A natural dye is successful, the author maintains, only when measured against the requirements of the product to be coloured. Good natural dyeing produces colours that are bright, clear, and rich in complexity, but the techniques are delicate and time-consuming. He describes problems of fastness, effects of natural dyes on fibres, health hazards, sources for each colour (blue, yellow, red, brown and black, green), and the special problems of light shades.