chap, iv.] WEST INDIES. 103 
If this destructive pest be happily prevented, or 
greatly mitigated, the produce per acre of the first 
cutting, will be about eighty pounds weight of what 
the French call pigeon’s-neck; or about sixty pounds 
of a quality equal to the Guatimala. The produce 
in North America is sometimes nearly as much ; but 
when Farenheit’s thermometer falls to 60 degiees, 
the returns there are very uncertain, both in qua¬ 
lity and quantity: a greater heat being absolutely 
necessary both for vegetation and maceration. Th«j. 
yielding for the subsequent cuttings somewhat di¬ 
minishes ; but in Jamaica and St. Domingo, if the 
land is new, about 300 lbs. per acre of the second 
quality may be expected annually, from all the cut¬ 
tings together, and four negroes are sufficient to 
carry on the cultivation of five acres, besides doing 
other occasional work, sufficient to reimburse the 
expenses of their maintenance and clothing. 
The process for obtaining the dye is generally 
conducted in two cisterns, which are placed like 
two steps, the one ascending to the other. The 
highest (which is also the longest) is called the steep¬ 
er; and its dimensions are about sixteen feet square, 
and two feet and a half in depth. Ihere is an 
aperture near the bottom for discharging the fluid 
into the second, which is called the battery, and is 
commonly about twelve feet square, and four ana 
a half in depth. Cisterns of these dimensions are 
proper for about seven acres of the plant: but if 
stone work cannot easily be erected for want of 
