468 



DXES AND COLORING STUFFS. 



much of -^liicli was not suitable for their purpose, or, perhaps, for any other, and 

 consequently, although the average rate of rent was even low on the whole, it 

 constituted a very heaxj charge on the portion from which they obtained their 

 return. 



In Oude there are three systems of obtaining a supply of the plant, viz., 

 Kush Kurreea, Bighowty, and Nij ; but the latter is a mere trifle in proportion 

 to the others, and is, therefore, not worth mentioning. On the Bighowty system, 

 •which prevails chiefly in the Meerut and Mooradabad districts, the planter ad- 

 vances for a biggah of Jumowah (irrigated sowings) nine rupees, and for a biggah 

 of Assaroo (rain sowings) five rupees four annas. The next year's plant, or 

 khoonti, becomes his on an additional payment of eight annas per biggah. He 

 also supplies the seed at the rate of six seers per biggah, being almost double the 

 quantity made use of in Bengal, but which is necessary to make up for the 

 destruction of the plant the year following by the frost, white ants, hot winds, 

 grass cutters, and, I may add, the village cattle, which are let loose to graze on 

 the khoonte during the latter period, when not a blade of grass or vegetation is 

 to be seen anywhere left. 



The Bighowty system is a sadly ruinous one, as, independently of the attempts 

 to assimilate Assaroo, at five rupees four annas, with Jumowah, at nine rupees 

 per biggah, which is very easily eflected if the planter is not very vigilant, he 

 is obliged to maintain an extensive and imposing establishment of servants, not 

 only to enforce the sowings, weeding, and cutting, but also to look after his 

 khoonte, and protect it from being destroyed by bullocks and grass cutters, or 

 from being ploughed up clandestinely by the Zemindars themselves. 



The Kush Kurreea system again has its evils, as the planter never gets 

 plant for the full amount of his advances, and hence often leads to his ruin. 



Soils. — Indigo delights in a fresh soil ; new lands, of similar staple to others 

 before cultivated, always surpass them in the amount and quality of their pro- 

 duce. Hence arises the superior productiveness of the lands annually over- 

 flowed by the Ganges, the earthy and saline deposits from which in effect 

 renovate the soil. The further we recede from the influence of the inunda- 

 tion, the less adapted is the soil for the cultivation of indigo. The staple of the 

 soil ought to be silicious, fertile, and deep. Mr. Ballard, writing on the indigo 

 soils of Tirhoot, says that high " soomba," or light soils, are generally preferred, 

 being from their nature and level less exposed to the risk of rain or river inun- 

 dation ; but they are difficult to procure, and, moreover, require particular care 

 in the preparation. Next in estimation is " doruss," a nearly equal mixture of 

 light earth and clay ; a soil more retentive of moistm'e in a dry season than any 

 other. Muttyaur," or heavy clay soils, are generally avoided, although in 

 certain seasons, with mild showers of rain, they have been known to answer. 

 The safest selection I should conceive to be an equal portion of soomba and 

 doruss. In a country, however, interspersed with jheels and nullahs, it is 

 difficult to form a cultivation" without a considerable mixture of low lands, more 

 or less, according to the situation of the Assamee's fields. Great care should ba 

 taken, at all events, to guard against oosur lands, or such as abound with salt- 

 petre ; these can be most easily detected in the dry months. PuchJcatah, that 

 is, lands slightly touched with oosur, have been known to answer, as partaking 

 more of the nature of dorms soil ; but the crop is generally thin, although 

 strong and branchy. 



There is another description of land that should be cautiously avoided. It 

 goes by the name of jaung, and is a light soil, with a substratum of sand from 

 six to twelve inches below the sui-face. The plant generally looks very fine in 

 such fields till it gets a foot high, when the root touching the sand, and 

 having no moisture to sustain it, either dies away altogether, or becomes so 

 stunted and impoverished as to yield little or nothing in the cutting. Of the 

 dauh or dearab (alluvial) land, says Mr. Ballard, there is scarcely any in the 

 district except what falls to the lot of my own factories, being situated on the 

 banks of the Ganges and Great Gunduck. Of bungur^ a stiff reddish clay soil, 

 there is little in Tirhoot ; it pervades the western provinces, and is best adapted 

 for Assaroo sowings, which do not succeed in Tirhoot. 



Preparation of the soil. — The root of the indigo plant being fusiform, and 

 extending to about a foot in length, requires the soil to be loosened thoroughly 



