The object of the beating is three-fold;_The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.

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plug is withdrawn to run off the supernatant liquor, and then the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.

It was remarked by the Jury in 1851, at the Great Exhibition, that

this is a valuable dye-stuff, and hitherto not so well appreciated as

it deserves, for some of the colors dyed with it are quite as

permanent as those dyed with madder, and even more brilliant. Its use

however is gradually increasing, and it is unquestionably well worthy

the attention of dyers.

LOGWOOD.--The logwood of commerce is the red heart wood, or duramen,

of a fine lofty growing tree (_Haematroxylon Campechianum_), growing

in Campeachy and the bay of Honduras, and which is also now common in

the woods of Jamaica and St. Domingo. It is principally imported as a

dye wood, cut into short lengths. We chip, grind, and pack it into

casks and bags, ready for the dyers, hatters, and printers' use, who

esteem it as affording the most durable deep red and black dyes. It is

sometimes used in medicine as an astringent. That grown in Jamaica is

least valued that of Honduras, Tobasco, and St. Domingo, fetches a

somewhat higher price; but that imported from Campeachy direct, is the

most esteemed. The annual imports into Liverpool are about 1,300 tons

from Honduras, 100 from Tobasco, and 1,800 from Campeachy.

It thrives best in a damp tenacious soil, with a small proportion of

sand. It is imported in logs, which are afterwards chipped, and is of

great commercial importance from its valuable dyeing properties. Old

wood is preferred; it is so hard as almost to be indestructible by

the atmosphere. The albumen is of a yellowish color, and is not

imported. The bark and wood are slightly astringent. The imports of

logwood into the United Kingdom, were 23,192 tons in 1848, 23,996 tons

in 1849, and 34,090 tons in 1850, of which 3,484 tons were re-exported

in 1848, and 2,307 tons in 1849. The imports in the past two years of

1852 and 1853, have averaged 20,000 tons, of which about 3,000 tons

were re-exported. It is increasing in use, for in 1837, the quantity

retained for home use was only 14,677½ tons. The price varies

according to quality from £4 to £7 per ton.

We received from Honduras 5,401 tons in 1844; and 55,824 tons in 1845.

From Montego Bay, Jamaica, 398 tons were shipped between January and

July 1851.

FUSTIC.--This is the common name of a species of dye wood in extensive

use, which is obtained from _Maclura tinctoria_, or _Broussonitia

tinctoria_, Kunth, a large and handsome evergreen tree, growing in

South America and the West Indies. The wood is extensively used as an

ingredient in the dyeing of yellow, and is largely imported for that

purpose. The quantity entered for home consumption in the United

Kingdom was 1,731 tons in 1847, 1,653 in 1848, and 1,842 tons in 1849.

Ninety-one tons were shipped from Montego Bay, Jamaica, in the first

six months of 1851.

QUERCITRON.---This bark furnishes a yellow dye, of which about 3,500

tons are annually imported in hogsheads of from half a ton to a ton.

296 tons were imported into Liverpool from Philadelphia in 1849, and

514 tons in 1850.

BRAZIL WOOD.--This very ponderous wood is obtained in Brazil from the

_Cæsalpina Braziliensis_, which yields a red or crimson dye, when

united with alum or tartar, and is used by silk dyers. It is imported

principally from Pernambuco, 1,200 quintals having been shipped to

London in 1835, but about 500 tons, worth about £4 a ton, were

imported from Costa Rica in 1845.

The tree is large, crooked, and knotty, and the bark is thick, and

equals the third or fourth of its diameter.

The imports may be stated at about 600 tons annually, the average

price being £50 per ton.

Brazil wood is found in the greatest abundance and of the best

quality, in the Province of Pernambuco, but being a government

monopoly it has been cut down in so improvident a manner, that it is

now seldom seen within several leagues of the coast.

Among the Cuba dye woods is Copey _(Clusia rosea_, Linn).

Braziletto, obtained from _C. Crista_, is one of the cheapest and

least esteemed of the red dye woods, imported from Jamaica and other

West India islands to the extent of 150 tons per annum, fetching £6 to

£8 per ton. 2,361 tons of Nicaragua wood were imported in 1848, 2,701

tons in 1849, and 6,130 tons in 1850.

Spain exhibited various vegetable dyes obtained from cultivated and

wild plants furnished by the Agricultural Board of Saragossa.

LICHENS.

The chief lichens employed in the manufacture of orchil and cudbear

are the following:--

Angola weed (_Ramalina furfuracea_).

Mauritius weed (_Rocella fusiformis_), which comes also from

Madagascar, Lima, and Valparaiso, and then bears the distinctive

commercial name of the port of shipment.

Cape weed (_Rocella tinctoria_), from the Cape de Verd Islands.

Canary Moss (_Parmelia perlata_).

Tartareous Moss (_Parmelia tartarea_).

Pustulatus Moss (_Umbilicaria pustulata_).

Velvet Moss (_Gyrophora murina_).

The last three are imported from Sweden.

Of these lichens, the first, which is the richest in coloring matter,

grows as a parasite upon trees; all the remainder upon rocks.

_Rocella corallina_, _Variolaris lactea_ and _dealbata_, have been

also resorted to.

About 130 tons of cudbear are imported annually from Sweden.

These lichens are found on rocks, on the sea coast. The modes, of

treating them for the manufacture of the different dyes is the same in

principle, though varying slightly in detail. They are carefully

cleaned and ground into a pulp with water, an ammoniacal liquor is

from time to time added, and the mass constantly stirred in order to

expose it as much as possible to the air. Peculiar substances existing

in these plants are, during this process, so changed by the combined

action of the atmosphere, water, and ammonia, as to generate the

coloring matter, which, when perfect, is pressed out, and gypsum,

chalk, or other substances, are then added, so as to give it the

desired consistency; these are then prepared for the market under the

forms of cudbear or litmus.

HENNA (_Lawsonia inermis_), is an important dye-stuff, and the

distilled water of the flowers is used as a perfume. The Mahomedan

women in India use the shoots for dyeing their nails red, and the same

practice prevails in Arabia. In these countries the manes and tails of

the horses are stained red in the same manner. The _Genista tomentosa_

yields red petals used in dyeing, and containing much tannic acid.

ORCHILLA WEED.--The fine purple color which the orchilla weed yields,

is in use as an agent for coloring, staining, and dyeing. About 30,000

lbs. is obtained annually in the island of Teneriffe. 460 arrobas (or

115 cwt.) of orchilla were exported from the Canary Isles in 1833. In

1839, 6,494 cwts. paid duty, and 4,175 cwts. in 1840. The average

imports of the three years ending with 1842, was 6,050 cwt. A little

comes in from Barbary and the islands of the Archipelago.

Dr. W.L. Lindley, in a very interesting paper, read before the

Botanical Society of London, in December, 1852, on the dyeing

properties of the lichens, stated--

The subject of the _colorific_ and _coloring_ principles of the

lichen has, within the last few years, attracted a due share of that

attention which, has been increasingly devoted to organic chemistry.

Since 1830, Heeren, Kane, Schunck, Rochleder and Heldt, Knop,

Stenhouse, Laurent and Gerhardt, have published valuable papers on

these principles; but, here again, we have to regret the great

discrepancy in the various results obtained, and there is therefore,

here also, imperatively demanded re-investigation and correction

before _any_ of the results already published can he implicitly

relied upon, and before we can have safe data from which to

generalise. I have no doubt that a great proportion of the obscurity

overhanging this subject depends on the circumstance that many of

the chemists, who have devoted attention to the color-educts and

products of the lichens, were not themselves botanists, and have

therefore probably, in some cases at least, analysed species under

erroneous names, and also because their investigations have

comprehended a much too limited number of species.

Their utility in the arts, and especially in dyeing--including the

collection of a series of the commercial dye lichens, _i.e._, those

used by the manufacturers of London, &c., in the making of orchil,

cudbear, litmus, and other lichen dyes. While investigating the

dyeing properties of the lichens, I made experiments, with a view to

test their colorific power, on as many species as I could obtain in

sufficient quantity, to render it at all useful to operate on--that

number, however, being very limited (between forty and fifty).

Dr. Lindley adds, many parties may be able to aid his

investigations, by furnishing information on their economic uses,

and on their special applications in dyeing and other

arts--(particularly on their employment, as dye agents, by the

natives of Britain and other countries)--with specimens of the

lichens so used, and their common names--specimens of fabrics dyed

therewith--notes of the processes employed for the elimination of

the dyes, &c. Parties resident in, or travelling through our western

Highlands and Islands, the northern Highlands, Ireland, Wales,

Norway, Iceland, and similar countries, are most likely to be able

to afford this description of information--many native lichens being

still used by the peasantry of these countries to dye their homespun

yarn, &c.

He proceeded to treat--1. The vast importance of this humble tribe

of plants in the grand economy of nature, as the pioneers and

founders of _all_ vegetation. 2. Their importance to man and the

lower animals, as furnishing various articles of food. 3. Their

importance in medicine, and especially in its past history, at home

and abroad. 4. Their importance in the useful and fine arts, and

especially in the art of dyeing. 5. Their affinities and analogies

to other cryptogamic families, and to the Phanerogamia. 6. Their

value as an element of the picturesque in nature; and, 7. Their

typical significance.

He then adverted more especially to the subject of his

communication, under the ten following heads:--

I. The colors of the Thallus and apothecia of Lichens--their causes, and

the circumstances which modify and alter them.

II. History of the application of their coloring matters to the art of dyeing.

III. Chemical nature and general properties of these coloring matters.

IV. Tests and processes for estimating qualitatively, and quantitatively the

colorific powers of individual species--with their practical applications.

V. Processes of manufacture of the Lichen-dyes, on the large and small

scale in different countries--with the principles on which they are founded.

VI. Nomenclature of the dye-Lichens, and of the Lichen-dyes.

VII. Botanical and commercial sources of the same.

VIII. Special applications of the Lichen-dyes in the arts.

IX. Commercial value of the dye-Lichens, and their products.

X. Geographical distribution of the dye-Lichens--with the effect of climate;

situation, &c., on their colorific materials.

Of the four first sections of his paper, the following is a very

short summary or synopsis:--

Under the first head, the author spoke of chlorophylle and various

organic and inorganic substances, which enter into the formation of

the colors of the thallus and apothecia of lichens, and of the

modifications of these colors depending on various degrees of--1.

Exposure to air and light. 2. Temperature. 3. Moisture, &c. 4.

Atmospheric vicissitudes. 5. Season of the year. 6. Nature of the

Gonidic reproduction (_i.e._, gemmation). 7. Nature of habitat. 8.

Organic decomposition. 9. Coalescence of parts, monstrosities, &c.

Under the second section, he traced historically the manufacture of

Lichen-dyes, and the native use of Lichens as dye agents, among

different nations, from the times of Theophrastus, Dioscorides, and

Pliny, down to the present day, sketching briefly the ancient end

modern history of orchil, cudbear, and litmus, and specifying the

native use of lichen-dyes in different, countries of Europe, Asia,

and America. He alluded more particularly to their application to

the dyeing of yarns, &c., by the Scotch Highlanders, under the name

of "_Crottles_." "The process of the manufacture of the various

crottles, generally consisted in macerating the powdered lichen for

two or three weeks, in stale urine, exposing the mass freely to the

air by repeated stirring, and adding lime, salt, alum, or

argillaceous and other substances, either to heighten the color or

impart consistence. To such an extent did this custom at one time

prevail, that, in several of our northern counties each farm and

cottage had its tank or barrel of putrefying urine, a homely but

perfectly efficient mode of generating the necessary amount of

ammonia. In the county of Aberdeen, in particular, every homestead

had its reservoir of "Graith,"[53] and the "Lit-pig,"[54] which

stood by every fireside, was as familiar an article of furniture in

the cots of the peasantry, as the "cuttie-stool," or the "meal

girnel." So lately as 1841 (and I presume the practice continues to

the present day), Mr. Edmonston stated that, of four or five native

dyes, used by the Shetlanders to color cloth and yarns, two at least

were furnished by lichens, viz., a _brown dye_ from _Parmelia

saxatilis_, under the name of "Scrottyie," and a _red_ one from

_Lecanora tartarea_, under that of "Korkalett." It is very probable,

however, that steam and free trade have gradually dispelled this

good old custom, even in the remoter corners of our island;

machinery-made articles being now readily supplied, at a rate so

extraordinarily cheap, as to render it absolutely expensive (as to

time, if not also as to money) to prepare colors, even by a process

so simple and inexpensive as that just mentioned."

Under the third head, he examined, in a general way, the chemistry

of the colorific and coloring matters of the lichens and the results

to which it has led, avoiding as much as possible the technicalities

inseparable from such a subject, and giving a short _vise_ of the

researches of Heeren, Kane, Rochleder, and Heldt, Stenhouse,

Schunck, Laurent, and Gerhardt, and others. "Our untaught senses

should undoubtedly lead us to expect the lichens, whose thallus

exhibits the brightest tints, to yield the finest dyes, and these,

too, of a color similar to that of the thallus, but experience

teaches us that the beautiful reddish or purplish coloring-matters

are producible in the greatest abundance by the very species from

which we should least expect to derive any, viz., in those most

devoid of external color. This, though at first sight very

remarkable, is easily explicable, when we remember that, in most of

the so-called dye-lichens, colorific principles exist in a colorless

form, and only become converted into colored substances under a

peculiar combination of circumstances.

"Some lichens contain coloring matters, ready formed, and these

exhibit themselves in the tint of the thallus of the plants, _e.g._

chrysophanic [or parietinic] acid in _Parmelia parietina_, and

vulpinic acid in _Evernia vulpina_. In other species we find

principles, which, while in the plant, and unacted on by chemical

re-agents, are colorless, but which, when the lichens are exposed to

the combined influence of atmospheric air, water, and ammonia, yield

colored substances. This series of colored products is usually

comprehended more for convenience sake than on account of chemical

identity, under the generic term orceine."

The whole subject of the chemistry of these bodies is at present in

a most unsatisfactory condition, demanding fresh investigation and

research, in illustration of which, the author exhibited tables of

the colorific and coloring principles, so far as they are at present

known, showing their chemical formulæ and the authority therefor,

and various relative information. "It is highly probable that when

the chemistry of the lichens has been more fully studied, and the

whole subject of their color-educts and products better understood,

we shall begin to reduce the present confused mass of complex

substances, and find the same principles more extensively diffused

through different lichen species." Dr. L. entered somewhat minutely

on the chemical reactions of the better known colorific and coloring

principles, and their derivatives, so far at least as these throw

any light on the production and transmutation of the red or purple

colors extracted from what may be termed _par excellence_, the

_dye-lichens_. After a few remarks on the chemical constitution of

orchil and litmus, as given by Kane, Gelis, Pereira, and others, he

discussed the subject of decolorisation of weak infusions of orchil

and litmus by exclusion of atmospheric air, and by various

deoxidising agents, and the different theories as to the causation

of this phenomenon. "I have repeatedly had occasion to notice that,

when weak infusions of these substances are excluded for some time

from atmospheric air, in a bottle, with a tightly fitting cork, they

gradually lose color, but rapidly regain it on re-exposure. It is

curious that both orchil and litmus are what are called transient or

false colors, _i.e._, they slowly lose their bloom and tint by long

exposure to the atmosphere; the coloring matter, therefore, appears

to be decolorised both by exposure to, and exclusion from the air,

phenomena apparently of very opposite characters. The cause of the

latter phenomenon has never, so far as I am aware, been quite

satisfactorily explained; but it has been variously supposed to be

due:--

1. To the mere negation of oxygen.

2. To the development, in the liquids, of various substances,

capable of exerting a decolorising influence on the coloring matter.

3. To deoxidation of the coloring matter by substances, which have a

great tendency to become oxidised or peroxised; _e.g._ hydrogen, in

the case of decolorisation by sulphuretted hydrogen, nascent

hydrogen, and the protoxides of iron and tin, &c.

4. To the fixation of an additional amount of hydrogen in a new

colorless body, formed by the union of the sulphuretted hydrogen or

other substances with the coloring matter of the liquid. This view

is chiefly supported by Kane, who says, "that precisely as the

coloring matters combine with water, to form different shades of

red-colored bodies--with ammonia to produce a series of bodies,

which are blue and purple--so they combined with sulphuretted

hydrogen to form colorless compounds in solution, which, if solid,

very probably would be white." He supposes, in a word, that for

every colored substance existing in orchil and litmus, there is a

corresponding white one, producible by the action of sulphuretted

hydrogen, &c.; and, in proof of this theory, he mentions having

obtained from Azolitmine and Betaorceine colorless bodies, to which

he gave the respective names of Leuco-litmine and Leuco-orceine.

The author then gave a short summary of Dr. Westring's experiments

on the dyeing powers of the Swedish lichens, which he found might be

conveniently divided into four classes, according to the degree of

heat employed in their maceration, viz.:--

1. Lichens, whose coloring matter was easily extractable by _cold_

water alone.

2. Those which required for the elimination of their coloring

matter, maceration in _tepid_ water (_i.e._ below 258 degs. Swedish

thermometer).

3. Those which required maceration in _warm_ water (_i.e._between 50

and 60 degs. Swedish thermometer).

4. Those requiring _boiling_ water alone, or with the aid of

solvents.

"It must be admitted that our knowledge of the true nature of the

colorofic and coloring principles of the lichens is, as yet, very

imperfect and confused, and one great cause of the dubity and

obscurity overhanging the subject, is the fact that different

analysts have arrived at most opposite results, even in the

examination of the same species. For instance, in _Rocella

tinctoria_, which has, of all the dye-Lichens, been most frequently

selected for analytical investigation, on account of its important

product orchil, the discrepancies between the results obtained are

very striking. In it Heeren discovered his _Erythrine_; Kane his

_Erythriline_; Schunk his _Erythric acid_; and Stenhouse three

different substances in as many varieties of the plant; all of these

bodies differing more or less from each other in composition and

properties (at least, if we are to assume, as correct, the

descriptions given of them by their respective discoverers").

"I have already hinted that there is no ratio between the external

and internal color or structure of a lichen, and the kind or amount

of coloring matter it will be found to yield. It is exceedingly

natural to suppose that such a ratio should exist; but, proceeding

for some time on this supposition, I was frequently disappointed in

my results--the most showy and brilliantly colored lichens often

furnishing the dullest and most worthless colors. For instance, the

bright yellow thallus of _Parmelia parietina_, and the beautiful

scarlet apothecia of _Scyphophorus cocciferus_, instead of producing

a rich yellow in the one case, and a deep crimson in the other,

yielded, respectively, only dirty greenish-yellow and brownish

colors. As a general rule I should almost be inclined to say that

the finer the color of the thallus of any given lichen, the more is

that lichen to be suspected of poverty in valuable coloring matters;

and that, on the other hand, the palest pulverulent or crustaceous

species, especially such as are saxicolous, may be expected to yield

the most beautiful and valuable pigments (_e.g._ the Rocellas and

Lecanoras). In such circumstances it is necessary to have some test,

of easy applicability, of the kind and amount of colorific

properties of any lichen, and this fortunately is readily

attainable."

The fourth section of the paper was devoted to the consideration of

the various tests of colorific power, which have been recommended by

different authors. "Of these, the greater number proceed on the

principle of developing the coloring matter by some alkali, in

conjunction with the decomposing action of atmospheric oxygen and

water; others are founded on the reaction between colorific

principles of certain of the dye lichens and some of our ordinary

chemical re-agents." The author noticed in particular--

1. Helot's test, }

2. Westring's tests, }qualitative.

3. Stenhouse's test, }

4. " quantitative.

Helot's test consists in digesting the dried and powdered lichen or

a few hours, at a temperature of 130 degs., in a weak solution of

ammonia, sufficiently strong, however, to be tolerably pungent. One

that is fit for the dyer will yield a rich violet red liquor.

Dr. Westring recommended simply macerating three or four drachms of

the lichen in cool spring water, assisting, perhaps, the solvent

action of the water by minute quantities of common salt, nitre,

quicklime, sulphate of copper or iron, or similar re-agents. If

these means failed, after a sufficient length of time had been

allowed for the development of color, he digested a fresh portion of

the pulverised lichen in water, containing small quantities of

sal-ammoniac and quicklime [in the proportion of 25 parts of water,

1-10th lime, and 1-20th sal-ammoniac for every part of lichen], for

a period varying from eight to fourteen days, and by this process,

he says, he never failed to develop all the color which the plant

was capable of yielding.

Dr. Stenhouse, of London, one of our latest and best authorities on

the chemistry of the lichens, adds to an alcoholic infusion of the

lichen, a solution of common bleaching powder (chloride of lime),

whereby, if it contain certain colorific principles capable of

developing, under the joint action of air, water, and ammonia, red

coloring matters, a fugitive but distinct _blood-red color_ will be

exhibited. The amount of this colorific matter may be estimated

quantitatively by noting the quantity of the chloride of lime

solution required to destroy this blood-red color in different

cases: or the same result may be obtained by macerating for a short

period in milk of lime--filtering--precipitating the filtered liquor

by acetic or muriatic acid--collecting this precipitate on a weighed

filter--drying at ordinary temperatures and again weighing.

The author entered into a full analysis of these tests and

processes--pointing out their respective advantages and

disadvantages--and showing their practical value and applications.

He stated that he had made use of these, and various other tests, in

upwards of 300 experiments, and the one which he employed to the

greatest extent, because most uniformly applicable, was Helot's

ammonia test. The following combination is that most favorable for

the development of the coloring matter of the lichens--viz., the

presence

1. Of _water_ as a solvent menstruum.

2. Of atmospheric _oxygen_.

3. Of _ammonia_, in the state of vapor or in solution, and

4. Of a moderate degree of _heat_;

And according as the proportion of these combining elements varies,

so do the kind and amount of color educed by them. This combination

is the foundation of all the processes for the manufacture of the

lichen dyes throughout the world, however different these may appear

to be in detail or results.

I believe it may come to be a matter of great commercial importance

to discover, at home or abroad, some cheap and easily-procurable

substitute for the _Roccellas_, which are gradually becoming scarce,

and consequently valuable in European commerce, having sometimes

fetched, in times of scarcity, no less than £1,000 per ton. No

plants can be so easily collected and preserved as

lichens--requiring merely to be cleaned, dried, pulverised, and

packed; and if their bulk be an objection to transport, their whole

colorific matter may be collected in the way I have already

mentioned. Ascending to the verge of eternal snows, and descending

to the ocean level--with a geographical diffusion that is

co-extensive with the surface of our earth, it is difficult to say

where lichens shall not be found. There are myriads of small rocky

islets in the boundless ocean, and there are thousands of miles of

barren rocky coast and sterile mountain range in every part of the

world, which, though at present unfit to bear any of the higher

members of the vegetable kingdom, are yet carpeted and adorned with

a rich covering of lichens, and of those very species too, which I

have already spoken of as prolific in colorific materials. I

sincerely believe, therefore, that a more general attention to the

very simple tests just enumerated, would ultimately result in a

greatly extended use of the lichens as dye agents. What renders it

very probable that efforts in this direction are likely to meet with

success is the great similarity of species found all over the world.

It has been repeatedly noticed that the European species, which, of

course, are best known, differ little from those of North America.

Dr. Robert Brown remarked the same fact with regard to New Holland

species, and Humboldt also recognised the similarity in natives of

the South American Andes. Of a large collection made by Professor

Royle, in the Himalayas, Don pronounced almost every one to be

identical with European species. From examining the raw vegetable

products, sent by different countries to the Great Exhibition of

1851, I am satisfied that, even now, there are many fields open for

the establishment of an export trade in _Roccellas_ and other

so-called orchella weeds." I there saw specimens of good dye lichens

from almost every part of the world, including our own young

colonies; and as a single instance of their probable value, I may

introduce here the copy of a note appended to a specimen of orchella

weed from the island of Socotra, contained in the Indian collection

of that exhibition, "_abundant_, but _unknown_ as an article of use

or commerce. Also abundant on the hills around (Aden) and _might_ be

made an article of trade." Roccellas from this source are estimated

as worth £190 to £380 per ton. I believe that a similar statement

might be made with regard to the countless islands of the broad

Atlantic and Pacific, which may, at some future period, perhaps not

far distant, be found to be rich depots of orchella weeds, just as

some of them are, at present, rich fields of guano, and may, as

such, become new nuclei of British commerce and enterprise. Even at

home, in the immediate vicinity of Edinburgh, or, to restrict our

limits still more narrowly, within the compass of Arthur's Seat,

there are not a few very good dye-lichens, which require merely to

be scraped with an old knife or similar instrument, from the rocks

to which they adhere, and subjected to the ammonia process already

mentioned. Of twelve specimens thus collected at random one morning,

I found no less than three yielded beautiful purple-red colors,

apparently as fine as orchil or cudbear, while the others furnished

rich and dark tints of brownish-red, brown and olive-green.

Dr. Lindley's communication was illustrated with specimens of

coloring matters yielded by various lichens collected in the

neighbourhood of Edinburgh, &c.

BARKS FOR TANNING.

Let us now take a brief review of the sources from whence tanning

materials may be obtained, which will also enable us to form a fair

estimate of the prospect of future supplies. Only one medal was

awarded, at the Great Exhibition, for tanning substances, viz., to

Messrs. Curtis, Brothers (United Kingdom, No. 126), but honorable

mention was made of the following competitors:--One from Tunis, one

from Van Diemen's Land, one from New Zealand, one from Belgium, one

from the Cape of Good Hope, one from Canada, and one from the United

Kingdom.

The substance from which pure tannin is most frequently obtained for

chemical purposes is nutgalls, for tannin constitutes above 40 per

cent, of their weight. It may be procured also from several other

sources, such as oak, horse chestnut, sumach, and cinchona barks,

catechu, kino, &c.

The basis of the skins of animals is composed of a substance to which

the name of gelatine is given. One of the properties of this substance

is, that when combined with tannin, it forms the compound of tannate

of gelatine, or leather, a substance which is so useful to mankind.

From time immemorial, the substance employed to furnish the tannin to

the hides of animals, in order to convert them into leather, has been

oak bark. But as the purpose for which oaks are grown is their timber,

and not their bark, the supply of oak bark cannot be calculated upon,

and this is, perhaps, one of the causes why tanning as an art is in

such a backward state.

The consumption of tannin required in the leather manufacture may be

estimated from the fact that more than 672,000 cwts. of raw hides were

imported in 1851, besides the hides of the cattle, &c., consumed in

the United Kingdom. On the Continent and in the United States the

consumption of bark for this purpose is also considerable.

The imports of bark for the use of tanners and dyers has amounted

yearly to the very large quantity of 380,674 cwt., besides what we

obtain at home. Oak bark contains usually the largest proportion of

tannin, and according to Davy's experiments eight-and-a-half pounds of

oak bark are equivalent for tanning purposes to two-and-a-quarter of

galls, three of sumach, seven-and-a-half of Leicester willow, eleven

of Spanish chesnut, eighteen of elm, and twenty-one of common willow

bark. Tannin obtained from these sources, however, differs materially

in some of its characters. The tannin of nutgalls, which is that

generally employed for chemical purposes, is sometimes called

gallo-tannic acid, to distinguish it from other species.

Notwithstanding the number of different substances which have from

time to time been introduced for the use of tanners, it is,

nevertheless, pretty generally acknowledged that there is nothing

superior, or even equal, to good oak bark, and that all attempts to

hurry the process beyond a certain point by the use of concentrated

solutions of tan, &c., are for the most part failures, as the

manufacture of good leather, to a great extent, depends on the process

being conducted in a slow and gradual, but--at the same time--thorough

and complete matter.

Oak bark is, however, by no means the only astringent bark well suited

to the use of the tanner, and in various parts of the world other

similar substances are used with very great success. All these tanning

materials, though they may not be considered by the English tanner

equal to the best oak bark, are, nevertheless, of great value to him;

they may be employed in conjunction with oak bark, or even as a

substitute in times of scarcity, or when the price of oak bark is

high; in fact the very existence of such substances tends to keep down

and equalise the price of bark, and to prevent it from undergoing

those great fluctuations in value which would necessarily occur were

it the only tanning material available to our manufacture--("Prof.

Solly in Jury Reports of Great Exhibition.")

There are a vast number of bark and other substances useful for

tanning purposes, which are found in the tropics, that are

comparatively unknown or little regarded in Europe; but which might be

readily obtained in large quantities and at a trifling cost. The bark

of many species of _Acacia_ furnishes the tanning principle in a great

degree, particularly that of _A. arabica_, which, under the name of

Babul wood, is largely used about Scinde, Biliary, Gruzerat, and other

parts of India; where it is regarded as a powerful tonic. The fruit of

_A. vera_, termed Egyptian and Senegal "bablah," has been employed in

tanning and dyeing. Numerous species of this tribe are found abundant

in New South Wales and the Cape Colony, and these, particularly the

wattle bark of Australia, are in common use for tanning, from their

astringent properties. The bark and rind of the fruit of the

pomegranate (_Pumica Granata_) have similar properties.

The bark of _Avicenna tomentosa_ is in great use in the Brazils for

tanning. So are the curved pods of _Cæsalpinia Coriari_, in the East

and West Indies, under the name of Divi-divi. _Coriaria myrtifolia_ is

not only used in tanning leather, but also for staining black. It is

worth £9 to £10 per ton. _Pterocarpus marsupium_ furnishes about

Tellicherry the concrete exudation called kino, a powerful astringent

used for tanning.

The plants of the mangrove tribe, _Rhizophora Mangle_, and other

allied species, have frequently an astringent bark, which is in many

cases used for tanning and dyeing black. This tree is very common in

most tropical countries, where it forms dense thickets on the muddy

banks of rivers and the sea shores. The bark of _Bauhinia variegata_,

is made use of in Scinde and other parts of Asia. The bitter

astringent bark and the galls of several of the Tamarisk tribe are

also well suited for the purpose.

_Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum_, one of the numerous indigenous species

of the Cape, is used in making morocco leather.

The extract procured from the bark of the _Butea_, that of the

_Buchanania latifolia_, the _Scyzgium_ (_Calyptranthes_), _Jambolana_,

&c., are likely to be of consequence to the tanners, and could be

produced in India in large quantities. Specimens of these, and of the

bark of the Saul tree, of _Nychanthes arbortrista, Terminalia

angustifolia_, and of the gaub fruit (_Diospyros glutinosa_), were

shown by the East India Company. The bark of the hemlock tree is

extensively employed for tanning in New Brunswick.

The bark of yellow hercules (_Xanthoxylum ochroxylon_), and the pods

of _Acacia tortuosa_ are used for tanning in the West Indies.

In the instructions given by the Admiralty to Sir James Boss, when

proceeding on his Antarctic Expedition, his attention was particularly

called to the astringent substances adapted for tanning, and to the

various extracts of barks, &c., imported into England from our

Australian settlements, and which are employed by the tanner. Little

sterling information has as yet been obtained as to the qualities of

the astringent gums, barks, and dyes, yielded in such abundance by the

trees of those colonies, and the proportion of tannin they contained.

In 1846, 563 tons of bark for tanning were exported from Port Phillip.

A large quantity of tannin is extracted from various species of

Eucalyptus, the gigantic gum trees in Australia and Van Diemen's Land

(of which quarter all the species are natives), and sent to the

English market; it is said to be twice as powerful in its operations

as oak bark. Some of these trees attain a height of 200 feet. Their

bark separates remarkably into layers. A sort of kino gum, an

astringent resinous-like substance, is also extracted from _E.

resinifera_, the brown gum-tree of New Holland, which is sold in the

medicine bazaars of India. It exudes in the form of red juice from

incisions in the bark. A single tree will often yield 60 gallons. In

Brazil they use the bark of _Luhea panicata_, an evergreen climber,

for tanning leather; and in Peru the bark of some species of

_Weinmaunia_ serve the same purpose. Among other powerful astringents

I may notice the root of a species of Sea Lavender (_Statice

Caroliniana_), _Myrica cerifera_, and _Heuchera Americana_, all

natives of North America. Also the petals of _Hibiscus Rosa-sinensis_,

a native of Asia.

The sea-side grape (_Coccolaba uvifera_) yields an astringent

substance, known as Jamaica kino.

The bark of the _Cassia auriculata_, and the milky juice of the

_Asclepias gigantea_, are used for tanning in India.

The red astringent gum obtained from _Butea frondosa_, a middling

size tree, common in Bengal and the mountainous parts of India, is

used by the natives for tanning. English tanners, however, object to

its use on account of the color which it communicates to the leather.

The barks of the _Mora excelsa_, Benth; Courida (_Avicenna nutida_),

cashew (_Anicardium occidentale_), guava and hog-plum (_Spondius

lutea_, Linn.), have all been successfully used for tanning in

Demerara and the West India Islands, where they are very abundant.

Specimens were sent from British Guiana.

The root of the Palmetto palm (_Chaemaerops Palmetto_) is stated to be

valuable for the purposes of tanning. The leaves of _Nerium Oleander_

contain tannic acid. The bark of a species of Malphigia is much used

by the Brazilians.

The panke (_Gunnera scabra_) is a fine plant, growing in Chili, on the

sandstone cliffs, which somewhat resembles the rhubarb on a gigantic

scale. The inhabitants eat the stalks, which are subacid, tan leather

with the roots, and also prepare a black dye from them. The leaf is

nearly circular, but deeply indented on its margin. Mr. Darwin

measured one which was nearly eight feet in diameter, and therefore no

less than twenty-four in circumference. The stalk is rather more than

a yard high, and each plant sends out four or five of these enormous

leaves, presenting together a very noble appearance.

The barks replete with the tanning principle should be stripped with

hatchets and bills from the trunk and branches of trees in spring,

when their sap flows most freely. The average quantity of oak bark

obtained from our forests is estimated at 150,000 tons annually, of

which Ireland and Scotland furnish but a very small quantity.

The following table, given by Dr. Ure, shows the quantity of

extractive matter and tannin yielded by different substances:--

In 480 parts In 100 parts

by Davy. by Cadet.

Sicilian sumach 78 --

Malaga ditto 79 --

Souchong tea 48 --

Green tea 41 --

Bombay catechu 261 --

Bengal ditto 231 --

Nutgalls 127 46

Bark of pomegranate -- 32

" Virginian sumach -- 10

" Carolina ditto -- 5

Catechu and Gambier are very valuable for tanning, and are alluded to

under the heads GAMBIER and ARECA PALM.

CATECHU is obtained from the _Acacia Catechu_, an arboreous tree

growing from fifteen to twenty feet high, with a brown and scabrous

bark. The interior wood is brown, dark red or blackish, and the

exterior white, one or two inches thick. It inhabits various parts of

the East Indies, of which it is a native, and is also now common in

Jamaica. It bears whitish or pale yellow flowers.

The catechu obtained from this tree in Pegu, is celebrated throughout

India, and fetches £4 to £5 more per ton than gambier and other

astringent extracts. When of good quality, catechu is more powerful as

an astringent than kino. Of all the astringent substances we know,

catechu appears to contain the largest proportion of tannin, and Mr.

Purkis found that one pound was equivalent to seven or eight of oak

bark for tanning leather.

The term catechu, observes Dr. Pereira, is applied to various

astringent extracts imported from India and the neighbouring

countries. A few years ago the terms catechu, terra japonica, and

cutch were employed synonymously; they are now, however, for the most

part used in trade somewhat distinctively, though not uniformly in the

same sense. The manufacture of catechu from the _Acacia catechu_ as

practised in Canara and Behar, has been described by Mr. Kerr ("Med.

Obs. and Inquiries," vol. v.), and Dr. Hamilton ("Journey through

Mysore," &c., vol. iii.), while Professor Royle has explained the

process followed in Northern India. According to the last-mentioned

gentleman, "the kutt manufacturers move to different parts of the

country in different seasons, erect temporary huts in the jungles, and

selecting trees fit for their purpose, cut the inner wood into small

chips. These they put into small earthen pots, which are arranged in a

double row, along a fireplace built of mud; water is then poured in

until the whole are covered; after a considerable portion has boiled

away, the clear liquor is strained into one of the neighbouring pots,

and a fresh supply of the material is put into the first, and the

operation repeated until the extract in the general receiver is of

sufficient consistence to be poured into clay moulds, which, in the

Kheree Pass and Doon, where I have seen the process, are generally of

a quadrangular form. This catechu is usually of a pale red color, and

is considered there to be of the best quality. By the manufacturers it

is conveyed to Saharunpore and Moradabad, whence it follows the course

of commerce down the Ganges, and meets that from Nepaul, so that both

may be exported from Calcutta."

GAMBIER.

The Gambier plant (_Uncaria Gambler_, Roxburgh, _Nauclea Gambir_,

Hunter), has been described by Rumphius under the name of _Funis

uncatus_. It is a stout, scandent, evergreen shrub, which strongly

resembles the myrtle. It is generally cultivated in the same

plantation with pepper, as the leaves and shoots, after undergoing the

process by which their juice is extracted, to furnish a kind of

catechu, are found to be an excellent manure for the pepper vines. The

leaves and young shoots of the gambier plant are collected as soon as

they have attained a sufficient size, and boiled in iron pans until

the juice acquires the consistence of treacle. The decoction is poured

out into narrow troughs, dried, and afterwards cut up into small

cakes, and packed in baskets for exportation. The gambier extract,

which is of a yellowish brown color, and has the consistence of hard

cheese, is much esteemed by the Malays for mixing with the preparation

of betel, which they are in the habit of chewing; and considerable

quantities have lately been imported to this country, where it is used

for dyeing colors, and for tanning leather. The demand for gambier

here is on the increase; and when better known to our chemists, it

will probably be found applicable to many other purposes than those to

which it is at present applied.

There were, in 1850, 400 gambier and pepper plantations on the island

of Singapore; each measures or occupies on an average an area of 500

fathoms square, and employs eight to ten hands to cultivate and

manufacture the gambier and pepper. There are some pepper plantations

in addition, and they have been found to answer very well without any

gambier being cultivated with them. Gambier cultivation is generally a

losing undertaking, but it is adopted to obtain the refuse of the

leaves for manuring the pepper vines, and also to employ the people in

the plantations; it besides affords the proprietors the means of

getting monthly sums to carry on the cultivation of pepper, which

affords two crops yearly. There were formerly 600 plantations in

Singapore, but the reason already assigned, and the formation of spice

plantations contiguous have caused the abandonment of all those near

the town. Each plantation must have an equal extent of forest land to

that cultivated with gambier and pepper, to enable the manufacture of

the gambier being carried on, and each gambier plantation, of 500

fathoms square, contains about 3,500 pepper vines, which yield on an

average two catties per vine, or 70 piculs of pepper, and about 170

piculs of gambier annually;--a good plantation will, however, yield

sometimes as much as 120 piculs of pepper, and 200 piculs of gambier,

and a bad one as little as 40 to 50 piculs of pepper, and 60 to 80

piculs of gambier. Were it not for the enormous commission charged by

the agents of these plantations, from whom the cultivators get all the

advances, it would prove a profitable cultivation. The rates of

commission charged generally are as follows:--Per picul of gambier,

fifteen to twenty-five cents; per picul of pepper, thirty to forty

cents; and if the price of the former is below one-and-a-half dollars,

and the latter below three-and-a-half dollars per picul, a small

reduction is made in the rates of commission. On every picul of rice

supplied to the planters twenty to twenty-five cents commission is

charged; this includes the interest of money advanced, which is never

charged. A gambier and pepper plantation is valued or estimated at

about 400 dollars on an average. The following is supposed to be a

correct estimate, on an average, of the yearly expenditure and returns

of a gambier and pepper plantation of 500 fathoms square, viz:--

EXPENDITURE.

drs. c. men. drs. c.

Eight men at 3½ dollars and 7 Java rupees per

month, wages for headman and labourers

respectively 22.70 12 272.40

Five piculs of rice, including commission, say 6.50 12 81.60

Fish, &c. 5 12 60.0

Boat or cart hire to carry rice and produce 1¾ 12 21.0

------

435.0

PRODUCE.

170 piculs of gambier, valued at l dollar 45 cents

per picul, less 15 cents commission chargeable,

nett 221.30 -- ---

70 piculs of pepper, at 4½ dollars, less 40 cents

per picul commission, nett 287.0 -- 508.0

Yearly profit, 73 dollars, or about £15.

Several gambier and pepper plantations have been abandoned in

Singapore, partly from the ground being impoverished, but more

particularly from the exhaustion of the forest adjacent to their

estates. The exhaustion of the trees by yearly consumption deprives

the planters of the necessary fire wood which is used for the boiling

down of the gambier. A gambier plantation gets exhausted in fifteen

years, either from the want of firewood or the land getting

impoverished.

There are about 200 plantations at Johore, and the produce of gambier

for the season of 1851 was calculated at 30,000 piculs.

This shrub was, at one period, cultivated with success at Pinang and

other places to the eastward, but as Java was the principal market for

the produce, and the Dutch had levied a duty of twelve Java rupees per

picul on it, the cultivation at the former island did not repay its

cost, and it was accordingly abandoned. Prices have been lately

advancing, and the Chinese are talking of trying it again. The plant

is partial to hilly land or slopes at the skirts of hills. Two hundred

plants are usually placed on one orlong of land, being six feet

asunder. They are raised from seed, and are topped to eight or ten

feet, when the gambier is to be prepared. The Chinese dry the seed

slightly, and sow in rainy weather.

The seeds vegetate in forty days, and are planted out in the second or

third month afterwards.

At the expiration of fourteen months, the first cutting of the

branches, with the leaves on, is made. These are put into a boiler,

and when the juice has been extracted, the branches and refuse are

thrown away, and the boiling is continued until the liquor has

obtained the proper consistence, when it is put into shallow troughs,

dried, and cut into slices for sale. The second cutting takes place

eight months subsequently to the first. The plant now grows strong and

admits of frequent cropping, and it will endure for twenty years. No

manure is used, but the plantation is kept clean.

Estimated cost of cultivating ten orlongs, about 13 acres, according

to Colonel Low:--

Spanish dollars.

Value of cleared land, ten orlongs 200

Six laborers per annum 360

Quit rent 7

Boilers, firewood, and implements 20

Houses 50

Incidental 30

----

Total first year 667

Second year 397

----

1,064

The six laborers on the plantation will, after the above period, be

constantly employed in cutting and preparing the gambier: the average

product will be 15 piculs monthly, which, at two dollars per picul,

will be 30 dollars monthly, or 360 dollars per annum. This is the

account obtained by collating different Chinese statements.

The _Nauclea Gambir_ is placed by Jussieu under the natural order

_Rubiaceæ_; it is a shrub attaining the height of six to eight feet,

branchy; the leaves are ovate, pointed, smooth, waving, distinctly

veined transversely underneath, of dark green color, and, when chewed,

they have a bitter astringent taste, leaving however, afterwards, a

sweetish taste in the mouth, not unlike liquorice; the flowers are

aggregate, globular, composed of numerous florets, crowded on a

globular naked receptacle; tubes of the corolla of a pinkish color;

the upper part of the corolla fine, cleft, and of a greenish yellow

color; the staminæ are five in number, and short; the pistil is longer

than the corolla; the flowers are destitute of fragrance; the capsules

(as correctly stated by Mr. Hunter) are stalked oblong, incrusted, and

crowned with a calyx; tapering to a point below; two celled, two

valved, the valves adhering at the apex, splitting at the sides; seeds

very numerous, oblong, very small, compressed, furnished at both ends

with a membraneous pappus.

The gambier plant is propagated either by seeds or cuttings, but the

latter are preferred. It is cultivated to some extent at Singapore,

but it is said that the gambier can be imported cheaper from the

islands in the vicinity, more especially at the Dutch settlement at

Rhio. The extract is used extensively by the natives of India, Eastern

Archipelago, Cochin-China, and Cambodia, as a masticatory, wrapped up

with the betel.

There are three different qualities of extract; the first and best is

white, brittle, and has an earthy appearance when rubbed between the

fingers (which earthy appearance gave it the name of Terra Japonica,

being supposed, at first also, to come from Japan), and is formed into

very small round cakes. This is the dearest sort, and most refined,

but it is not unfrequently adulterated with sago; this kind is brought

in the greatest quantity from the island of Sumatra. The second

quality is of a brownish yellow color, is formed into oblong cakes,

and, when broken, has a light brown earthy appearance; it is also made

into a solid cube form; it is sold in the bazars in small packets,

each containing five or six. The third quality contains more

impurities than the preceding, is formed into small circular cakes,

and is sold in packages of five or six in the bazar.

The method employed in preparing the extract is thus correctly related

by Finlayson:--"The leaves are collected three or four times a year;

they are thrown into a large cauldron, the bottom of which is formed

of iron, the upper part of bark, and boiled for five or six hours,

until a strong decoction is obtained; the leaves are then withdrawn,

and allowed to strain over the vessel, which is kept boiling for as

many hours more, until the decoction is inspissated; it is then

allowed to cool, when the catechu subsides, The water is drawn off; a

soft soapy substance remains, which is cut into large masses; these

are further divided by a knife into small cubes, about an inch square,

or into still smaller pieces, which are laid in frames to dry. This

catechu has more of a granular, uniform appearance than that of

Bengal; it is, perhaps, also less pure."

The younger leaves of the shrub are said to produce the whitest and

best gambier; the older, a brown and inferior sort. There are other

species of _Nauclea_ indigenous to Singapore, but they do not produce

any extract.

Dr. Bennett has particularised four qualities of gambier:--

1. Small round cakes, about the size of a small lozenge. Color pale,

purplish, yellowish, white.

2. Cubes, in which shape it is principally imported into England, and

square prisms, or oblong pieces.

3. Circular discs, or short cylindrical pieces.

4. Cubical amylaceous pieces, of a darker brown than the other kinds.

Gambier is one of the most powerful of the pure astringents.

The chief places of manufacture are Saik, Malacca, Singapore, and Rhio

or Bintang. Bennett, in his "Wanderings," says there are 60,000

plantations of gambier on this island. After that of Rhio, the next

best gambier is that of Lingin. That used by the Malays, with the

leaves of betel, in the same manner as cutch in other parts of India,

is the finest and whitest; the red being stronger tasted and rank, is

exported to Batavia, China, and England, for the purposes of tanning

and dyeing. It is frequently adulterated with sago powder, but it may

be detected by solution in water.

Large quantities of gambier are imported, under the corrupted name of

cutch, into Calcutta, from Pegu. The quantity of gambier produced in

Rhio, by the Chinese settlers, amounts to about 4,600 tons a year,

about 2,000 of which are exported for the consumption of Java, the

rest being sent to Cochin-China and other neighbouring countries.

Two methods of obtaining gambier are described. One consists in

boiling the leaves in water, and in inspissating the decoction; the

other, which yields the best gambier, consists in infusing the leaves

in warm water, by which a fecula is obtained, which is inspissated by

the heat of the sun, and formed into cakes.

The injudicious practice adopted by the Land Office in Singapore, of

granting indiscriminate licenses, or "cutting papers" as they are

formed, seems open to objection, and is driving many of the Chinese

cultivators to the neighbouring island of Johore, where they readily

obtain permission to cultivate, without obstruction, this important

article of commerce. Parties of 300 or 400 at a time left in 1846. It

appears that, under his permissive license, the squatter obtains

permission to clear as much land as he possibly can, but the order

does not define any extent beyond which no cutting should take place.

The squatter clears as much land as the means at his disposal will

allow, in the hope and expectation that the jungle contiguous to the

cleared ground will be at his command for fuel--a supply of fuel, easy

of access, and adequate to the number of plants grown, being

indispensable to the culture and manufacture of gambier. When the time

for gathering the leaves arrives, another squatter (perhaps from

motives of envy or malice) obtains a "cutting paper," and commences

clearing in close proximity to the already-formed gambier plantation;

obviously depriving the owner of the fuel he has reasonably calculated

upon. The established planter cannot of course eject the intruder from

the land, since the latter possesses an equal right to it, in virtue

of his "cutting paper," which, as it specifies no limits, leaves him

the disposer or destroyer of the crop of the industrious planter.

Instead of the present system, a better practice ought to be

introduced, defining the boundaries to be included in a "cutting

paper," and effectually preventing a trespass on the fuel-land of the

industrious planter. This might easily be effected by specifying the

number of acres, as well as the direction, in every clearing paper

granted.

The average produce of gambier in Singapore is between 7,000 and 8,000

piculs monthly. The ordinary price is about 1¼ dollars per picul. A

deficiency of rain, labor, or other causes, will occasionally reduce

the annual produce from 90,000 or 100,000 piculs, to 60,000 or 70,000,

and this diminished supply will raise the market price of the article

probably 35 cents per picul. But, in addition to the effect occasioned

by a deficient supply, there are other causes in operation exercising

a powerful influence in reducing prices. Gambier was first exported in

1830, from Singapore, to the extent of 2,587 piculs, at 4½ dollars per

picul. As a rival to bark it failed at so costly a price to meet with

encouragement; the culture and manufacture consequently declined until

1834, when 1,858 piculs were shipped to England at a somewhat lower

rate. The demand then became active, the exportations were at first

multiplied, then doubled every succeeding year, until they reached, in

1846-47 no less than 173,117 piculs. The price has gradually declined

to 1¼ dollars per picul, at which rate it displaces its rival, bark.

This price, however, is unremunerative to the grower, so that, unless

more encouragement offers, the supply will decline.

The number of Chinese employed in the cultivation, &c., of gambier

and pepper in Singapore is about 11,000. Their rate of wages

fluctuates with the price of gambier. If a picul of gambier realizes

1½ dollars, the monthly pay will be about three dollars; if gambier

fetches two dollars, their pay will amount to four dollars in the

month. The workmen who clean the plantation always receive a dollar

less than those who cut and boil the gambier.

A good deal of gambier seems now to be grown in Java, for 58,305

piculs were exported from that island in 1843. A small quantity is

taken by the Chinese ports, but whether as a masticatory or for

tanning and dyeing I am not aware.

VALUE OF THE TERRA JAPONICA IMPORTED INTO CEYLON.

1840 611

1841 1,053

1842 768

1843 471

1844 1,153

1845 537

1846 824

1847 1,549

1848 1,095

1849 896

1850 265

1851 386

In the Customs' returns of imports to this country, two articles are

enumerated, under the separate names of cutch and terra japonica; the

former is catechu and the latter the produce of the gambier plant. The

imports of gambier were, in 1836, 970 tons; 1837, 2,738 tons; 1838,

1,600 tons; 1839, 5,213 tons.

Cutch. Terra Japonica.

tons. tons.

1848 Imported to the United Kingdom 1,186 5,623

Retained for home consumption 765 5,102

1849 Imported 1,636 6,851

Retained for home consumption 869 5,400

1850 Imported 1,172 4,585

Home consumption 787 3,655

1851 Imported 2,401 4,783

Home consumption 2,020 4,431

1852 Imported 2,236 3,244

Home consumption 1,708 3,003

Catechu, imported under its Indian name of cutch, is brought over in

bales or baskets of from one to four cwt., the price being £18 to £25

per ton. About 450 cwt. of terra japonica or gambier is annually

imported into Hull from the East Indies. The imports of the two

substances into Liverpool is about 900 tons. Gambier is only worth £13

to £14 the ton; a few years ago it fetched 26s. the cwt. The imports

into the port of London average 1,500 tons annually.

4,679 bales, and 14,436 baskets of terra japonica were imported into

Liverpool in 1851, and 14,000 bales and baskets in 1852. The imports

of cutch were 10,290 bags, and 2,592 baskets, in 1851, and 11,873 bags

and baskets in 1852; the prices, which were from 16s. 6d. to 18s. per

cwt. for each article, in 1851, were rapidly run up in Liverpool, in

1853, owing to short supplies, to 25s. for gambier, and 22s. to 24s.

per cwt. for cutch, or catechu.

EXPORTS OF GAMBIER FROM SINGAPORE, WITH THE OFFICIAL VALUE IN RUPEES.

Piculs. Value in rupees.

1840-41 Exported 79,508 457,560

" Growth of Singapore 59,325

1841-42 Exported 93,340 470,790

" Growth of Singapore 47,696

1842-43 Exported 148,746 548,281

" Growth of Singapore 110,151

1843-44 Exported 139,050 584,449

" Growth of Singapore 121,791

1844-45 Exported 157,654 539,978

" Growth of Singapore 134,528

1845-46 Exported 110,766 425,643

" Growth of Singapore 75,797

1846-47 Exported 173,117 591,943

" Growth of Singapore 143,795

The exports of gambier from Singapore were as follows:--

To England. To the Continent. Total.

piculs. piculs. piculs.

1849 134,546 6,121 140,667

1850 87,611 16,166 103,777

1851 68,365 11,639 80,004

1852 68,045 9,006 77,051

The exports of cutch from Pinang, in the last four years, have

been:--1849, 3,693 piculs; 1850, 900; 1851, 4,143; 1852, 3,880; or, on

an average, 197 tons.

DIVI-DIVI is the commercial name for the curved pod of a leguminous

shrub, _Cæsalpinia coriaria_, which is sometimes imported from

Carthage. Its tannin differs materially from that of nutgalls. The

quantity of mucilage which it contains precludes it from the use of

dyers; but, as it furnishes nearly 50 per cent. of tannin, it is

largely used by curriers. It is imported into Liverpool from Rio de la

Hacha, Maracaibo, and Savanila. 400 tons of the seed pods and bark of

the Algaroba, or Locust-tree (_Prosopis pallida_) were imported in

1849 into Liverpool from Valparaiso, as a substitute for divi-divi in

tanning. 3,200 lbs. of divi-divi were exported from the port of

Augostara, in 1846.

Specimens of divi-divi which had been raised at Calcutta were shown in

the Indian department of the Great Exhibition.

Dr. Hamilton states that, according to some admirably conducted

experiments of Mr. Rootsey, of Bristol, undertaken at his request, the

pods of divi-divi contain above 50 per cent. of tannin. It appears

also, from trials made, that one part of divi-divi is sufficient for

tanning as much leather as four parts of bark, and the process

occupies but one-third of the time.

The average produce of pods from a full-grown tree has been estimated

at 100 lbs. weight, one-fourth of which consists of seeds or refuse,

leaving about 75 lbs. of marketable matter.

At an interval of six feet apart, an acre of ground will contain 1,210

trees, yielding an average of 810 cwts., and 30 pounds, or above 40½

tons of marketable matter, worth, at only £5 per ton, £200. Should the

interval between the trees be extended two feet more, we shall still

have 680 to the acre, the produce of which would not improbably be

increased by the increased space given for the extension of the

branches.

The ground in which this tree admits of being cultivated is that which

is least adapted to the staple products of tropical agriculture;

guinea grass may be profitably raised beneath its shade and as with

the exception of the three years which precede the commencement of its

bearing, there is hardly any deduction to be made from its returns, it

promises to be among the most valuable objects of a planter's

attention.

Jacquin describes the _Cæsalpinia coriaria_ as a handsome branching

tree, of about fifteen feet in stature, covered with a dark spotted

bark. Its leaves are doubly pinnate, and the leaflets of twelve pair

without a terminal one; they are oblong, obtuse, smooth, very entire.

The flowers are disposed in spikes issuing from the extremities of the

branches; they are small, yellowish, and slightly fragrant. To these

succeed oblong, compressed, somewhat obtuse pods, curved laterally,

the inner side being concave and the other convex. The seeds rarely

exceed three or four in each pod, and are of a brownish color.

Divi-divi resembles a dried pea-shuck curled up, filled with yellow

powder, and a few dark brown seeds. The price ranges from £8 to £13

per ton.

The imports into the United Kingdom in 1844, were 3,900 tons; in 1845

and 1846, about 1,400 tons each year; during the subsequent three

years the imports were merely nominal, but in 1850 a renewed demand

seems to have sprung up, for 2,770 tons were imported into Liverpool,

and a few tons into London.

CORK-TREE BARK (_Quercus suber_) has been imported into Ireland to a

considerable extent, frequently to the amount of 1,500 tons annually.

The quantity of cork imported annually into the United Kingdom is

about 3,000 tons. It is brought from Spain, Italy, and Barbary. Oak

bark and valonia being very cheap and plentiful, the price of cork

hark is only nominal, being, for Spanish cork-tree bark, £7 10s. to £8

per ton; Leghorn ditto, £6 to £7 per ton. It is less astringent than

oak bark, and is more generally useful for stoppers of bottles and

bungs for casks. 160 tons of cork-tree bark were imported into

Liverpool from Rabat in 1849, and 150 tons in 1850.

1,867 cwts. of bark for tanning were imported from Chili in 1844, of

which 292 were Quillai bark.

MIMOSA BARK.--The bark of the _Mimosa decurrens_, which abounds in

Australia and Van Diemen's Land, is found to be a very powerful

tanning agent.

The first shipment of tannin was made from Sydney to England as far

back as 1823, in the shape of an extract of the bark of two species of

mimosa, which was readily purchased by the tanners at the rate of £50

per ton. One ton of bark had produced four cwts. of extract of the

consistency of tar.

In 1843, 3,078 tons of mimosa bark was shipped from Port Phillip to

Great Britain. The price then realised in the London market was £12 to

£14 per ton, but it has since declined to £8 a ton. The quantity of

this bark to be procured in the colony is quite inexhaustible. The

price of chopped mimosa bark in Australia, for export, in the close of

1846, was £2 5s. per ton. Bark valued at £912 was exported from Van

Diemen's Land in 1848.

The imports of mimosa bark have only been to a limited extent within

the last few years, reaching 350 tons in 1850, against 110 tons in

1849, 230 tons in 1848, and 600 tons in 1847. The prices realised were

£10 to £11 for chopped, £12 to £12 10s. for ground, and £8 to £9 per

ton for unchopped bark. Whilst the imports were 3,900 tons in 1814,

they dwindled to less than 400 tons in 1850.

From an experiment, conducted by Professor Brandt, the strength of the

mimosa bark, as compared with that of young English oak bark, is found

to be in the proportion of 57 to 39, so that the mimosa bark is half

as strong again as the best English bark.

Mr. Samuel Mossman, in a communication to the Botanic Society of

Edinburgh, in 1851, stated that the bark of _A. dealbata_ pays to ship

to England, notwithstanding the distance, from the fact of its

containing a greater per centage of tannin than any other bark. It is

a handsome tree, from fifteen to thirty feet high, forming luxuriant

groves on the banks of streams, most abundant in Port Phillip and

Twofold Bay, between the parallels of latitude 34 and 30 degrees.

New Zealand is rich in barks and dyes. The bark of the Tanahaka

(_Phyllodadus trichomanoides_, of Don) is used by the natives as a red

dye for the ornamental parts of their kaitahas, their best border

garments. There is also another red dye, called Tawaivwai, the bark of

which is very profuse. A black dye is procured from the hinau. They

are of a rich hue, and exceedingly fast colors. The barks are to be

found all over the colony. The hinau and tanahaka are employed in

tanning, all the leather used in the colony being tanned either at the

Bay of Islands or Port Nicholson.

The bark of the Rimu or red pine (_Dacrydium Cupressinum_, of

Solander), a very common tree, possesses tanning qualities far

superior to any of the Australian barks. One pound of the bark yields

85 grains of extract.

The native tanning barks of New Zealand are various and easily

obtained. Specimens of the bark and dye, &c., of most of these trees

were sent home to the Great Exhibition. One pound of the Tanahaka bark

is said to yield 63 grains of tannin. The sails of boats are dyed with

it to preserve them. The Towai (_Licospermum racemosum_, of Don,

_Weinmaunia racemosa_, Decandole), is supposed to be valuable for the

purposes of the tanner, and is said to yield 104 grains of tannin for

every pound of bark. The bark of the Pohutu kawa of the natives, the

_Metrosideros tomentosa_of Richard, and _Callistemon ellipticum_ of

Allan Cunningham, would also be useful for tanning, one pound of it

furnishing about 60 grains of tannin.

The bark of the Hino tree, the _Elæocarpus hinau_ of Cunningham, the

_Dicera dentata_ of Forster, is used by the natives for dyeing black.

The black mangrove (_Rhizophora mangle_) is a tree attaining an

altitude of from 30 to 50 feet, and occupying marshy situations in the

vicinity of the sea. Almost every part of the mangrove--the bark,

roots, and the fruit more particularly--abounds in an astringent

principle, which is successfully applied to the purposes of tanning.

As the tree is so abundant within the tropics, it might be worth the

while of some practical speculator to make an extract on the spot, and

introduce it into the English market, for the use of tanners and

dyers. For tanning, the mangrove is said to be infinitely superior to

oak bark, completing in six weeks an operation which with the latter

occupies at least six months, and the sole-leather so tanned is said

to be more durable than any other. The bark and leaves, which contain

nearly as much tannin as the oak, are made use of in the West Indies,

as well as in Scinde and other parts of Asia.

3,713 piculs of mangrove bark, valued at £819, were shipped from

Shanghae, one of the Chinese ports, in 1849.

MYROBALANS.--This is a name applied to the almond-like kernels of a

nut or dried fruit of the plum kind, of which there are several sorts

known in the East. They are the produce of various species of

_Terminalia_, as _T. Bellerica, chebula, citrina_, and _angustifolia_.

They vary from the size of olives to that of gall nuts, and have a

rough, bitter, and unpleasant taste. Many of the trees of this tribe,

which are all natives of the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and

America, are used for tanning, and some for dyeing. They are highly

valued by dyers, creating, when mixed with alum, a durable dark brown

yellow. Myrobalans fetch in the Bombay market 8s. to 26s. the Surat

candy of 821 lbs. The bark and leaves of _T. Catappa_ yield a black

pigment, with which Indian ink is made; the seeds are eaten like

almonds. A milky juice is said to flow from _T. angustifolia_, which,

when dried, is fragrant, and, resembling Benzoin, is used as a kind of

incense in the Catholic churches in the Mauritius. The fruit of _T.

Bellerica_, and of _T. Chebula_, both useful timber trees, indigenous

to the East Indies, are used medicinally as a tonic and astringent.

117 cwts. of myrobalans were shipped from Ceylon in 1845.

The annual imports of myrobalans into Hull, amount to about 1,600

cwts. The quantity which arrived at Liverpool was 185 tons in 1849,

851 tons in 1850; 27,212 bags in 1851, and 19,946 bags in 1852; they

come from Calcutta and Bombay, and are also used for dyeing yellow and

black. The price in January, 1853, was 6s. to 12s. per cwt. The

average annual imports into the United Kingdom may be taken at 1,200

tons.

KINO.--The Kino, of Botany Bay and Van Diemen's Land, is the produce

of the iron bark tree, _Eucalyptus resinifera_. White ("Journal of a

Voyage to New South Wales"), says this tree sometimes yields, on

incision, 60 gallons of juice. Kino is imported in boxes. The

tincture of kino is used medicinally, but an inconvenience is

frequently found to arise, from its changing to the gelatinous form.

Dr. Pereira seems to think this species of kino consists principally

of pectin and tannic acid. That chiefly used as East Indian kino, is

an extract formed by inspissating a decoction of the branches and

twigs of the gambler plant. Vauquelin analysed it, and found it to

consist of, tannin and peculiar extractive matter, 75; red gum, 24;

insoluble matter, 1.

The East Indian kino, imported from Bombay and Tellicherry, is the

produce of _Pterocarpus marsupium_, a lofty, broad-spreading forest

tree, which blossoms in October and November. The bark is of a greyish

color, and is upwards of half an inch in thickness on the trunk. When

cut, a blood-red juice speedily exudes and trickles down; it soon

thickens, and becomes hard in the course of fifteen or sixteen hours.

The gum is extracted in the season when the tree is in blossom, by

making longitudinal incisions in the bark round the trunk, so as to

let the gum ooze down a broad leaf, placed as a spout, into a

receiver. When the receiver is filled it is removed. The gum is dried

in the sun until it crumbles, and then filled in wooden boxes for

exportation.

_P. erinaceus_, a tree 40 to 50 feet in height, a native of the woods

of the Gambia and Senegal, furnishes kino, but none is collected in or

exported from Africa. _Butea frondosa_, or the dhak tree of the East

Indies, furnishes a similar product, in the shape of a milky, colored,

brittle, and very astringent gum. Kino is used as a powerful

astringent, and is administered in the form of powder and tincture.

Some specimens of Butea kino, analysed by Prof. Solly, after the

impurities had been separated, yielded 73¼ per cent. of tannin.

VALONIA is the commercial name of the cupula or cup of the acorn,

produced by the _Quercus ægilops_ and its varieties, the Balonia or

Valonia oak, natives of the Levant, from whence, and the Morea, they

form a very considerable article of export; containing abundance of

tannin they are largely used by tanners. The tannin differs materially

from that of nutgalls. The bark of _Q. tinctorea_, a native of North

America, yields a yellow dye.

The quantity of valonia imported for home consumption, in 1836, was

80,511 cwts., of which Turkey furnished 58,724 cwts., and Italy and

the Ionian islands 7,209 cwts. Of 163,983 cwts. imported in 1840,

143,095 cwts. were brought from Turkey, 15,195 cwts. from Italy, and

the residue from Greece and the Ionian Islands. The entries for home

consumption in the three years ending with 1842, amounted to about

8,200 tons a year. The increase since has been considerable, the

imports having been, in 1848, 10,237 tons; in 1849, 16,671 tons; in

1850, 12,526 tons; in 1851, 10,639 tons; in 1852, 13,870 tons. We

receive about 14,000 to 20,000 cwts. annually from Leghorn. The

imports into the port of Hull are 3,900 cwts. per year.

The prices of Smyrna valonias are from £13 to £14 per ton; those of

picked Morea, £10 per ton. The duty received on valonias imported in

1842 was about £4,000.

The annual produce is sufficient to meet the wants of all Europe. It

can be had in Turkey to any extent and at all periods. Many cargoes

are sent to Dublin, and the German markets. A little valonia is

exported from Manila, the shipments having been about 150 tons per

annum.

Camata and Camatina are two varieties of very young valonias, which

are found more valuable for some processes of tanning than the common

kinds.

Extensive as has been the enumeration of the vegetable substances used

in the various branches of art and manufacture which have formed the

principal subjects of this section, it is probable that with the

progress of knowledge, of scientific experiment, and of investigation

into the properties of given commodities, the list will be

indefinitely increased. What I have stated will suffice to give the

reader an idea of the surprising variety of sources from which we

receive the raw materials which enable us to perfect some of the most

elegant processes of manufacturing skill and ingenuity, and will

further afford some criterion--though, of course, not a perfect

one--for estimating the relative importance of the tanning and dyeing

substances.

The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. · 第 15 / 20 章

The object of the beating is three-fold; first, it tends to