460 



DYES AXD COLOEIXG STrFPS. 



The cultivation of indigo has been repeatedly attempted in 

 Cuba, but never with much success ; although the shrub called 

 the Xiquihte, from which it is extracted, grows wild in several 

 districts of the island, but more especiallv towards the eastern 

 extremity. The ^Ynt anileria, or manufactory of indigo, was esta- 

 blished in 1795, under the patronage of the Aijuntaraento of the 

 Havana, who made an advance of 3,500 dollars, without interest, 

 to the party engaging in the speculation, in order to eucotu\age 

 the enterprise ; but the undertaking proved tmsuccessful, and 

 the same fate has befallen every subsequent attempt to introduce 

 this branch of industry. In 1S27, the whole produce amounted 

 only to 56 arrobas. In 1537 the imports of indigo greatly ex- 

 ceeded the exports ; the former having amounted to 121,350 lbs., 

 and the latter to 82,890 lbs. In 1833, 5,184 lbs. reached the 

 United Kingdom from the Havana, and in 1843, 62,675 lbs. 



In 1826 British Hondiu-as exported 358,552 lbs. ; in 1830, 

 2,650 serons ; in 1844, 1,247 serons ; and in 1845, 1,052 serons. 



The indigo shrub is one of the most common bushes in 

 Trinidad, where it grows Avild on almost all the indifferent soils. 

 In 1783, there were 'several plantations and manuflietories of 

 indigo established in Trinidad ; these were stibsequently abandoned, 

 on account of a supposition that they were unliealthy. Prior to 

 1783, the colonists had a kind of simple process by which they 

 extracted sufficient coloring matter to serve domestic consumption. 

 This process is at present unknown, hence all the indigo used 

 there is imported from Europe, although the plant from which it 

 can be made vegetates in everv direction, 



In 1791 Hayti imported 930,016 lbs. of mdigo, while in 1804 

 the export had dwindled to 35,400 lbs. 



Indigo, as I have already stated, was once a most important 

 crop in South Carolina, some attention has recently again 

 been given to it by an individual or two in Louisiana, and the 

 enterprise is said to promise sur-cess ; enough might undoubtedly 

 be raised in the ITnited States to supply the home market. Some 

 indigo produced at Baton Eouge was pronounced to have been 

 equal to the best Caraccas, which sells at two dollars per pound; 

 and the gentleman who cultivated it remarks, that one acre of 

 ground there, well cultivated, will yield from 40 to 60 lbs. ; that it 

 requires only from July to October for cultivating it ; that there 

 is not connected with it one-third of the expense or time that is 

 generally required for the cultivation of cotton. 



I take the following from Smyth's "Tour in the United 

 States." 



" This plant is somewhat like the fern when grown, and when 

 young is hardly distinguishable from lucern grass, its leaves in 

 general are pinnated, and terminated by a single io-be ; die flowers 

 consist of five leaves, and are of the papilonaceous kind, the 

 uppermost petal being longer and rounder than the rest, and 

 lightly furrowed on the side, the lower ones are short and end in 

 a point ; in the middle of the flower is formed the style, wliich 

 afterwards becomes a pod containing the seeds. 



