MADDER. 



369 



All the fine old indigo haciendas are mostly used for grazing cattle ; 

 no one will venture his capital in planting indigo under present cir- 

 cumstances. The total amount of indigo exported from Nicaragua in 

 1858 did not exceed 200 quintals. It is cultivated in the Val Menier, 

 and three crops are obtained from one sowing. 



Central America. — The value of the indigo shipped from Salvador 

 in 1868 was Kl, 602,000. The progress of the culture in Central 

 America is indicated by the following figures, showing our direct 

 imports from thence : 



1851 

 1852 

 1853 

 1854 

 1855 

 1862 

 1863 

 1864 

 1865 

 1866 



Cwts. 

 5,697 

 3,458 

 2,017 

 206 

 2,102 

 4,750 

 4,281 

 3,731 

 9,362 

 5,641 



Cwts. 



1867 10,381 



1868 13,875 



1869 15,763 



1870 12,457 



1871 13,799 



1872 .. .. .. 12,901 



1873 7,800 



1874 10,220 



1875 9,115 



New Granada. — The imports of indigo into the United Kingdom 

 from this State have been as follows : 



Cwts. 



1862 4,391 



1863 1,368 



1864 3,743 



1865 2,381 



1866 6,565 



1867 1,338 



1868 .. .. .. 4,221 



Cwts. 



1869 847 



1870 2,267 



1871 4,165 



1872 .. .. .. 3,961 



1873 3,172 



1874 1,301 



1875 670 



Venezuela. — In former times indigo was a flourishing industry 

 here, but it has rapidly declined from several causes. Among others 

 in consequence of submitting it to alterations which lower its value 

 in the principal markets of Europe. Secondly, the tedious and un- 

 wholesome labour which its manufacture requires, and for which it is 

 difficult to find hands. Hence the culture of other products are 

 preferred. It is shipped in boxes and serons, in the form of irregular 

 pieces and powder ; but it is always mixed with foreign substances, 

 and very inferior to the produce of Colombia and Guatemala. In 

 order that the Venezuelan indigo might attain any importance in a 

 commercial point of view, the manufacturer ought to be more careful. 

 Whilst in 1867 only 300 serons were produced, it had increased to 

 1200 in 1871. The shipments from the ports of La Guayra and 

 Puerto Cabello in 1872 exceeded by 1406 cwt. the exports of the 

 previous year. In 1873 the shipments from Venezuela were 1633 cwts., 

 793 cwt. being sent from Puerto Cabello. 



Maddek. — This important vegetable dye, used in calico printing, is 

 obtained from the root of the Mubia tinctoria, a plant indigenous to 

 Turkey and Persia, and now extensively cultivated in France and the 

 countries of Central and Southern Europe. The history of madder 

 dyeing may be traced from its origin in Eastern India, three thousand 



2 B 



