472 



DYES AND COLOBIKG STUEPS. 



In Oude the jamowah, or crop sown in May, yields on an average twenty 

 maujids, or say thirteen bundles, per biggah (160 feet square). The " assaroo," 

 or rain sowings, producing a very inferior plant, the average return is not more 

 than three maunds, or two bundles. The " khoonti," or crop of the next yeas 

 from the same plants, averages fifteen maunds, or ten bundles per biggah. 



In Central and Western India, the plants are allowed to produce the second 

 and even the third year, according to some statements ; but in Bengal the same 

 stocks are rarely suffered to yield a second crop ; being nearly all on lands that 

 are under water in the height of the inundation, the stock is rotted in the 

 ground. Mr. Ballard, speaking of the duration of the plant, says that, as for three 

 years' plant and " khoonti," it is a mere chimera, like the many others with 

 which the planters have hitherto deluded themselves, and which it only requires 

 a little reflection to overthrow. A biggah may be cut here and there, on an 

 extensive cultivation, but it can never be relied upon as forming a part of the 

 cultivation. 



The uncertainty of the indigo crop has been already noticed, and is, indeed, as 

 proverbial as that from the hop plant in England. In Bengal the crop is 

 particularly subject to be destroyed by the annual inundation of the river, if it 

 occurs earlier than usual. A storm of wind, accompanied by rain and hail, as 

 completely ruins the crop as if devoured by the locust ; neither from this latter 

 Bcourge is the crop exempt. 



This proneness to injury extends throughout its growth. The seedlings are 

 liable to be destroyed by an insect closely resembling the tirrnip-fly, as well as 

 by the frog. Caterpillars feed upon the leaves of older plants, and the white 

 ant destroys them by consuming their roots. To these destructive visitations 

 are to be added the more than [ordinary liability of the plant to injury, not 

 merely from atmospheric commotions, but even from apparently less inimical 

 visitations. Thus not only do storms of wind, heavy rains, and hail, destroy 

 the indigo planter's prospects, but even sunshine, if it pours out fervently after 

 showers of rain, is apt, as it is properly termed, to scorch the plants ; and if it 

 occurs during the first month of their growth, is most injurious to their future 

 advance. The reason of this effect appears to be the violent change from a 

 state of imbibing to a rapid transpiration of moisture. No himian invention 

 or foresigh-t can preserve the croj) from the atmospheric visitations. To destroy 

 and drive away the little coleopterous insects which attack the seedlings, it 

 would be a successful method to spread dry grass, &c., over the surface intended 

 to be cultivated, and to bum the litter immediately before the sowing. The 

 heat and smoke produced has been found perfectly efficacious against the turnip - 

 fly in England. To destroy the caterpillar, slacked lime dusted over the leaves, 

 while the dew is upon them, is an effectual application. The white ants may 

 be driven away or destroyed by frequent hoeings, which is the best preventive 

 of the scorching, for hoeing preserves the soil^ in an equable and fitting state of 

 moisture. 



The great supply of seed for Bengal cultivation is obtained from the western 

 provinces, and forms an article of trade of no inconsiderable magnitude. The 

 stubble in the low lands of Bengal is generally submerged before it has time to 

 throw out fresh shoots, on which the blossom and subsequent seed- pod are 

 formed. There are, however, some high tracts reserved for that purpose, and on 

 these the plant is found well in flower in September, and the seed fit to gather 

 in November or early in December. 



Two methods are pursued to extract the indigo from the plant ; 

 the first effects it by fermentation of the fresh leaves and stems ; 

 the second, by maceration of the dried leaves ; the latter process 

 ^ being most advantageous. They are thus described by Dr. Ure, 

 in his "Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures :" — 



1. From the recent leaves. — In the indigo factories of Bengal, there are two 

 large stone- built cisterns, the bottom of the first being nearly upon a level with 

 the top of the second, in order to allow the liquid contents to be run out of the 

 one into the other. The uppermost is called the fermenting vat, or the steeper ; 



