Chapter XXXIX: Section IV (3)

The success of sowings during March and April is very doubtful. It
depends entirely upon the occurrence of rain, which in those months
is proverbially uncertain. If the season should be sufficiently wet,
the sowing may be performed in May; but a June sowing is very rarely
remunerating. The rains setting in during the latter part of this
month so promote the growth of weeds, that the young plants are
choked and generally destroyed. The exceptions only occur in high
lands, in unusually propitious seasons, and ought never to be relied
upon except when the earlier sowings have failed. To protract the
manufacturing season, some planters begin sowing upon low lying
lands in the hot season, for the chance of a crop at the
commencement of the rains; and they sow at the close of the rains
with the hope of, as it were, stealing another in the next year. In
the western provinces sowing necessarily occurs in the dry weather,
usually in March and April, though occasionally either a little
earlier or later.

In Tirhoot the sowings commence about the latter end of February or
the beginning of March, if by that time there is sufficient warmth
in the atmosphere to ensure a healthy vegetation. Light soils are
sown on one close ploughing; heavy soils on two, with from four to
eight seers of seed, in proportion to the size of the biggah. After
strewing the seed, the field should be harrowed down by two turns of
the harrow, and then again by two turns more after the third day. In
case of rain before the plant appears (which it ought to do on the
sixth or seventh day), if a slight shower, the harrow should be used
again; if very heavy, it were best to turn up the ground and re-sow.
If rain fall after the appearance of the plant, and before it has
got past four leaves, and attained sufficient strength to resist the
hard crust before alluded to, immediate recourse must be had to
drilling. In fact, the closest attention is required to watch the
state of the young crop for a month at least after the sowings; if
it yield the least, or assume a sickly appearance, drills are the
only resource. These, if applied in time, in all March, for
instance, or before the middle of April at latest, are generally
successful, not only in restoring plants, but recovering such as may
have become sickly from want or excess of moisture, or any other
cause. In dry seasons they have been known to give a crop when
broadcast sowings have failed. Each drill, with a good pair of
bullocks, should do five biggahs a day. They are regulated to throw
from three to four seers per biggah, but the quantity can be
increased or diminished at pleasure. The natives do not employ them
in their grain sowings, but commonly adopt a contrivance with their
own plough for sowing in furrows, whenever their fields are
deficient in moisture. The drill employed in Tirhoot resembles
considerably the implement known by that name in England. It is
found not only to effect a great saving of seed, ten seers being
there sown broad-cost on a biggah of 57,600 feet square, and only
seven seers by this drill; but also materially to improve the
quality and regularity of the growth of the plant. Experience has
demonstrated, that the more lateral room the plants have, the more
abundant is their produce of leaves, in which the coloring matter
chiefly resides. The seed employed should always be as new as
possible, for though, if carefully preserved, it vegetates when one
year old, and even when nearly two years old has produced a moderate
crop, yet this has been under circumstances of an unusually
favorable season and soil. The plants from old seed rarely attain a
height of more than a foot before they wither and die. As frauds are
very likely to be practised by giving old seed the glossiness and
general appearance of new, great circumspection should be shown by
the planter, who does not grow his own, in obtaining seed from known
parties.

Planters in the lower provinces are induced to use up-country seed,
because, coming from a colder climate, it vegetates, and the plants
ripen rapidly, so as to be harvested more certainly before the
annual inundation, but they employ one-fourth more. Three seers per
Bengal biggah are sufficient, if it is "Dassee" seed; but four is
not too much if it is up-country seed. A Bengal biggah is only a
third of the size of that of Tirhoot. If the weather is dry, the
seed very often does not germinate until the occurrence of rain, and
it has been known in a dry, light soil, to remain in the ground
without injury for six weeks. If seasonable showers occur, the
plants make their appearance in four days, or even less; and they
must be watched, in order that they may be weeded on the earliest
day that they are sufficiently established to allow the operation to
be safely performed. In dry weather, it must not be done while they
are very young, otherwise many of the seedlings will have their
roots disturbed, and perish from the drought. However, not more than
a fortnight should be allowed to pass, after the seedlings have
appeared, before the weeds are carefully removed, and this clearing
should be frequently repeated until the plants so overshadow the
ground that they of themselves keep back the advance of the weeds.
The first weeding is best performed immediately after a shower of
rain.

Irrigation is rarely adopted for the indigo crops in the lower
provinces of Bengal, unless they happen to be grown in some
situation very favorable to the operation, such as the bank of a
river. It is much more attended to in the western provinces, and in
Oude, the water being obtained from wells, which are dug in nearly
every cultivated plot. In Oude, Mr. Ballard says that a biggah of
land employs three persons to irrigate it, and occupies never less
than six days. The ryot, or cultivator, requires for the work a pair
of bullocks, which cost him at least 32s., a bucket made of a white
bullock hide, at 2s., and a rope for 2s. more, both of which do not
last him above a year. He never pays less than 8s. for the rent of a
biggah of land near a well.

In Bengal the plant requires three months to attain its highest
state of perfection for manufacturing, but is often cut, from
necessity, within half that time; for the approach of the river
compels the premature removal of the crop, unless, indeed, its
growth has been so retarded that it would not pay the expense of
working. Most indigo factories have consequently to begin in June,
or early in July, whenever they may have effected their spring
sowings, and the labors of the season are commonly terminated by the
middle or end of August.

When the plants begin to flower is considered the best time for
cutting them, and this is just what the botanist would have
suggested, because then the proper sap of all plants is most
abundant, and most rich in their several peculiar secretions. A
vividly green, abundant and healthy foliage, downy at the back, is
the surest intimation of the plants being rich in indigo. Plants
that are ready for cutting in July and August, are usually the most
productive.

In the western provinces from sixteen to twenty maunds of plant is
considered a good produce per biggah. In the upper provinces the
produce of the best crop, which is sown directly the rains commence,
is not more then ten maunds per biggah. The factory maund is equal
to about seventy-eight pounds. One thousand maunds of plant are
considered as producing quite an average quantity of indigo if this
amounts to four maunds. Adopting another mode of estimate, Mr.
Ballard says, that in Bengal an average crop may he considered to be
from ten to twelve bundles, over an extensive cultivation, in a good
season, from each Bengal biggah; the sheaf or bundle being measured
by a six-feet cord or chain. Speaking of the produce in Tirhoot, the
same gentleman says the "luggie," or measuring rod, varies
throughout the district. The common Tirhoot biggah, is, I believe,
equal to two-and-a-half or three Bengal biggahs (about an English
acre). Its produce varies according to the size of the luggie, the
fertility of the soil, and accidents of season; eight to ten hackery
loads, however, is generally considered a good average return. South
and east of Tirhoot, one hundred maunds from six hundred biggahs,
including "khoonti," or a second cutting, is reckoned a successful
result. In another part of the district, including Sarun, where the
"luggie" is larger, the average produce is about one-third better.
As we measure our plant on the ground (he adds), the bundle system
is unknown here; but, I believe, forty-five or fifty Tirhoot hackery
loads of plants (estimated to yield a maund of dry indigo), will be
found equal to two hundred Bengal bundles.--("Trans. Agri. Hort.
Soc., vol. ii. p. 23.")

In Oude the _jamowah_, or crop sown in May, yields on an average
twenty maunds, or say thirteen bundles, per biggah (160 feet
square). The "assaroo," or rain sowings, producing a very inferior
plant, the average return is not more than three maunds, or two
bundles. The "khoonti," or crop of the next year from the same
plants, averages fifteen maunds, or ten bundles per biggah.

In Central and Western India, the plants are allowed to produce the
second and even the third year, according to some statements; but in
Bengal the same stocks are rarely suffered to yield a second crop:
being nearly all on lands that are under water in the height of the
inundation, the stock is rotted in the ground. Mr. Ballard, speaking
of the duration of the plant, says that, as for three years' plant
and "khoonti," it is a mere chimera, like the many others with which
the planters have hitherto deluded themselves, and which it only
requires a little reflection to overthrow. A biggah may be cut here
and there, on an extensive cultivation, but it can never be relied
upon as forming a part of the cultivation.

The uncertainty of the indigo crop has been already noticed, and is,
indeed, as proverbial as that from the hop plant in England. In
Bengal the crop is particularly subject to be destroyed by the
annual inundation of the river, if it occurs earlier than usual. A
storm of wind, accompanied by rain and hail, as completely ruins the
crop as if devoured by the locust; neither from this latter scourge
is the crop exempt.

This proneness to injury extends throughout its growth. The
seedlings are liable to be destroyed by an insect closely resembling
the turnip-fly, as well as by the frog. Caterpillars feed upon the
leaves of older plants, and the white ant destroys them by consuming
their roots. To these destructive visitations are to be added the
more than ordinary liability of the plant to injury, not merely from
atmospheric commotions, but even from apparently less inimical
visitations. Thus not only do storms of wind, heavy rains, and hail,
destroy the indigo planter's prospects, but even sunshine, if it
pours out fervently after showers of rain, is apt, as it is properly
termed, to _scorch_ the plants; and if it occurs during the first
month of their growth, is most injurious to their future advance.
The reason of this effect appears to be the violent change from a
state of imbibing to a rapid transpiration of moisture. No human
invention or foresight can preserve the crop from the atmospheric
visitations. To destroy and drive away the little coleopterous
insects which attack the seedlings, it would be a successful method
to spread dry grass, &c., over the surface intended to be
cultivated, and to burn the litter immediately before the sowing.
The heat and smoke produced has been found perfectly efficacious
against the turnip-fly in England. To destroy the caterpillar,
slacked lime dusted over the leaves, while the dew is upon them, is
an effectual application. The white ants may be driven away or
destroyed by frequent hoeings, which is the best preventive of the
scorching, for hoeing preserves the soil in an equable and fitting
state of moisture.

The great supply of seed for Bengal cultivation is obtained from the
western provinces, and forms an article of trade of no
inconsiderable magnitude. The stubble in the low lands of Bengal is
generally submerged before it has time to throw out fresh shoots, on
which the blossom and subsequent seed-pod are formed. There are,
however, some high tracts reserved for that purpose, and on these
the plant is found well in flower in September, and the seed fit to
gather in November or early in December.

Two methods are pursued to extract the indigo from the plant; the first effects it by fermentation of the fresh leaves and stems; the second, by maceration of the dried leaves; the latter process being most advantageous. They are thus described by Dr. Ure, in his "Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures:"--

1. _From the recent leaves._--In the indigo factories of Bengal,
there are two large stone-built cisterns, the bottom of the first
being nearly upon a level with the top of the second, in order to
allow the liquid contents to be run out of the one into the other.
The uppermost is called the fermenting vat, or the steeper; its
area is twenty feet square, and its depth three feet; the lowermost,
called the beater or beating vat, is as broad as the other, but
one-third longer. The cuttings of the plant, as they come from the
field, are stratified in the steeper, till this be filled within
five or six inches of its brim. In order that the plant, during its
fermentation, may not swell and rise out of the vat, beams of wood
and twigs of bamboo are braced tight over the surface of the plants,
after which water is pumped upon them till it stands within three or
four inches of the edge of the vessel. An active fermentation
speedily commences, which is completed within fourteen or fifteen
hours; a little longer or shorter, according to the temperature of
the air, the prevailing winds, the quality of the water, and the
ripeness of the plants. Nine or ten hours after the immersion of the
plant, the condition of the vat must be examined; frothy bubbles
appear, which rise like little pyramids, are at first of a white
colour, but soon become grey, blue, and then deep purple red. The
fermentation is at this time violent, the fluid is in constant
commotion, apparently boiling, innumerable bubbles mount to the
surface, and a copper colored dense scum covers the whole. As long
as the liquor is agitated, the fermentation must not be disturbed,
but when it becomes more tranquil, the liquor is to be drawn off
into the lower cistern. It is of the utmost consequence not to push
the fermentation too far, because the quality of the whole indigo is
deteriorated; but rather to cut it short, in which case there is,
indeed, a loss of weight, but the article is better. The liquor
possesses now a glistening yellow color, which, when the indigo
precipitates, changes to green. The average temperature of the
liquor is commonly 85 deg. Fahr.; its specific gravity at the
surface is 1.0015; and at the bottom 1.003.

As soon as the liquor has been run into the lower cistern, ten men
are set to work to beat it with oars, or shovels four feet long,
called _busquets_. Paddle wheels have also been employed for the
same purpose. Meanwhile two other laborers clear away the
compressing beams and bamboos from the surface of the upper vat,
remove the exhausted plant, set it to dry for fuel, clean out the
vessel, and stratify fresh plants in it. The fermented plant appears
still green, but it has lost three-fourths of its bulk in the
process, or from twelve to fourteen per cent. of its weight, chiefly
water and extractive matter.

The liquor in the lower vat must be strongly beaten for an hour and
a half, when the indigo begins to agglomerate in flocks, and to
precipitate. This is the moment for judging whether there has been
any error committed in the fermentation, which must be corrected by
the operation of beating. If the fermentation has been defective,
much froth rises in the beating, which must be allayed with a little
oil, and then a reddish tinge appears. If large round granulations
are formed, the beating is continued, in order to see if they will
grow smaller. If they become as small as fine sand, and if the water
clears up, the indigo is allowed quietly to subside. Should the vat
have been over-fermented, a thick fat-looking crust covers the
liquor, which does not disappear by the introduction of a flask of
oil. In such a case the beating must be moderated. Whenever the
granulations become round, and begin to subside, and the liquor
clears up, the beating must be discontinued. The froth or scum
diffuses itself spontaneously into separate minute particles, that
move about the surface of the liquor, which are marks of an
excessive fermentation. On the other hand, a rightly fermented vat
is easy to work; the froth, though abundant, vanishes whenever the
granulations make their appearance. The color of the liquor, when
drawn out of the steeper into the beater, is bright green; but as
soon as the agglomerations of the indigo commence, it assumes the
color of Madeira wine; and speedily afterwards, in the course of
beating, a small round grain is formed, which, on separating, makes
the water transparent, and falls down, when all the turbidity and
froth vanish.

The object of the beating is three-fold; first, it tends to
disengage a great quantity of carbonic acid present in the liquor;
secondly, to give the newly-developed indigo its requisite dose of
oxygen by the most extensive exposure of its particles to the
atmosphere; thirdly, to agglomerate the indigo in distinct flocks or
granulations. In order to hasten the precipitation, lime water is
occasionally added to the fermented liquor in the progress of
beating, but it is not indispensable, and has been supposed capable
of deteriorating the indigo. In the front of the beater a beam is
fixed upright, in which three or more holes are pierced, a few
inches in diameter. These are closed with plugs during the beating,
but two or three hours after it, as the indigo subsides, the upper
plug is withdrawn to run off the supernatant liquor, and then the
lower plugs in succession. The state of this liquor being examined,
affords an indication of the success of both the processes. When the
whole liquor is run off, a laborer enters the vat, sweeps all the
precipitate into one corner, and enters the thinner part into a
spout which leads into a cistern, alongside of a boiler, twenty feet
long, three feet wide, and three feet deep. When all this liquor is
once collected, it is pumped through a bag, for retaining the
impurities, into the boiler, and heated to ebullition. The froth
soon subsides, and shows an oily looking film on the liquor. The
indigo is by this process not only freed from the yellow extractive
matter, but is enriched in the intensity of its color, and increased
in weight. From the boiler the mixture is run, after two or three
hours, into a general receiver called the _dripping vat_, or table,
which, for a factory of twelve pairs of preparation vats, is twenty
feet long, ten feet wide, and three feet deep, having a false bottom
two feet under the top edge. This cistern stands in a basin of
masonry (made water-tight with Chunam, hydraulic cement), the bottom
of which slopes to one end, in order to facilitate the drainage. A
thick woollen web is stretched along the bottom of the inner vessel,
to act as a filter. As long as the liquor passes through turbid, it
is pumped back into the receiver; whenever it runs clear, the
receiver is covered with another piece of cloth to exclude the dust,
and allowed to drain at its leisure. Next morning the drained magma
is put into a strong bag, and squeezed in a press. The indigo is
then carefully taken out of the bag, and cut with a brass wire into
bits, about three inches cube, which are dried in an airy house,
upon shelves of wicker work. During the drying a whitish
effloresence comes upon the pieces, which must be carefully removed
with a brush. In some places, particularly on the coast of
Coromandel, the dried indigo lumps are allowed to effloresce in a
cask for some time, and when they become hard they are wiped and
packed for exportation.

2. _Indigo from dried leaves._--The ripe plant being cropped, is to
be dried in sunshine from nine o'clock in the morning till four in
the afternoon, during two days, and threshed to separate the stems
from the leaves, which are then stored up in magazines till a
sufficient quantity he collected for manufacturing operations. The
newly dried leaves must be free from spots, and friable between the
fingers. When kept dry, the leaves undergo, in the course of four
weeks, a material change, their beautiful green tint turning into a
pale blue-grey, previous to which the leaves afford no indigo by
maceration in water, but subsequently a large quantity. Afterwards
the product becomes less considerable.

The following process is pursued to extract indigo from the dried
leaves:--They are infused in the steeping vat with six times their
bulk of water, and allowed to macerate for two hours, with continual
stirring, till all the floating leaves sink. The fine green liquor
is then drawn off into the beater vat, for if it stood longer in the
steeper, some of the indigo would settle among the leaves and be
lost. Hot water, as employed by some manufacturers, is not
necessary. The process with dry leaves possesses this advantage,
that a provision of the plant may be made at the most suitable
times, independently of the vicissitudes of the weather, and the
indigo may be uniformly made; and, moreover, that the fermentation
of the fresh leaves, often capricious in its course, is superseded
by a much shorter period of simple maceration.

PRODUCTION OF INDIGO IN INDIA.

maunds.

1840 120,000
1841 162,318
1842 79,000
1843 143,207
1844 127,862
1845 127,862
1846 101,328
1847 110,000
1848 126,565
1849 126,000

Average of the ten years 126,744 maunds.

The yield from the different districts in 1849, was nearly as follows:--

maunds.
Bengal 84,500
Tirhoot 24,500
Benares 9,500
Oude 6,500
---------
125,000

In 1790 the general object of cultivation in Mauritius was indigo, of which from four to five crops a year were procured. One person sent to Europe 30,000 lbs., in 1789, of very superior quality.

CEYLON.--Indigo, though indigenous in Ceylon, is still imported from the adjoining continent, but its growth in this island would be subject to none of the vicissitudes of climate, that in the course of a single night have devastated the most extensive plantations in Bengal, and annihilated the hopes and calculations of the planter at a time when they had attained all the luxuriance of approaching maturity.

The district of Tangalle, in the southern province, is the best adapted to the culture and manufacture of indigo for various reasons, such as the abundance of the indigenous varieties of the plant, the similarity of the climate to that of the coast of Coromandel, where the best indigo is produced; facility of transport by water to either of the ports of export, Galle or Colombo, during the south-east, or to Trincomalee by the south-west monsoon; every necessary material is at hand for building a first rate indigo factory, including drying yards, leaf godowns (stores), steeping vats and presses, except roof and floor tiles--which may be obtained in any quantity from Colombo, during the south-west monsoon, at a moderate rate, compared with their cost at home.

In 1817 an offer was made to the Grovernment to introduce the cultivation of indigo, on condition of a free grant of the land required for the purpose and freedom from taxation for thirty years, after which the usual tax was to be levied; and in case the cultivation were abandoned, the land was to revert to the Crown. But whether from the disturbed state of the colony at the time or from incredulity on the part of the Government, as to the capability of the colony in this respect, the application was unheeded. A subsequent proposal, emanating from a Swedish gentleman of great ability, skill and enterprise, was defeated by his death, although a company was on the point of formation to carry out the scheme. It would not be difficult, says Mr. Barrett, to select 500,000 acres, the property of the Crown, which at a comparatively small expenditure might be brought into a proper state of cultivation for the reception of indigo seed; for very little would be required to be done beyond clearing the land of weeds, burning the grass, and then lightly ploughing and levelling the ground; and whenever manure might be requisite, the fecula of the leaf affords one of the richest that could be employed. Ceylon produces two other plants from which a very valuable blue dye may be obtained by a similar process to that of making indigo. The Singhalese head men of the Tangalle district have long been anxious for the establishment of an indigo plantation there, and would readily take shares in a company established for that purpose. Indigo would seem to have been exported by the Dutch from Ceylon so late as 1794. The wild varieties of indigo which grow on the sea-shore are used by the dobies (_washermen_).

Indigo grows in a wild state in Siam, and all the dye used in the country is manufactured from these plants. The extensive low grounds are admirably suited for the cultivation of this plant.

A large quantity is raised in Manila, but I have no full details of the cultivation in the Philippines. However, in the first six months of 1843, 1,039 piculs of indigo were shipped to Europe, and about 650 to other quarters--equal in all to about 226,000 lbs. in the half year. In the year 1847 the exports of indigo were 30,631 arrobas, equal to about 7,658 cwt.; in 1850 the total exports from Manila were 4,225 quintals.

JAVA.--The cultivation of indigo was introduced into Java in the time of the company. It was so much neglected during the administration of Governor Daendels, that the exportation ceased. It however revived subsequently, and in 1823 the exports were close upon 17,000 lbs. In 1826 it had risen to 46,000 lbs. In the single province of Westbaglen, about 60 square miles in extent, 86 indigo factories were established in the course of seven or eight years. In 1839, the exports of this dye-stuff from Java were 588,764 kilogrammes, valued at 7½ million francs.

It has been found by experience that a good soil is essentially necessary for the plant, and the indigo transplanted from elevated grounds to the rice fields succeeds better and yields more coloring matter than when raised direct on the spot from the seed. The residencies of Cheribon, Baglen and Madura, are those in which the crop succeeds best. From being so exhausting a crop, and finding it prejudicial to their rice grounds, they are gradually abandoning indigo culture in Java, and about two-thirds of the indigo plantations have within the, last year or two been replaced with sugar.

The value of the Java indigo is set down at 250 rupees (£25) per maund. If this be the average price, and it cannot be manufactured lower, Bengal has little to fear from Javanese competition. The product of indigo rose from 276 maunds in 1825, to 28,000 in 1842, and the quantity sold by the Dutch Trading Company in the last-named year was 10,500 chests, of about the same dimensions as those usually exported from Calcutta.

Some further statistics of the culture in Java are shown in the following returns of the quantity exported:--

lbs.
1830 22,063
1835 535,753
1839 595,818
1841 913,693
1843 1,890,429
1851 769,580
1852 838,288

The produce in 1848 was 1,151,368 lbs.

1840. 1841.
Residencies in which this culture is introduced 9 10
Number of factories 728 728
Families occupied with this culture 197,085 192,159
Extent of fields where the cutting has been made
in _bahas_ of 71 decametres 40,844 38,829
Quantity of _bahus_ planted before the gathering 317 538
Quantity of indigo crop in pounds 2,032,097 1,663,427
" average pounds per _bahu_ 49¾ 43

The extent of fields destined for the crop of 1842 was 37,970 bahus, and the amount of the crop was calculated by approximation at 1,862,000.

The gradual increase of the export in the eighteen years ending 1842, is shown as follows:--

Maunds.
1825 76
1826 126
1827 109
1828 310
1829 600
1830 480
1831 563
1832 2,213
1833 2,861
1834 3,310
1835 7,023
1836 5,365
1837 10,822
1838 9,788
1839 15,680
1840 27,946
1841 24,044
1842 28,000

Total imports of indigo into the United Kingdom, and quantity retained for home consumption:--

Imports. Home consumption.
cwts. cwts.
1848 59,127 9,032
1849 81,449 12,270
1850 70,482 16,374
1851 89,994 27,947
1852 83,565 16,381

IMPORTS OF INDIGO.
Mexico and the ports
East Indies. of South America.
lbs. lbs.
1831 6,996,062 ------
1832 6,196,080 66,363
1833 6,315,529 125,264
1834 3,595,697 64,638
1835 3,861,853 88,306
1836 7,218,991 198,003
1837 5,706,896 365,091
1838 6,578,352 142,739
1839 4,651,542 363,148
1840 6,940,192 124,766
1841 7,451,653 247,031
1842 8,931,112 155,003
1843 6,319,294 130,836

Entered for home consumption about two millions and a half pounds
annually. (" Parl. Returns No. 656, September 1843, and 426,
September 1844.")

The consumption of indigo in Europe and North America in round numbers, estimated from authentic sources, is thus set down by Mr. Macculloch in 1849:--

chests.
In Great Britain for home consumption 9,820
" France total for ditto 10,400
" American ports from London and Liverpool 2,500
" " Calcutta 700
" " Holland, &c 400
Other European countries export from London and Liverpool. 21,530
" " Holland 4,270
" " Calcutta 120
" " France 300
----------
50,040

MADDER.

This substance, which is so extensively used in dyeing red, is the product of the long slender roots of the _Rubia tinctorum_, a plant of which there are several varieties. Our principal supplies of this important article of commerce are obtained from Holland, Belgium, France, Turkey, Spain, and the Balearic Isles, the Italian States, India, and Ceylon.

The plant is generally raised from seed, and requires three years to come to maturity. It is, however, often pulled in eighteen months without injury to the quality; the quantity only is smaller. A rich soil is necessary for its successful cultivation, and when the soil is impregnated with alkaline matter, the root acquires a red color; in other cases it is yellow. The latter is preferred in England, from the long habit of using Dutch madder, which is of this color, but in France the red sells at two francs per cwt. higher, being used for the Turkey-red dye. Madder does not deteriorate by keeping, provided it be kept dry. It contains three volatile coloring matters, madder purple, orange, and red. The latter is in the form of crystals, having a fine orange red color, and called Alizaine. This is the substance which yields the Turkey-red dye. The chay root is employed in the East Indies as a substitute for madder, and so is the root of _Morinda citrifolia_, under the name of Sooranjee.

Turkey madder roots realise about 30s. per cwt. About 1,100 tons are annually shipped from Naples, worth about £30 per ton.

Madder has become an article of great request, on account of the fine scarlet color produced from its roots, and is so essential to dyers and calico printers that without it they cannot carry on their manufactures. It is cultivated extensively in Holland, from whence it is imported in large quantities into both England and France, though it is cultivated to some extent in both countries. It has also been raised as a soiling crop, but the coloring matter is of so penetrating and subtile a character, that the flesh, milk, and even the bones of animals fed upon it are said to be tinged to a considerable degree with it. The soils best adapted, and which should be selected for its cultivation, are dry, fertile, and deep sandy loams; the roots are long and fibrous, and descend to a depth of from two to three feet. It may be propagated by seed, which, by some, is thought the best method, but the more usual mode is by the division of, and transplanting, the roots. The ground should be thoroughly and deeply pulverised, clean, and well-manured for the preceding crop, that the manure may be thoroughly rotted and incorporated with the soil: in April or May the suckers will be fit for taking from the older plantations--those of two or three years producing the best. The sets should have roots four or five inches long. Mark out rows two feet apart, with a line, and set the plant with a dibble, one foot apart in the rows. The roots should be dipped in a puddle of fine rich earth and water, beaten to the consistence of cream, previous to planting; let the crown of the plant be clearly over ground, and secure the earth well around the root, to keep out drought. The plantation requires nothing more but to be kept perfectly clean and well-hoed during the summer months; and after the top decays in the autumn, to be earthed up by the plough for the winter, each year, till the plants are three years old, when they are of the proper size and age for lifting, which must be done by trenching the land two feet deep--several hands accompanying the digger to pick out the roots, which must be thoroughly cleaned and dried on a kiln till they are so brittle as to break across, when they are fit to be packed in bags, and sold to the dye-stuff manufacturers who grind and reduce them to powder for use. The produce is variable; usually from eight to twenty cwt. per acre, but as much as 3,000 to 6,000 lbs. is frequently obtained. The forage amounts to about 15,000 lbs. the first year, and 7,500 lbs. the second year. In a new and good soil manure may be dispensed with for the first crop. Some cultivators interline and grow other crops between the rows, but the best cultivators state that such a practice is objectionable. The breadth of land under this crop in England is much reduced, in consequence of the reduction in price from the competition of the Dutch growers.

Madder is extensively grown on the central table land of Afghanistan, forming one of the leading products of Beloochistan.; and, according to Mr. Pottinger, it sells in the Kelat Bazaar at about 10 lbs. for 2s. The cultivation there pursued is as follows:--The ground is repeatedly ploughed, and laid out finally in small trenches, in which the seed is sown, covered slightly with earth, and then the whole is flooded. Whilst thus irrigated, the trenches are filled with a mixture of rich manure and earth. The plants appear in about ten days, and attain a height of three or four feet during the first summer. They are cut down in September and used as fodder for cattle. Subsequently, and until spring arrives, the ground is manured and repeatedly flooded. During the second year's growth, the plants which are intended to produce seed are set apart, but the stems of the remainder are cut every four or six weeks, in order to increase the size and goodness of the roots.

Madder is said to repay a nett profit of 200 dollars to the acre, when properly managed. It produced on the farm of a gentleman, who has devoted some attention to this product in Ohio, at the rate of 2,000 lbs. per acre, and it may be made to produce 3,000 lbs., which is a greater yield than the average crops of Germany and Holland. Nine acres were planted by another person in the United States, in 1839, which he harvested in 1842. The labor required is said to be from 80 to 100 days work per acre.

In the third year the stems are pruned as in the two preceding, and in September the roots are dug up. The roots are fusiform and thin, without any ramifications, and usually from three to five feet long. As soon as raised, they are immediately cut into small pieces and dried, and are then merchantable.

Mr. Joseph Swift, an enterprising American farmer, of Erie county, Ohio, who occupies about 400 acres of choice land, mostly alluvial, in the valley of the Vermilion river, seven miles from Lake Erie, has detailed his practice in the "New Genesee Farmer" (an agricultural periodical), for March, 1843. His directions must be understood as intended for those who wish to cultivate only a few acres, and cannot afford much outlay of capital. Those who desire to engage in the business on an extensive scale, would need to adopt a somewhat different practice:--

_Soil and preparation._--" The soil should be a deep, rich, sandy
loam, free from weeds, roots, stones, &c., containing a good portion
of vegetable earth. Alluvial "bottom" land is the most suitable, but
it must not be wet. If old upland is used, it should receive a heavy
coating of vegetable earth, from decayed wood and leaves. The land
should be ploughed very deep in the fall, and early in the spring
apply about one hundred loads of well-rotted manure per acre, spread
evenly, and ploughed in deeply; then harrow till quite fine and free
from lumps. Next plough the land into beds four feet wide, leaving
alleys between three feet wide, then harrow the beds with a fine
light harrow, or rake them by hand, so as to leave them smooth and
even with the alleys; they are then ready for planting.

_Preparing sets and planting._--Madder sets or seed roots are best
selected when the crop is dug in the fall. The horizontal uppermost
roots (with eyes) are the kind to be used; these should be separated
from the bottom roots, and buried in sand in a cellar or pit. If not
done in the fall, the sets may be dug early in the spring, before
they begin to sprout. They should be cut or broken into pieces,
containing from two to five eyes each; _i.e._, three to four inches
long. The time for planting is as early in the spring as the ground
can be got in good order, and severe frosts are over, which in this
climate (America) is usually about the middle of April. With the
beds prepared as directed, stretch a line lengthwise the bed, and
with the corner of a hoe make a drill two inches deep along each
edge and down the middle, so as to give three rows to each bed,
about two feet apart. Into these drills drop the sets, ten inches
apart, covering them two inches deep. Eight or ten bushels of sets
are requisite for an acre.

_After culture._--As soon as the madder plants can be seen, the
ground should be carefully hoed, so as to destroy the weeds and not
injure the plants; and the hoeing and weeding must be repeated as
often as weeds make their appearance. If any of the sets have failed
to grow, the vacancies should be filled by talking up parts of the
strongest roots and transplanting them; this is best done in June.
As soon as the madder plants are ten or twelve inches high, the tops
are to be bent down on the surface of the ground, and all except the
tip end covered with earth, shovelled from the middle of the alleys.
Bend the shoots outward and inward in every direction, so as in time
to fill all the vacant space on the beds, and about one foot on each
side. After the first time covering, repeat the weeding when
necessary, and run a single horse plough through the alleys several
times to keep the earth clean and mellow. As soon as the plants
again become ten or twelve inches high, bend down and cover them as
before, repeating the operation as often as necessary, which is
commonly three times the first season. The last time may be as late
as September, or later if no frosts occur. By covering the tops in
this manner, they change to roots, and the design is to fill the
ground as full of roots as possible. When the vacant spaces are all
full, there is but little chance for weeds to grow; but all that
appear must be pulled out.

_The second year._--Keep the beds free from weeds; plough the alleys
and cover the tops, as before directed, two or three times during
the season. The alleys will now form deep and narrow ditches, and if
it becomes difficult to obtain good earth for covering the tops,
that operation may be omitted after the second time this season.
Care should be taken, when covering the tops, to keep the edges of
the beds as high as the middle; otherwise the water from heavy
showers will run off, and the crop suffer from drought.

_The third year._--Very little labor or attention is required. They
will now cover the whole ground. If any weeds are seen, they must be
pulled out; otherwise their roots will cause trouble when harvesting
the madder. The crop is sometimes dug the third year; and if the
soil and cultivation have been good, and the seasons warm and
favorable, the madder will be of a good quality; but generally it is
much better in quality, and more in quantity, when left until the
fourth year.

_Digging and harvesting._--This should be done between the 20th of
August and the 20th of September. Take a sharp shovel or shovels,
and cut off and remove the tops with half an inch of the surface of
the earth; then take a plough of the largest size, with a sharp
coulter and a double team, and plough a furrow outward, beam-deep,
around the edge of the bed; stir the earth with forks, and carefully
pick out all the roots, removing the earth from the bottom of the
furrow; then plough another furrow beam-deep, as before, and pick
over and remove the earth in the same manner; thus proceeding until
the whole is completed.

_Washing and drying._--As soon as possible after digging, take the
roots to some running stream to be washed. If there is no running
stream convenient, it can be done at a pump. Take large round
sieves, two-and-a-half or three feet in diameter, with the wire
about as fine as wheat sieves; or if these cannot be had, get from a
hardware store sufficient screen wire of the right fineness, and
make frames or boxes, two-and-a-half feet long and the width of the,
wire, on the bottom of which nail the wire. In these sieves or
boxes, put half a bushel of roots at a time, and stir them about in
the water, pulling the branches apart so as to wash them clean;
then, having a platform at hand, lay them onto dry. (To make the
platform, take two or three common boards, so as to be about four
feet in width, and nail deals across the under side). On these
spread the roots about two inches thick for drying in the sun. Carry
the platforms to a convenient place, not far from the house, and
place them side by side, in rows east and west, and with their ends
north and south, leaving room to walk between the rows. Elevate the
south ends of the platforms about eighteen inches, and the north
ends about six inches from the ground, putting poles or sticks to
support them--this will greatly facilitate drying. After the second
or third day's drying, the madder must be protected from the dews at
night, and from rain, by placing the platforms one upon another to a
convenient height, and covering the uppermost one with board. Spread
them out again in the morning, or as soon as danger is over. Five or
six days of ordinarily fine weather will dry the madder
sufficiently, when it may be put away till it is convenient to
kiln-dry and grind it.

_Kiln-drying,_--The size and mode of constructing the kiln may be
varied to suit circumstances. The following is a very cheap plan,
and sufficient to dry one ton of roots at a time. Place four strong
posts in the ground, twelve feet apart one way, and eighteen the
other; the front two fourteen feet high, and the other eighteen; put
girts across the bottom, middle, and top, and nail boards
perpendicularly on the outside as for a common barn. The boards
must be well seasoned, and all cracks or holes should be plastered
or otherwise stopped up. Make a shed-roof of common boards. In the
inside put upright standards about five feet apart, with
cross-pieces to support the scaffolding. The first cross-pieces to
be four feet from the floor; the next two feet higher, and so on to
the top. On these cross-pieces lay small poles, about six feet long
and two inches thick, four or fire inches apart. On these scaffolds
the madder is to be spread nine inches thick. A floor is laid at the
bottom to keep all dry and clean. When the kiln is filled, take six
or eight small kettles or hand-furnaces, and place them four or five
feet apart on the floor (first securing it from fire with bricks or
stones), and make fires in them with charcoal, being careful not to
make any of the fires so large as to scorch the madder over them. A
person must be in constant attendance to watch and replenish the
fires. The heat will ascend through the whole, and in ten or twelve
hours it will all be sufficiently dried, which is known by its
becoming brittle like pipe stems.

_Breaking and grinding._--Immediately after being dried, the madder
must be taken to the barn and threshed with flails, or broken by
machinery (a mill might easily be constructed for this purpose), so
that it will feed in a common grist-mill. If it is not broken and
ground immediately, it will gather dampness so as to prevent its
grinding freely. Any common grist-mill can grind madder properly.
When ground finely it is fit for use, and may be packed in barrels
like flour for market.

_Amount and value of product, &c._--Mr. Swift measured off a part of
his ground, and carefully weighed the product when dried, which he
found to be over two thousand pounds per acre, notwithstanding the
seasons were mostly dry and unfavorable. With his present knowledge
of the business, he is confident that he can obtain at least three
thousand pounds per acre, which is said to be more than is often
obtained in Germany. The whole amount of labor he estimates at from
eighty to one hundred days' work per acre. The value of the crop, at
the usual wholesale price (about fifteen cents per pound), from
three to four hundred dollars. In foreign countries it is customary
to make several qualities of the madder, which is done by sorting
the roots; but as only one quality is required for the western
market, Mr. Swift makes but one, and that is found superior to most
of the imported, and finds a ready sale.

Madder is produced in Middle Egypt to some extent, for the consumption of the country, principally for dyeing the _tarbouche_ or skull caps which are universally worn. Its culture was introduced in 1825. In 1833, 300 acres in Upper Egypt, and 500 in the Delta and the Kelyout, were devoted to madder roots.

New South Wales is eminently suited to the culture of this valuable root, and as the profits upon its cultivation are very large, I would strongly recommend it to the attention of agriculturists there. The article produces to France an annual sum of one million sterling; the price of the finest quality in the English market being £60 per ton. Its yield varies from £40 to £50 per acre, and the expenses upon its proper culture should not exceed one-half that amount. The colonists would find it to their interest to turn their attention to such articles as this, for which there is an extensive demand at home, instead of confining themselves exclusively to the commoner and bulkier products, which they export at a much less profit, and which when once the market is fully supplied, may fall to a price at which they cannot afford to sell.

The following is a calculation of the expenses generally supposed to attend a crop according to the mode of cultivation practised in Vaucluse:--

Rent per hectare (2½ English acres), 3 years, at £ s. d.
165 francs 19 17 6
Manure, 440 francs £17 12 6
Carriage of ditto, 132 francs 3 5 10
--------- 22 18 4
---------
£42 15 10

These expenses may almost be dispensed with in our colonies, as the soil at Vaucluse has long been exhausted.

Two and a-half acres require 170 lbs. seed, at 2½d. per pound,
which, with the labor afterwards bestowed, including the
cost of spade trenching, will be 30 0 0
---------
£72 15 10

The average produce per hectare is 77 cwt., which, at £1 4s. 2d. per cwt. (the price on the spot), is £93. The price is now much lower, but still it is clear a most profitable return would be derived from the first crop, and a proportionably larger one afterwards.

A considerable portion of the madder roots, instead of being ground and exported in that form, as heretofore, is now exposed, after being invested with dilute sulphuric acid, to a boiling heat by means of steam, by which the coloring matter is considerably altered and improved in quality for some dyeing processes, while the quantity rendered soluble in water is greatly increased. The madder so prepared is known as "garancine," and forms an important branch of manufacture in the south of France, which was well illustrated at the Great Exhibition in 1851, by a collection of specimens supplied by the Chamber of Commerce of Avignon. The spent madder, after being used in dyeing, is now also converted by Mr. H. Steiner, of Accrington, into a garancine (termed _garanceuse_ by the French) by steaming it with sulphuric acid in the same manner as the fresh madder, and thus a considerable quantity of coloring matter is recovered and made available which was formerly thrown away in the spent madder. Both varieties of garancine give a more scarlety red than the unprepared madder, and also good chocolate and black, without soiling the white ground, but are not so well fitted, particularly the garancine of spent madder, for dyeing purples, lilacs, and pinks. The value of the garancine imported from France in 1848 was £59,554, and of that imported in 1851 £93,818. This preparation of ground madder is imported into Liverpool to the extent of from 500 to 600 tons annually from Marseilles, for the use of calico printers in the manufacturing districts. The price is £7 to £8 the ton.

This important root is already cultivated to a considerable extent in Russia but not nearly in sufficient quantity to meet the local demand; so that large quantities are imported from Holland and elsewhere, every year.

The quantity of madder, madder-root, and garaneine annually imported into the United Kingdom is exceedingly large, over 15,000 tons, as is shown by a reference to the following figures:--

Madder. Madder roots. Garancine. Total.
cwts. cwts. cwts. cwts.
1848 81,261 139,463 5,955 276,679
1849 92,736 161,986 4,969 259,691
1850 100,248 161,613 5,845 267,706
1851 92,925 202,091 9,382 304,398
1852 84,385 179,813 ---- ----

We imported from France, duty free, the following:--

Madder. Official value. Madder-root.
cwts. £ cwts. £
1848 54,084 122,851 25,068 70,749
1849 57,108 131,059 23,459 81,274
1850 54,559 123,628 13,693 55,263
1851 65,577 151,502 34,017 167,721

The price in the Liverpool market, in June 1853, for Bombay madder-roots was £1 18s. to £2 14s. the cwt.

INDIAN MADDER.--_Rubia cordifolia_, or _Munjestha_, a variety with white flowers, a native of Siberia, is cultivated largely in the East, particularly about Assam, Nepaul, Bombay, Scinde, Quitta, China, &c., for its dye-stuff, and is known as Munjeet. A small quantity is exported from China and India; about 338 Indian maunds were shipped from Calcutta in 1840, and 2,328 in 1841. It fetches in the London and Liverpool markets from 20s. to 25s. and 30s. per cwt., duty free; 405 tons were imported into Liverpool from Bombay and Calcutta, in 1849, and 525 tons in 1850, but none was imported in 1851 and 1852.