successfully 

 was that the variations in temperature prevented the fermen- 

 tation being properly carried out, but that this is a mistake is 

 certain, as there can be little doubt that the slight fermentation 

 required for the production of the article can be carried on 

 without difficulty in the coast districts certainly, and probably 

 in the midlands also, and I see no reason why Natal should not 

 compete successfully with other countries in the production of 

 this article ; some technical skill is certainly necessary. The 

 Indigo industry in India is a very important one, and I hope 

 that in the future large quantities of the pigment made from 

 our indigenous plant will be manufactured for export, especially 

 so, as it may be found useful as a rotation crop on many of our 

 sugar estates. The plant grows well on the coast, and also at an 

 elevation of at least 2,000 feet above sea level ; it flowers in the 

 autumn, and ripens its seeds in Jane and July. Specimens of 

 the dried plant may be seen in the Colonial Herbarium, and a 

 few living plants in the Gardens. 



Mangos. — In the Bulletin of the Botanical Department of 

 Trinidad for July, 1900, a description was given of some 

 varieties of Mango in cultivation there, and 1 noticed among 

 those described one which is certainly not known in Natal, it 



