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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



There are now patent filters for cattle in the market, but 

 any farmer can make as good a one for himself as any we 

 have seen. Portable ones may be made to travel from field 

 to field in summer, for filling troughs with pure filtered 

 water. Sometimes the filtering apparatus is placed between 

 the pump and the water to be filtered, so that in pumping 

 the water is drawn upwards through the charcoal. In other 

 cases the water percolates downwards through the charcoal. 

 Tanks and wells in our fields, instead of the present 

 dirty ponds, and the filtration of water into these, involve a 

 vast amount of mechanical detail, and also no little chemistry; 

 but into questions of this kind we do not propose to enter at 

 present, as almost every case requires special data for itself. 



We now come to the finale — " Will it pay ? " And to 

 this interrogatory an afiirmative answer must without doubt 

 be given. The question, it will have been seen, is one of 

 economy under three separate heads, and in each of these 

 there will be a balance in favour of pure water more than 



sufficient to cover the extra expense of purification. In 

 other words, (l)"a saving will be effected in the economy, or 

 rather perhaps we should say the chemistry, of food, which 

 will do more than cover this extra expense — (2) the reduc- 

 tion in the daily waste upon the body — i. e. the increase in 

 the quantity of butcher-meat and milk — with an improved 

 state of health, will likewise do more than cover the extra 

 outlay— and (3) the improvement of the breed and quality 

 of butcher-meat and milk will also do more than pay for 

 the extra expense of purification. Moreover, where the 

 subject is practically taken up, the pollution of rain, river, 

 and spring water is greatly prevented, so that the work of 

 purification is in a corresponding manner reduced thereby. 

 The present sanitary movements in all our large towns have 

 for their ultimate object the purification of our rivers and 

 streams, now everywhere polluted with sewage, so that 

 both these movements are now being made to include alike 

 man and beast. X. Y. Z. 



THE CULTIVATION OF MADDER. 



It is discouraging to find that with the progress of 

 our manufacturing industries — for the textile ones, and 

 even some others — we are becoming largely, and in 

 some instances exclusively, dependent on foreign coun- 

 tries. The greatest part of our cotton still comes from 

 the United States. For wool we are less dependent, as 

 we have our own southern colonies. For flax and silk we 

 are largely indebted to foreigners ; and in like manner 

 we draw from foreign sources a great portion of our sup- 

 plies of dyes and tanning materials. The dyes are of 

 great importance, and offer large returns to the pro- 

 ducer. Our Indian possessions furnish us with supplies 

 of indigo ; but there is a wide field for enterprise in the 

 supply of colouring substances in many of our colonies. 

 As an instance we may take the article of madder, for 

 which there is now an immense demand. Why should 

 we pay a million annually for this dye root to the Con- 

 tinent, when it might be produced so easily in many of 

 our colonies ? The culture at present centres chiefly 

 in some of the departments of France, in southern 

 Europe, Turkey, Syria, the two Sicilies, and Spain. 

 Although it is a crop demanding care and outlay, yet 

 the return is considerable, the average price ranging at 

 about £-2 5s. or more the cwt., while the yield is fully 

 one ton per acre. There is a large demand, not only 

 in Russia, Austria, and other European countries for 

 madder, but the United States pays annually about 

 £200,000 for this article. Hence attention has lately 

 been prominently directed by the American government 

 to the importance of extending the culture of the root 

 there, many of the States being well suited to its pro- 

 duction, both as regards soil and climate. 



Madder has occasionally been cultivated in England, 

 but without any voi'y great success or beneficial results, 

 owing to the unsuitability of the climate and the high 

 price of land. Hence, a crop which takes three or four 

 years to mature and harvest will scarcely pay. That, 

 however, there are many of our colonies in which it 

 might be raised to great advantage, we fully believe. 



especially in Australia and Southern Africa j and with 

 this view we desire to draw attention to the subject, and 

 to collect and arrange a few instructive hints, so that 

 some of the hundreds of thousands of pounds now spent 

 on the Continent may go into the pockets of our coun- 

 trymen in the Colonies, rather than into those of 

 the foreigner. 



In France the culture of madder is chiefly carried on 

 in the department of Vaucluse, of which the town of 

 Avignon is the centre. The soil is peculiarly favour- 

 able to the development of the root, being calcareous, 

 light, and rich. A clayey soil will produce good mad- 

 der, but its working is difficult. A soil, therefore, in 

 which sand enough prevails with the clay to render it 

 friable, is that which is to be chosen. It must be 

 deeply cultivated, as the roots, which constitute the 

 value of the crop, run down very far. The ground 

 requires to be well manured. The rich polders or re- 

 deemed meadows, both in Holland and Flanders, are 

 favourite spots for the cultivation of this crop. The 

 fine alluvial " bottoms" produced by the sea abound 

 in soda and siliceous sand. Such differences in the 

 constituents of the soil exercise a great influence on the 

 production of the red colouring matter of this root. 

 Hence, Zealand madder contains more of the yellow 

 and less of the red colouring matter than the better 

 sorts of the French product. In Vaucluse madder is 

 raised from seed sown in spring ; in Zealand it is pro- 

 pagated from shoots or offsets planted in May. 



We need not follow in detail the culture, which 

 merely requires loosening the soil, keeping clear from 

 weeds, and feeding off the herbage. The roots of the 

 older plants have much more value than those which 

 are younger. The madder which is not taken up until 

 the third year produces much more and of a better 

 quality than that which is gathered in the second j 

 but the increased expense and rent of the land are sel- 

 dom compensated by the increased product. 



The harvesting appears to be a work of much labour. 



