Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-19
THE 0LDEST DYEKN0WN
INDIGO INDUSTRY BEGAN IN
EGYPT AND BABYLON.
It is Reported to Be in It's Decline In
Central America-An Inter
esting Process.

San Salvador Corr Pttsburg Gazette.
Probably the Oldest. dyestuff known II
man Is indigo. 1t might be too much to say
that Noah's garments were colored with Il
when he took his historic cruise; but 1t Il
hardly to be doubted that Joseph's coat OF
many colors owed at least good part Of
It's br1lliance to the use Of this common
article. Indigo has been found in the
Egyptian pyramids; in the ruined cities OF
Babylonia, and in the shops and the houses
OF Pompeif 1t is product Of many diff
ferent plants, is found in nearly all coun
tries. and has for untold ages been used
by the savage and the enlightened alike.
And yet at the present time indigo Is
produced, in commercially important guam
titles, In but two sections of the globe
Central America and India in the neighbor
hood OF Bengal. These are the last strong
holds of an industry that was once world
wide. The chemist has succeeded in I'M
proving on the roundabout process of ma
ture to such an extent that the indigo farm,
er, like the cochineal raiser, has been al
most driven from the business.
Ihat 1t still survives in India and Central
america is due in both cases rather to The
demand of native tribes, who will accept
no substitute, however excellent. than tt
the requirements of civilization; although
a considerable quantity is still exported
1or special purposes to the United States
and Europe.
Natures Bountiful Provision.
1t Is said that there are $50 species CT
indigo-producing plants known to the bot
anists. But one Is cultivated in Central
America, and that is known scientifically
as "isatis tinctoria,' but popularity as
giquislete. 1t is a shrubbery annual grow
ing two to three feet in height, with pen
nate leaves of dull blush green. 1t is
the nearest approach to a weed native &c
these ATTITUDES, and, together with wild
ginger, gives considerable trouble to the
owners of fruit plantations. 1t produces
long, beautiful racemes of pale red flowers
which in turn give way to hundreds of tiny
Seeds
The indigo planter sows his seed about
the list of April in drills one foot apart
From that time forward constant wedding
and hoelng are necessary to keep down the
growth or ginger, reeds. ferns and grasses
that would otherwise retard the growth #
the crop and further injure 1t by the neces-
sity of being cut with 1t.
BY the last of June or the first Of july
the plants begin to blossom and the first
crop is harvested The plants are cut Off
close to the ground with a short, sharp
machete, tied in bundles and carried to the
sleeping watts. Almost Immediately new
shoots start from the old roots and in two
months more another. but smaller crop is
secured. Still third crop is cut in No
vember, after which the roots die.
Extracting the Color.
The bundles Of freshly cut giquslete are
packed in huge watts. 1t Is then weighte ed
down with heavy wooden beams and large
stones, and enough water is let in to just
cover 1t. In ten to twelve hours fermenta-
ton begins. so much gas being released
that the great bubbles rising to the .op
he 0f
In short time the water becomes light
green in color, when it is drained off by
pipes running from the bottom of the vat
into another placed at lower level. More
water is then run into the upper vat, and
this becomes green like the first.
In the second vat the green liquid is
violently agiat by being beaten with
rods, or sometimes by paddles run by
they express it. Agitation causes the liz aid
to change It's color from green to a bright
blue, and to deposit a sediment In the bot
tom Of the vessel After being allowed to
drawn off into a third vat at a still lower
level, from which it Is pumped into a
boiler.
After being slightly heated the liquid is
again allowed to settle, clear water rising
to the top. AS much of this as possible is
skinned off and the residue is then
brought to the boiling point. 1t is then
poured upon very fine cloth stretched
over wooden framework and allowed to
drip. When drained to the consistency OF
thick cream it is removed and subjected to
enormous screw pressure, causing it to be-
come about as hard as cheese. 1t is then
cut by brass wires into cubes three inches
square, and when these are dried and pol
ished they are ready for market.
Decline of an Industry.
The finest indigo is packed in "serons -
which are rude shapeless cases made of
dried OK skins. 1t is claimed that no other
method of packing for shipments prevents
deterioration of quality so we'll as this,
well made serons being perfectly alright
and moisture proof
Twenty years ago the exports of indigo
from Central America exceeded $500, OOC
pounds, valued at approximately S. 1850 600
Exact statistics of production at the pres
ent time are unobtainable, but probably the
exports are not more than one-twentieth of
what they were at the period above stated
The reason is to be found, not in a falling
off in the demand for indigo dyes but In
the discovery Of a method Of compoundina
these dyes in the laboratory at a less ex-
pense than that necessary to extract them
from the giquislete.
Twenty years ago or whereabouts DR..
Bayer Of Munich discovered a method OF
extracting indigo from coal tar, and from
that time forward the cultivation of giquis-
lete has steadily declined. The artificial
product Is almost Identical, chemically
with the natural. and is secured at little
expense from what was formerly regarded
not merely as useless but as a nuisance.
The evolution Of coal tar from it's former
position as a waste product to it's present
commercial Importance must in fact be re-
garded as one of the most wonderful tri-
umphs of the new chemistry. Not only are
a great variety Of dyes obtained from it,
but it is largely used in the manufacture
Of printers ink and black varnish. Saccha.
rin-much sweeter than sugar and harmless
in the worst case of diabetes, where the use
of sugar would mean death-is obtained
from TIE same uncompromising source; as
are also many perfumes, favoring extracts
and drugs.
However, the advance Of science cannot
convert the native Central American to the
use Of any substitute for natural giquislete
dyes; and until the native races of Aztec
Toltec and Indian descent become entirely
extinct this branch of tropical agriculture
will remain Of considerable local impor.
lance.
NI>or Yo,,rpe1iam prosparo