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change remained at is. 2d., 1111897 it went up to is. 3 \d. and even 
at this high rupee price, and without raising the European value, 
it was found profitable to plant every inch of even the very poorest 
soil with indigo. Since 1898 we have had an almost stable ex- 
change of is. 4 %d., or as compared with that of 1895 or 1896, 20 
per cent, more unfavourable from the European buyers point of 
view. It is therefore not to be wondered at if the estates less dis- 
posed to the production of indigo have been given over to other 
culture. It is quite clear to the producers in India that if they are 
to compete against artificial indigo they must supply a good quality 
of the natural product at a low price, and private individuals as 
well as the Indian Government are doing their utmost to introduce 
impiovements in this direction, such as more careful tilling of the 
soil, a more rigorous choice in, the selection of the seed employed, 
and specially a better supervision of the process of fermentation. 
These are all more or less coming into use. The weather natur- 
ally exerts a great influence on the crop, and under the unfavour- 
able conditions which have prevailed during the last few years, 
especially in 1902, it has been difficult to produce indigo at a profit 
at the present prices. In this connection it should be noted that 
up to-the late autumn of last year “ indigo" influenced the market 
value of all fast blues. There followed the decrease in price of the 
competetive chemical product in order to meet the reduced price 
of natural indigo, and although artificial indigo was cheap, it was 
never so low as it had been before the summer of 1902 owing to 
the bad crops of the natural product. This shows that the enhanced 
price not only caused no holding back in buying circles, but that 
already in the autumn of 1902 many of the stocks in Europe and 
the new supplies in India were sold on a rising market. The de- 
liveries to all parts of the world indicate that the universal con- 
sumption did not kick against the higher prices : numerous orders 
remained unexecuted in Calcutta, because the stock of about 43,000 
maunds, or 10,800 cases, was not sufficient to satisfy the demand. 
Many American buyers, after trying both the artificial and the 
natural indigo, have gone back to the latter, and this shows that it 
is rot always the true blue dye-stuff which renders the best analysis 
which is the best in actual practice. 
In dyeing circles it Has been usual to enquire the analysis of in- 
digo, i.e how much per cent, of indigotine is shown by the chame- 
leon or permanganate process, and whoever, for the sake of 
convenience, only buys according to such analysis can easily be 
deceived. Every practical dyer knows that different lots of Bengal 
indigo, for example, which on analysis show, let us say, 60 per 
cent, of indigotine, produce a much higher percentage than this in 
the vats. But it has been found convenient, although it may not 
be rational, to base purchases on the analysed percentages, and not 
on the one which practical knowledge shows to exist. Natural 
indigo therefore by skilful manipulation would render a percentage 
of indigotine in excess of the analysed 60 per cent., whereas the 
artificial or synthetic product will give exactly 60 per cent, and no 
more. 
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