plant on the second year is avoided by changing the soil; or, in other words, by a rotation of crops.  The produce per acre of the first cutting is about 60 lbs.  It is nearly as much in North America; but when the thermometer falls to sixty, the returns are very uncertain, that degree of heat being too low for the necessary vegetation, maceration, and fermentation.  The yieldings for the subsequent cuttings somewhat diminish; but in Jamaica and St. Domingo, if the land is new, about 300 lbs. per acre of the second quality may be expected annually from all the cuttings together; and four negroes are sufficient to carry on the cultivation of five acres, besides doing other occasional work, sufficient to reimburse the expenses of their maintenance and clothing.”

The process for obtaining the dye, according to the same author, was conducted through the means of two cisterns, the one elevated above the other, in the manner of steps.  The higher, which was also the longer, was named the sleeper—­its dimensions sixteen feet square and two and a half in depth.  The second, into which the fluid was discharged, was called the battery; it was about twelve feet square, and four and a half in depth.  These cisterns were of stone; but strong timber answered remarkably well.  There was also a lime-vat, six feet square and four feet deep, the plug of which was at least eight inches from the bottom.  This was for the purpose of permitting the lime to subside, before the lime-water was withdrawn.  The plants then being ripe, or fit for cutting, were cut with reaping-hooks, or sickles, a few inches from the ground—­six was the minimum—­and placed by strata in the sleeper, until it was about three parts full.  They were then pressed with boards, either loaded with weights or wedged down, so as to prevent the plants from floating loosely; and as much water was admitted as they would imbibe, until it covered the mass four or five inches deep.  In this state it was allowed to ferment until the water had extracted the pulp.  To know when this had been thoroughly effected, required extreme attention and great practical knowledge; for if the fluid were drawn off too soon, much of the pulp was left behind; and if the fermentation continued too long, the tender tops of the plants were decomposed, and the whole crop lost.  When the tincture or extract was received in the battery, it was agitated or churned until the dye began to granulate, or float in little flakes upon the surface.  This was accomplished at one period in Jamaica by paddles, worked by manual labor, and, in the French islands, by buckets or cylinders, worked by long poles; but subsequently—­that is, at the time Edwards wrote—­convenient apparatus was constructed, the levers of which were worked by a cog-wheel, kept in motion by a horse or mule.  When the fluid had been churned for fifteen or twenty minutes, a small quantity was examined in a cup or plate, and if it appeared curdled or coagulated, strongly