IKDIGO. 



457 



Its cultivation immediately declined throughout them all, but notrhere so ra- 

 pidly as here. The financial error \yas quicJdy discovered, — a remedy was at- 

 tempted by a bounty ; but it came too late, the plantations were thrown up, and 

 the planters, attracted by the temporary gain, abused the tardy boon, by intro- 

 ducing, as of their own growth, large quantities of foreign indigo." As Bridges 

 may be said in this passage to be merely a commentator on Edwards, who has 

 entered more largely upon the subject, I shall condense from the latter, state- 

 ments connected with the manufacture and decay of this branch of industry, 

 once the staple of Jamaica. 



Edwards West Indies," vol. ii., p. 275, 2nd edition) reckons three kinds of 

 indigo — the wild, Guatemala, and Erench. The first is the hardest, and the 

 dye extracted from it of the best quality as regards color and grain ; but one or 

 other of the two species is commonly preferred by the planter, as yielding a 

 greater return. Of these the French surpasses the Guatemala in quantity, but 

 yields to it in fineness of grain and beauty of color. The indigo thrives almost 

 on any land, though the richest soils produce the most luxuriant plants, and the 

 longest dry weather will not kill it. The cultivation and manufacture our author 

 thus describes: — "The land being prepared, trenches, two or three inches in 

 depth, are made by the hoe. These are ten or twelve inches asunder. The 

 seeds are then strewed in the trenches by the hand, and slightly covered with 

 mould. When the plants shoot, they are carefully weeded, and kept constantly 

 clean, until they rise high enough to cover the ground, A bushel of seed is 

 sufiicient for four or five acres. The best season for planting is March ; but if 

 the land be good, it may be sown at any time, and in three months the plants 

 attain matmity. In seasonable situations, they have four cuttings in the year. 

 The subsequent growths fi'om the plants ripen in six or eight weeks ; but the 

 produce diminishes after the second cutting, so that the seeds should be sown 

 every second year. A species of grub, or worm, which infests the plant on the 

 second year is avoided by changing the soil; or, in other words, by a rotation 

 of crops. The produce per acre of the first cutting is about 60 lbs. It is nearly 

 as much in Xoi th America ; but when the thermometer falls to sixty, the returns 

 ai e very uncertain, that degree of heat being too low ftr the necessary vegetation, 

 maceration, and fei-mentation. The yieldings for the subsequent cuttings some- 

 what diminish ; but in Jamaica and St. Domingo, if the land is new, about 

 300 lbs. per acre of the second quality may be expected annually from ail the 

 cuttings together ; and four negroes are sufiicient to carry on the cultivation of 

 five acres, besides doing other occasional work, sufiicient to reimburse the ex- 

 penses of their maintenance and clothing." 



The process for obtaining the dye, according to the same author, wns conducted 

 through the n.eans of two cisterns, the one elevated above the other, in the 

 manner of sti'ps. The higher, which was also the longer, was named the sleeper 

 ■ — its dimensions sixteen teet square and two and a half in depth. The second, 

 into which the fiuid was discharged, was called the hatter ij ; it was about twelve 

 feet square, and four and a hall in depth. These cisterns were of stone ; but 

 strong tnnber answered remarkably well. There was also a lime-vat, six feet 

 square and four feet deep, the plug of which was at least eight inches from the 

 bottom. This was for the pui'pose of permitting the lime to subside, before the 

 lime-vs^ater was withdrawn. The plants then being ripe, or fit for cutting, were 

 cut with reaping-hooks, or sickles, a few inches from the ground— six was the 

 minimum — and placed by strata in the sleeper, until it was about three parts 

 full. They were then pressed with boards, either loaded with weights or wedged 

 dDwn, so as to prevent the plants from floating loosely ; and as much water was 

 admitted as they woidd imbibe, until it covered the mass four or five inches 

 deep. In this state it was allowed to ferment until the water had extracted the 

 pulp. To know when this had been thoroughly effected, required extreme at- 

 tention and great practical knowledge ; for if the fluid Vv'ere drawn off too soon, 

 much of the pulp was left behind ; and if the fermentation continued too long, 

 the tender tops of the plants were decomposed, and the whole crop lost. When 

 the tincture or extract was received in the battery,, it was agitated or churned 

 until the dye began to granulate, or float in little flakes upon the surface. This 

 was accomplished at one period in Jamaica by paddles, worked by manual labor, 

 and, in the t rench islands, by buckets or cylinders, worked by long poles ; but 



