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part (or head of the root) GOir.e out many fide roots, 1 in quantity, has been for feveral years difcontinqed, 

 which extend juil under the iurface of the ground to I fo the method of culture is not well known to many 

 a great diftance, wiiereby it propagates very faft i for j pcrfons here i and as^ there is at prefent an inclination 

 thefe fend up a great number of fiioots, which, if | in the public to regain this loft branch of trade (f( 

 carefully taken off in the fpring, foon after they are 

 above ground, become fon\any plants. Thefe roots 

 arc of a dark colour on their outfide, fomev/hat tranf- 

 parcnt, and have a yellowifli red pith in the middle, 

 which is tough and of a bitterifli tafle ; from the root 

 arife many large, foL^r-cornercd, jointed ftalks, which 

 in good land will grow five or fix feet long, and, if 

 fiipported, fomctimes fcvcn or eight ; they are armed 

 with fnort herbaceous prickles, and at each joint are 

 placed five or fix fpear-lhaped leaves, about three 

 inches long, and near one broad in the middle, 

 drawing to'a point at each end ; their upperTurfaces 

 are fmooth, but their midrib on the under fide are 

 armed with rough' herbaceous fpines ^ the leaves fit 

 clofe to the branches in whorls. From the joints of 

 the ftalk come out the branches, which fuftain the 

 flowers ; tliey are placed by pairs oppofite, each pair 

 croITing the other; thefe have a few fmall leaves, to- 

 ward the bottom, which are by threes, and upward 



formerly there was not only enough of this commo- 



, dityraifed in England for our own confumption, but 



alfo great quantities of it were fent abroad,) fo wi 



Ihall here give a full account of the culture of the 



plant, and alfo of the method of preparino- the root 



- for ufe ; and ihall begin with the method now prac- 



^ tifed in Zealand, where the beft and greateft quantity 



of Madder is now raifed. 



. In all the Netherlands, there is no w^here better 

 Madder cultivated,' than in Schowen, one qf the 

 ifiands of Zealand^ v/hich is performed in the follow- 

 ing manner: . ,. ., , . . 



The land which *is defigned for Madder, if it is 



^ ftrcng and heavy, is ploughed twice in autumn, that 



■ the froll in winter may mellow it and break the clods ; 



" then'it is ploughed again in the fpring, juft before 



the time of planting the Madder ; but if the ground 



is light, tlien it is ploughed twice in the fpring; at 



the laft ploughing it is divided into lands of three feet 



by pairs oppofite V the branches are terminated by ] broad, ^ith furrows betv/een each land foui or five 



loofe branching fpikes of yellov/ flowers, which are cut 

 into four fegnients i'efembling ftars. Thefe appear in 



inches deep. Madder requires a loamy fubt^andal 

 foil, not too fliff and heavy, nor over light and fandy j 



June, and are fometimes fucceeded by feeds which 1 for although it maj thrive tolerably well in the latter, 



fcldom ripen in England. 



The fecond fort grows naturally in Spain, and in the 



;, ,fouth of France ; this- hath perennial roots like thofe 



of the firfl: fort, but are much larger; the ftalks of 



' this are fmaller than thofe of the firft fort, and are al- 



yet fuch land cannot have a fecond crop of MadJ;:r 

 planted'upon it in lefs than eight or ten years inter- 

 val; But in Schowen^ wKere the land is fubftanfial, 

 they need not ftay longer than three cV^ four years, 

 in which interval the ground is fown with Corn, or 



moft fmooth ; their lower parts' are garnifi^ed with j planted with any kinds of pulfe. It is granted, that 



narrow leaves, placed by fevens in whorls round the j ; the beft land for producing of Madder is in Sclio- 



ftalks, but upward they diminllh to four, three, and 



tw^o toward the top ; thefe are rough on both fides ; 



at each joint of the ftalkcomes out two ftiort foot-ftalks 



, oppofite, having two fm all rough leaves, aiicl'end with 



'"*^ branching fpot-ftalks,* fuftaining fmall yellowTflowefs". 



* ' This "lort flowers the latter end of Tune, but does not 



uce feeds here. 





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The third forrgrbws^riatufally In Spain and the Ba- 

 leriac Iflands ; I received the feeds of this , fort from 

 Gibraltar, and. alfo from Minorta, where the plants^ 

 grew out of the crevices of the rocks. ■ The roots of 

 this fort are much fmaller than thofe of the two fof- 

 ' mer, but are lefs fucculeht ; they "ftrikedieep'into the 

 ;. ground, and fend up feveral ilender four-cornered 



ftalks which are perennial ; they grow a foot and a 

 ' half long, and divide into many branches, whofe 



joints are very near each other; they are garnillied 



with fliort ftiff rough leaves, placed by fours round I 

 ., the ftajk; they are about an inch long, and half an' 

 .^ inch broad in the middle, of a Jucid green, and con- ' 



tihue all the year. ..This hath not' produced flowers in 



;^ wen, ,w,he]^e A^geijiet .of whicjii^, three huff- 



:; dred fquare rods of twelve feet eacW vill yield from 

 -.i one thoufand pounds to three thoufand pounds weight, 

 according to the goodnefs of the land and the fa- 

 - yqurablenefs'^of the feafons; but in light land J the 

 *f Viiantity is from fiive hundred to atlioufand pounds 



.,,,,The tipie for planting of Madder begins toward the 

 '^'^" end p( April, and continja^s all May,' and fometimes 

 ■\, in ^ very backward fprings, there is fome Madder 

 '^'' planted the beginning of June. ^The yo\ing fhoots 

 ', from the fides of the root are taken off from the mo- 

 V.J ther plant,' with' as much root as pofiible; thefe are 

 '-'/called kiemen, and are planted with an iron dibble in 

 rows at one foot afunder, and commonly four kiemen 





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m a row. 





England. 



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, r There is a Tort which grows naturally in Wale$,'^and 

 *"'alfd Upon "St. Vincent's roclc^ wKich has' four leaves 



The quantity of thefe flips (or kiemen) as is required 

 to plant one gemet of land, are fold at different 

 prices, according to the price which Madder bears, or 

 to the demand for the plants ; tliey are often fold 

 ; from fixteeh to twenty guilders, and fometimes they 

 have beehfold for ten to eleven pouhds Flemifti, but 



• the loweft price is 



:. Flerhifli. • . . ■ ' 



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fifteen guilders to three pounds 



at each joint, but thefe are narrower and longer than j .The expence of planting out a gemet of land with 

 thofe of the third fortV the ftalks of this are peren- j . . flips (or kiemen) cofts for labour only, from fixteen 



nial, and the leaves evergreep. \ .p? t^^at Miv liay, has 

 ^V.iniftaken this plant, having fuppofed^ it to Be tKe 

 ;;^ fecond, which hath annual ftalks rifing'mucli higher, 

 J;," therefore I ftiould rather think it might be We third 

 ■"^ fort, if they were equally hardy ; but the third fort is 



^^fp tender,' as 'fo be always killed by fevefe frofts' in 



';^ England, if expofed to the ^dpen air. -. 



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^% The firft fort is that which is cultivated for the ufe 

 .•!\ of the dyers and callico printers, andisfo cflTentialto 

 ^\. both manufaftories, as that neither of thofe bufioeflfes, 

 .^ can be carried on without this commodity ; and the 



, as that upon a mo- 



' confumption of it is fo great here 

 '"^3era% computation, there is annually fo m*uch of it 



imported from Holland, as the price of it amounts' 



to mqre than one hundred and eighty thoufand pounds 



fterling ; which might be faved to the public, if a 



fuflicient quantity of it were planted in England, 



where it might be cultivated to greater advantage j . three or four inches of earth. 



to twenty guilders, according as the land is heavy or 

 light : there aie generally employed fix rnen to plant, 

 two Jo rake the ground^ thefe earn eacH a guilder a 

 day ; and five or fix women or boys, called carpers or 

 pluckefs of the Ihoots^or kiemen, thefe earn twelve 

 DiitcK pence a day, "or two fchillings. . ; 

 The firft yeai- the Madder is planted, it is cuftomary 

 to plant Cabbages or Dwarf Kidney-beans, in the fur- 

 rows between the beds, but there is always great care 

 taken to keep the ground clean from weeds ; this is 

 generally contracted for at two pounds Flemifh for 



each geniet of land. - 'V> :- - \ / , . ' - . 

 In September or C)6lober, when the young Madder is 

 cleaned for the laft time thatfeafon, the green haulm 

 (or ftalks) of the plants, is carefully fpread down over 

 the beds, without cutting any part off, and in No- 

 vember tlie Madder is covered over the haulm with 



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than in Holland, the lands here being better adapted 

 to grow this J)larit. '^ut as the growing of this plant 



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{This covering of the Madder, is performed either 



'with the plough or with ;h? fpadei.if it is done bv' 



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