I N D 
more beautiful within than without, and look (hinhig, 
and as it were filvered. 
If it is too heavy in proportion to its bulk, it ought 
to be fufpeded, and its quality examined into ; for as 
it often bears a conliderable price, it is fit that thofe 
who buy it, fhould be acquainted with the frauds that 
may be committed in it. 
The firft is the beating the plant too much in the 
deeper, that the leaves and rind of it may be entirely 
coniumed. It is certain that the quantity of the mat- 
ter is very confiderably increafed by this diffolution, 
but the Indigo is a great deal the lefs beautiful for it ; 
it is blackifh, thick, heavy, and fitter to be thrown 
away than ufed. 
The fecond is the mixing afhes, earth, or a certain 
brown (hining fand (which is pretty commonly found 
in the bays by the fea-fide) and efpecially powdered 
flate, with the feces, as they fall into the devilling, 
and Ibirring all well together, that it may incorporate, 
and the fraud not appear : and this fraud is much more 
eafily committed in the powdered Indigo, than in that 
which is in cakes ; becaufe it is very difficult for thofe 
heterogeneous bodies to unite fo well together, as not 
to make in many places, as it were, beds of a different 
matter ; and then, by breaking the piece of Indigo, 
they are eafily perceived. 
The two following expedients may be made ufe 
of, in order to know the goodnefs or badnefs of 
Indigo. 
The firft is to diflolve a bit of it in a glafs of water. 
If it is pure and well made, it it will entirely diftblve ; 
but if it is adulterated, the foreign matter will fink to 
the bottom of the glafs. 
The fecond is to burn it. The good Indigo will burn 
all away, whereas the afhes, earth, fand, and flate, 
remain after the true Indigo is confumed. 
In 1694, Indigo was fold at the Windward Iflands, 
from three livres ten fols, to four livres per pound, 
according to its beauty, and the number of veffels to 
be freighted with it. I have known it fince at a much 
lower price j however, the planter would not fail of 
making a very confiderable profit of it, though he 
Ihould fell it for no more than forty fols per pound, 
becaufe this commodity requires fewer utenfils and lefs. 
charges than a fugar-work. 
Since the cultivation of Indigo was introduced in 
South Carolina, great quantities of that ufeful dye has 
been brought from thence to England •, and it may be 
hoped that the encouragement granted by parliament 
to the planters, will enable them to profecute this 
branch of commerce with fuch fuccefs, as to be a 
great national benefit, and of equal advantage to that 
colony : but as yet the planters have not arrived to 
fo much perfection in the making of it as could be 
wifhed ; for mold of the Indigo which I have feen of 
the produce of that country, has been fo hard as to 
render it difficult to diflolve, occafioned by their pour- 
ing a quantity of lime-water into the vat, in order to 
make the feces of the plant fubfide. I have alfo 
been informed by letters from many of the planters, 
that after the fermentation of the plant in the vat, it 
comes out again almoft entire, being but in a very 
fmall proportion leflened, either in bulk or weight. 
This may probably be owing, in great part, to their 
culture of the plant, as alfo from their vats not being 
large enough to contain a fufficient quantity of the 
herb, to make the fermentation ftrong enough to 
diffolve it ; or from the vats being built in the open 
air, whereby the fermentation may be impeded, by 
the cooler breezes of the evening air : for in the iflands 
where the belt Indigo is made, their vats are all built 
under cover, where their heat is much greater than 
that in Carolina, therefore this requires the attention 
of the planters of Indigo. 
As to the culture of the plant, by all the information I 
have been able to procure from thence, they commit 
a great error in fowing their feeds too thick, whereby 
the plants are drawn up with (lender fterns, which are 
not fufficiently garnifhed with leaves ; nor are the 
leaves fo large and fucculent as they would naturally 
I N O 
grow, were the plants allowed a greater (hare of room* 
fo that the (talks confift of little elfe but ftrong vef- 
fels which are not diffolvable by the fermentation, and 
it is only the upper parts of the plant which are fur- 
nifhed with leaves, like young; trees growing clofe to- 
gether which are drawn up with (lender (terns, having 
no lateral branches, nor leaves, but at their tops 
therefore it is not to be fuppofed, a great quantity of In- 
digo can be produced from plants 1b managed ; for it 
is a common obfervation of the cultivators of Woad, 
that when their plants fpire, and have narrow thin 
leaves, they produce but little of the dye-, fo that 
they make choice of rich ftrong land for fowing the 
feeds of this plant, and are careful to thin them* 
that they may have room to fpread, and produce large 
fucculent leaves, from which they always reap the 
greateft profit. If the planters of Indigo in America 
would but imitate the cultivators of Woad in this par- 
ticular, they would certainly find their advantage in 
fo doing-. 
Another thing in which they err is, letting the plant 
(land too long before they cut it, fuppofing from the 
height of the plant to procure a great quantity of the 
dye ; but in this they are greatly miftaken, for the 
older the plant is before it is cut, the drier and firmer 
will be the (talks , therefore but little of the plant 
will be diifolved by fermentation, nor will the feces 
of the old plants be near fo beautiful as that of the 
young. Therefore it is' to be wiflied, that they would 
try fome few experiments in the culture and manage- 
ment of the plants, by fowing thin, and keeping the 
plants pferfedly clean from weeds as alfo to cut them 
while young and full of juice, and hereby they will be 
better informed how to improve it to the greateft ad- 
vantage. But as labour is dear in that country, fo 
many perfons probably objeft to the expence of culti- 
vating the Indigo in this method , therefore, to avoid 
this, I have before propofed fowing the feeds with a 
drill plough, whereby the firft expence will be greatly 
leflened, and the feeds more equally fown , and by the 
ufe of the hoe plough, ten acres may be kept clean 
from weeds with as fmall expence, as one when ma- 
naged by the hand hoe *, and by ftirring of the ground 
often, and earthing up the plants, they would grow 
much ftronger, be lefs liable of being deftroyed by- 
flies, and have larger and more fucculent (talks and 
leaves. 
INGA. See Mimosa. 
INOCULATING, or Budding. This is com- 
monly praCtifed upon all forts of (tone fruit, in parti- 
cular, fuch as Peaches, Nectarines, Cherries, Plums, 
&c. as alfo Oranges and Jafmines, and is preferable 
to any fort of grafting for moft forts of fruit. The me- 
thod of performing it is as follows : you muft be pro- 
vided with a (harp penknife, having a flat haft (the 
ufe of which is to raile the bark of the ftock, to ad- 
mit the bud) and fome found bafs mat, which ffiould 
be foaked in water to increafe its (Length* and make 
it more pliable ; then having taken off the cuttings 
from the trees you would propagate, you fhould 
choofe a fmooth part of the ftock about five or fix 
inches above the furface of the ground, if defigned 
for dwarfs, and for half ftandards at three feet , but 
for ftandards, they (hould be budded fix or more feet 
above ground ; then with your knife make an hori- 
zontal cut crofs the rind of the ftock, and from the 
middle of that cut make a flit downwards about two 
inches in length, fo that it may be in the form of a 
T ; but you muft be careful not to cut too deep, left 
you wound the ftock : then having cut off the leaf 
from the bud, leaving the foot-ftalk remaining, you 
(hould make a crofs cut about half an inch below'the 
eye, and with your knife flit off the bud, with part 
of the wood to it, in form of an efcutcheon : this 
done, you muft with your knife pull off that part of 
the wood which was taken with the bud, obferving 
whether the eye of the bud be left to it, or not (for all 
thofe buds which lofe their eyes in (tripping, (hould 
be thrown away, being good for nothing) then having 
gently raifed the bark of the ftock where thtf croft ii> 
7 G ’ eifion 
Hi 
