53 
statistics of a crop of Indigofera arrecta sown on March 20, and yield- 
ing' before the middle of September, within a period of six months 
two cuttings amounting to 21,600 lb. per acre. 
If we take for Ceylon a rather higher outlay per acie than in 
Java, say Rs. 120 per acre, and add to this the expenditure in work- 
ing according to scientific methods of manufacture (say Re. I for 
every 400 lb. of crop treated) we arrive at a total outlay, for a yield ot 
32,000 lb. per acre of Rs. 200 per acre, and for a yield of 20,000 lb. 
crop Rs. 170 per acre. The outturn of dye for Ceylon may be safely 
estimated at about the same as that obtained in Behar by scientific 
methods of manufacture, i.e., 2% lb. of standard indigo paste per 1 00 
lb. of green plant, though actual manufacture from plants giown in 
Ceylon has shown that the yield of dye is higher than in Behar. 
Arrangements have been made with a Mincing Lane fhm to take 
over this standard paste at the rate of 5 ° cents per lb. c.i.f. Colombo. 
The outturn of standard paste per acre yielding 32,000 lb. green 
plant may therefore be estimated at 800 lb. of paste, value Rs. 400, 
plus Rs. 148, the estimated value of the residual manure which the 
decomposed plant yields after the dye has been extracted, making a 
total of Rs. 548 against an expenditure of Rs. 200. In the districts 
where only 20,000 lb. of green plant c^n be cut per acre, the outturn 
of standard paste will be 500 lb., value Rs. 250, plus Rs. 100, the value 
of the manure, or a total of Rs. 35 °» against an expenditure of Rs. 170. 
There must further be deducted rent of the land (or interest on 
the capital represented by it) and also the interest on the capital 
invested in the building of a factory and depreciation. 
With the assistance of a few enterprising men in Colombo, this 
question of the possibility of successfully pioneering in Ceylon an in- 
digo industry on up-to-date lines has been brought nearer torealisation. 
Indigofera arrecta and Indigofera sumatrana have been experimentally 
cultivaed during the last six months in gardens within Colombo city, 
as well as at higher elevations on coconut and rubber estates. The 
plants have grown satisfactorily, as could not otherwise have been 
expected, for indigo is a weed which will flourish well with ordinary 
cultivation in all tropical and semi-tropical countries. Even where 
it was sown broadcast on totally unprepared hard laterite soil a crop 
has been obtained, though the growth is irregular. 
What was sown in Colombo in July last has already yielded two 
cuttings (the second cutting at the rate of 14,500 lb. per acre), and 
the plants are shooting out well for a third cutting. 
Plant grown in the Kalatara district has been manufactured in a 
miniature factory according to scientific methods and has yielded 
well, the outturn of dye being much greater than the Behar plant 
yields, and was equal to 3U lb. of standard paste for 100 lb. of green 
leaf. 
You will have noted that I have added to the value of the dye the 
estimated value of the manure, which is a by-product of indigo 
manufacture. This is a most valuable asset, especially for Ceylon, 
where the soil cries out for manure more and more every year. The 
