HISTORY
280 BOOK V.
OF
THE
success by Messrs. Dangdale and Mongon, indigo planters in, that island) were published by authority, to this effect: the indigo has been steeped in the cistern eight or nine hours, draw off a little of the water, and with a pen dipped into it, make a few strokes upon 'white paper. The first will probably be high coloured, in which cafe the indigo is not sufficiently fermented; this operation is to be repeated every quarter of an hour, until it loses its colour; when it is arrived at the true point of fermentation.� “ AFTER
is astonishing that an experiment so simple in itself, if it answers, should have been for so many years unknown to the indigo planters in general; and I confess, that, although I have had no opportunity of giving it a trial, I am myself somewhat doubtful of its efficacy. The following method, which I give on the authority of Mr, Lediard, is, I conceive, attended with much greater certainty: IT
“ LET a small hole be made in the steeper, fix or eight inches from the bottom, exclusive of the opening or aperture for drawing off the impregnated water; let this hole likewise be flopped with a plug, yet not so firmly but that a small stream may be permitted to ooze through it. After the plants have been steeped some hours, the fluid oozing out will appear beautifully green, and at the lower edge of the cistern, from whence it drops into the battery, it will turn of a copperish colour. This copperish hue, as the fermentation continues, will * gradually