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withered by lying out of the ground, their roots 

 Ihould be fct upright in water for a few hours, which 

 will (liiTcn and recover them again. 

 In the planting of Madder, there are fome who make 

 the rows but one foot afunder, others one foot and a 

 half, foniC two feet, and others who allow them three 

 feet diftance j I have made trial of the three laft dif- 



1 have found Vvhen the roots have been left 



tances, anc 



three years in the ground, that three feet diftance row 

 from row is the beil ; but if it is taken up in two 

 years, tv/o feet afunder may do very well ; and the 

 diilance in the rows, plan, from plant, fliould be one 

 foot, or a foot and a halt. 



if there is no danger of the ground being too wet in 

 winter, the plants may be planted on the level ground ; 

 but if on the ccnirary, the ground fnouid be raifed in 

 ridges where each row of plants is to be fet, that their 

 rooLs may not reach the water in winter, for if they do, 

 it wall Hop their downright growth ; and this is the 

 reafon why the Dutch, who plant Madder in the 

 Low Countries, raife their ridges fo high as two or 

 three feet •, and in Zealand, w^here the ground is drier, 

 they raife the beds four or five inches above the inter- 

 vals, that the wet may drain off from the beds where 



the Madder is planted. 



The method of planting is as follows: viz. the ground 

 beino- made fmooth, a line is drawn acrofs it to mark 

 out the rov/s, that they may be ftrait, for the more 

 convenient cleaning, and for the better digging or 

 ploughing of the ground between the rows ; then with 

 an iron-fhod dibble, holes are made, at the diftance 

 which the plants are to ftand from each other. The 

 depth of the holes muft be in proportion to the length 

 of the roots of the plants, which muft be planted the 

 fame depth they had been while they were upon the 

 mother plants ^ for if any part of the root is left above 

 ground, the fun and v/inds will dry them, which 

 will retard the growth of the plants ; and Ihould any 

 part of the green be buried in the ground, it will not 

 be fo well ; though of the two, the latter will be lefs 

 prejudicial, efpecially if there is not too mucli of 

 the green buried. ''"'''' ^' " ~^--- 



I 



i 



When 



holes, the earth fhould be ptefled clofe to them to 

 fecure tTiem from being drawn out of the ground, for 

 crows and rooks frequently draw the new plants out 

 6f the 'ground before they get new roots, where 

 there is not this care taken : fo that in two or tliree 

 days, I have 'known half the plants on a large piec^ of 

 land deftroyed by thefe birds. 

 If there happens to be fome fhowcrs of rain 



fall 



m 



• -. 



I I 



a day or two after the plants are planted, it will be 

 of great fervice to them, for they will prefently put 

 out new roots, and become ftrong; fo that if dry 

 weather (hould afterward happen, they will not be 

 in fo much danger of fuffering thereby, as thofe which 

 are later planted. There are fome who, from a co- 

 vetous temper of making rrioft ufe of the gWitnd, 

 'ptant a row of Dwarf Peas or Kidney Beans between 

 each row of Madder, and pretend that thereby the 

 land is kept cleaner from weeds ■, but I am very cer- 

 tain the crop of Madder is injured thereby much more 

 than the value of thofe things which grow between 

 the rows, ais I have experienced •, tlierefore I advife 

 "thofe perfons "wlio plant Madder, never to Tow or 

 plant any thing between the rows, but to keep the 

 Madder quite clean from weeds, or any other kind of 



Vegetable. 



In order to keep the ground thus clean, it fhould be 



Scuffled over with a Dutch hoe, as foon as the 



over 



yoiihg "weeds appear. 



When 



great deal of this work in a day, and if it is done in 

 dry weather, the weeds will die as faft as they are cut 

 do\vn ; whereas, when the weeds are left to grow in 

 the'Tpring, fo as to get ftrengtii, they are not fo foon' 

 deftroyed, and the expence of hoeing the ground then 

 will be more than double ; befides, there will be dan- 

 ger of cutting down fome of the weaker plants with 

 the weeds, if the perfons employed to perform this 

 v/ork are not very careful j therefore it is much 



cheaper, as alfo better fpr the Madder, to begin this 



work early in the fpring, and to repeat it as often as 



tlie weeds render it nccclfary ; for by keepino- the 

 ground thus conftantly clean, the Madder will thrive 

 the better. 



firft fummer, the only culture v/hich 



Durinj^; the 



the Madder requires, is that of kccpiiig it clean in 

 the manner before dircftcd ; and when tlie flioors or 

 haulm of the plants decay in autumn, it fliould be 

 raked off the ground ; then the intervals between the 

 rows ftiould be either dug w^ith a fpade or plouo;hcd 

 with a hoeing plough, laying up the earth over the 

 heads of the plants in a roundilh ridge, v/hichv.'ill be 

 of great fervice to the roots. The Dutch cover the 

 haulm- of their Madder with earth, leaving it to rot 

 upon the ground ; this perhaps m.ay be neceffary in 

 their country, to keep the froft out of the ground -, but 

 as I have never found that the fevereft winters in 

 England have injured the Madder roots, there is not 

 the fame necefllty for that practice here. 

 The following fpring, before the Madder begins to 

 fhoor, the ground lliould be hoed and raked over 

 fmooth, that the young fnoots may have no obftruc- 

 tion ; and if there lliouid be any young weeds ap- 

 pearing on the ground, it fliould be firft feu filed over 

 to deftroy the weeds, and then raked over fmooth ; 

 after this, the fame care muft be taken in the follow- 

 ing fummer to keep the ground clean ; and if it is 

 performed by the hoe plough, the earth of the in- 

 tervals fliould be throv/n up againft the fide of the 

 ridges, which will earth up the roots, and greatly in- 

 creafc their flrength -, but before the ground of one 

 interval is fo hoed, the haulm of the plants fhould be 

 turned over to the next adjoining interval ; and if they 

 are permitted fo to lie for a fortnight or three weeks, 

 and then turned back again on thofe intervals which 

 were hoed, obferving firft to fcuffle the ground to 

 deftroy any young weeds which may have appeared 

 fince the ftirring of the ground ; then the alternate 

 int>ervals fhould be ploughed in like manner, turning 

 the earth up againft the oppofite fides of the roots; 

 by this method the intervals will be alternately 

 ploughed, and tlie plants earthed up, whereby the 

 ground will be kept clean, and ftirred, which will 

 greatly promote the growth of the roots; and by 

 this method the fuperficial Ihoots will be fubdued, 

 and the principal roots greatly ftrengthened. The 

 followino; autumn the ground fliould be cleared of 

 the haulm and weeds, and the earth raifed in ridges 

 over the roots, as in the foregoing year. 

 The third fpring the roots will furnifti a great fupply 

 of young plants ; but.before thefe appear, the ground 

 fhould be cleaned and raked fmooth, that the fhoots 

 may have no obftrudtion to their coming up ; and 

 when the young plants are fit to take off, it fhould 

 be performed with care, alwaystakingoff thofe which 

 are produced at the greateft diftance from the crown 

 of the other plants, becaufe thofe are what rob them 

 moft of their nourifhment, and the wounds made by 

 Separating them from the old roots are not near fo 

 hurtful as thofe near the crown ; for the ftripping off 

 too many of the flioots there, will retard the growth 

 of the plants. 



The culture of the Madder in the third fummer muft 

 be the fame as the fecond ; but as t"he roots will then 

 be much ftronger, the ^earth fhould be laid up a 

 little higher to them at the times when the ground is ^ 

 cleaned ; and if all the diftant fuperficial fhoots, which 

 come up in the intervals are hoed or ploughed off, it 

 Avill be of fervice to ftrengthen the larger downright 

 root ; and as the haulm will now be very ftrong and 

 -thick, the frequent turning it over from one interval 

 -to another will prevent its rotting -, for if it lies long^ 

 in the ftme pofition, the flioots'which are near the 

 ground, where there will be always more or lefs damp> 

 and being covered with the upper fhoots, the air will 

 be excluded from them, which will caufe them to ror, 

 for the flioots of Madder arc naturally difpofed to 

 climb up any neighbouring fupport ; and in places 

 'where they have been fupported, I have feen them 

 more than ten feet high ; but the expence of flaking 



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