3°6 
Indigo appe^s to have been cultivated in Penang about 1848, 
introduced probably from Java by natives and later on a fairly large 
scale in Singapore, till about 1902, when its cultivation began to die 
out in Singapore. It was only made in a liquid condition and 
carried in baskets lined with paper to the dye works, so that it could 
only be cultivated profitably near a town. It was never made into 
cakes for export, nor did it seem possible to do so. Experiments 
in this direction were made at the Botanic Gardens and by the 
Government Analyst in 1893, but they were practically failures. 
The demand for land near town, and the opening of the railway 
caused the disappearance of the cultivation. It was essential that 
the dye works should have a good supply of running water and when 
the land they occupied was required for building and the railway 
several of the dye works closed down, and have not been reopened, 
and consequently the Indigo cultivation has almost entirely disap- 
peared. 
Sappan-wood, Csesalpinia Sappan , a native of the Malay Pen- 
insula, used in dyeing red. It is seldom cultivated, but has been an 
article of trade for some hundreds of years. 
Marsdenia tinctoria, a climber producing Indigo introduced from 
Sumatra, probably very early by the Malays, was formerly to be 
seen in Chinese Indigo fields, here and there, but no one seems to 
have known how to utilize it, and it has almost entirely disappeared. 
DRUGS. 
Comparatively few have been cultivated in the Malay Peninsula 
to any extent. 
Ipecacuanha was frst introduced by MuRTON in 1875 from Ceylon 
and later, 1876, from Australia and on several other occasions at still 
later date. The first attempt tc cultivate it was in Sungei Ujong 
in 1877. It was later cultivated in Johore at Pengerang estate and 
is still in cultivation at Klang. Mr. Bailey, who grew it at both 
these last two estates, seems to be the only planter who has ever 
been successful with it. The Malay Peninsula drug has always 
fetched good price. 
Croton-oil seed was introduced in 1882 and possibly earlier. It 
was formerly cultivated to a small extent on several estates, and is 
now occasionally asked for. The demand, however, is very small. 
Balsam of Peru, Tolnifera balsamum , was introduced in the Bota- 
nic Gardens, Singapore, in 1882. It thrives well though rather a 
slow grower. The finest trees I have seen are at Perseverance 
Estate, Singapore. 
Nux-Vomica, Strychnos Nux Vomica, was introduced in the 
Botanic Gardens, in 1879. The plant is a slow grower and has 
never fruited. 
Sarsaparilla , from Jamaica, was introduced in 1888; some years 
later, roots were sent home for report, which was that the roots 
were too small, otherwise suitable. 
