April, 1912.] 



301 



DyelStuffs, 



is, therefore, open for a revival of the 

 natural indigo industry on a better basis 

 than ever before, for it is well-known 

 that the cost of the synthetic dye cannot 

 be further reduced. It is generally ac- 

 knowledged that natural indigo has 

 better dyeing properties than the syn- 

 thetic product, and dyers will give pre- 

 ference to the natural dye if they can get 

 it at the same price, of a standard quality 

 and in the more convenient form of a 

 paste. Such a standard natural indigo 

 paste of keeping qualities has now been 

 produced ; it has been tested by piactical 

 dyers, it has met with the approval of 

 Mincing Lane brokers, and it finds a 

 ready demand and sale at a remunerative 

 price. It will, of course, take some 

 time before an indigo industry on these 

 up-to-date lines is established even in 

 Behar. But a beginning has been made 

 there, and it is to be hoped Ceylon will 

 follow suit, for here there is no lack of 

 enterprising men with a command of 

 credit and ready money, which is 

 essential. The climate is favourable, the 

 soil is suitable, and, in short, we have 

 here all the elements that should ensure 

 success. The indigo plant grows better 

 in Ceylon than in Behar. It grows wild 

 in the low-country and at high altitudes, 

 it is found up to 5,000 feet, it grows in 

 the dry districts and in the wet districts, 

 and there are some sixteen varieties of 

 Indigofera indigenous to the Island. 

 The plant grows in Ceylon for the 

 greater part of the year (excepting the 

 very dry districts), and will yield three 

 to four cuttings in the twelve months ; 

 whereas in Northern India, where there 

 are four months of cold weather and 

 three months of drought, only one good 

 cutting can be obtained, the second 

 cutting depending much on the season, 

 and, at the best, yielding only a half 

 crop, Mr. Teixeira de Mattos, General 

 Secretary on the Midden Java Planters' 

 Association, has given me the crop 

 outturn of Indigofera arrecta in Java 

 as amounting per acre to 32,000 lbs. per 

 year for three cuttings, the yearly out- 

 lay being Rs. 100 per acre. This crop 

 outturn of green plant could, I feel 

 certain, be reached here also in Ceylon, 



wherever the rainfall is over 60 inches 

 for the year, and where the fall is well 

 divided between the south-west and 

 north-east monsoons. In the dry dis- 

 tricts of the island, with only one mon- 

 soon, and a rainfall of only about 40 

 inches spread over four to five months 

 of the year, we can only expect two 

 cuttings, which might be estimated to 

 yield about 20,000 lbs. of crop per acre, 

 for in Behar I have the statistics of a 

 crop of Indigofera arrecta sown on 

 March 20th and yielding before the 

 middle of September, within a period of 

 six months, two cuttings amounting to 

 21,600 lbs. per acre. If we take tor 

 Ceylon a rather higher outlay per acre 

 than in Java, say Rs. 120 per acre, and 

 add to this the extra expenditure in 

 working according to scientific methods 

 of manufacture (say Re. 1 for every 

 400 lbs. of crop treated), we arrive 

 at a total outlay, for a yield of 32,000 lbs. 

 per acre, of Rs. 200 per acre, and for a 

 yield of 20,000 lbs. crop Rs. 170 per acre. 

 The outturn of dye for Ceylon may be 

 safely estimated at about the same as 

 that obtained in Behar by scientific 

 methods of manufacture, i.e., 2^ lbs. cf 

 standard indigo paste per 100 lbs. of 

 green plant, though actual manufacture 

 from plants grown in Ceylon has shown 

 that the yield of dye is higher than in 

 Behar. Arrangements have been made 

 with a Mincing Lane firm to take over 

 the standard paste at the rate of 50 cents 

 per lb. c. i. f. Colombo. The outturn 

 of standard paste per acre yielding 

 32,000 lbs. green plant may, therefore, be 

 estimated at 800 lbs. of paste, value 

 Rs. 400 plus Rs. 148, the estimated value 

 of the residual manure, which the de- 

 composed plant yields after the dye has 

 been extracted, making a total of Rs. 518 

 against an expenditure of Rs. 200. In 

 the districts where only 20,000 lbs. of 

 green plant can be cut per acre, the out- 

 turn of standard paste will be 500 lbs., 

 value Rs. 250 plus Rs. 100, the value of 

 the manure, or a total of Rs. 350 against 

 an expenditure of Rs. 170. There must 

 further be deducted rent of land (or the 

 interest on the capital represented by it)* 



