118 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



and tapers ; an erect, furrowed, and prickly stem, branching near the top, five 

 or fix leet high ; entire leaves springing on the margin and surfaces, those on the 

 stem opposite and joined at the base, and generally filled with water. Scales, 

 recurved at the apex, surround each of the florets, which are aggregated on 

 burs from li to 4 inches long; when the flowers have faded, these receptacles, 

 having dried and hardened, and possessing elasticity, give the mature heads 

 the value for which the plant is cultivated. The harder and more elastic the 

 heads, the better the quality of the teasel; hence the farmer should select a 

 still, strong soil, which is found to be most dcsii-able for the purpose. Good 

 wheat laud is generally good teasel land. 



Teasels are liable to be winter-killed in extreme cold weather unless pro- 

 tected by a covering of snow. From present appearances, it seems probable 

 that in the State of New York one-third of the teasel plants were killed during 

 the past winter from this cause. When the plants are very small they are 

 sometimes in danger of drying or burning up from extreme hot weather. Con- 

 tinued warm wet weather is unfavorable to this crop in July, after the blossoms 

 have set, softening and rusting the burs. 



The seed is planted from April 25 to May 20 in drills 3J feet apart, and 

 covered by rolling or brushing. They are cultivated and hoed for the first 

 time about June 10, and should be kept free from weeds during the season. 

 The first year they spread out near the ground, similar to the bull thistle. 

 (Teasels were formerly called "fuller's thistles.") 



The second year they are hoed once during the month of May, and thinned 

 from eight to twelve inches apart ; where the plants have been winter-killed, 

 the spaces are sometimes filled by careful transplanting. The plant rapidly 

 shoots up and soon attains a height of from five to six feet, branching out in 

 difierent directions, bristling with teasels, which blossom and ripen from the 

 first to the last of August ; those at the top of the stalk, and the largest, are 

 called "kings," and are cut first; the "middlings," or "mediums," grow on 

 the end of the branches, and are cut next ; the " smalls" at the sides of the 

 main branches, and are cut last. 



The cutting may be done by men and boys, gathering into baskets, using 

 small hooked knives. Stout clothing and long leather gloves should be worn. 

 An expert man will cut ten or twelve thousand per day of the first and second 

 cuttings. 



The crop must be carefully assorted and cured in bams or sheds by spread- 

 ing them on rails, and should be frequently ]ia;idled with large wooden forks 

 to prevent heating, and also to clean them from seed, which falls out easily ; 

 they are then packed in boxes four feet square at the end and ten feet long. 



Before using, the spurs and stems are clipped with shears ; this can be done 

 with boys' labor at an expense of about 20 cents per thousand. The manu- 

 facturers then set them in rows on the periphery of a large broad wheel, which 

 is made to revolve at a high speed, and in such a manner as to bring them in 

 contact v.'ith the surface of the cloth which passes over rollers in an opposite 

 direction. 



Many substitutes have been contrived of wires and springs, but nothing has 

 been found which possesses the peculiar qualities of the teasel for raising the 

 nap on woollen fabrics, the teasel points breaking off Avhen meeting with knots 

 or irregularities in the cloth, which the metallic cards would tear out. It 

 would almost seem as if Kature had created this otherwise useless plant for 

 this express purpose. The beautiful symmetry and regularity of the pointz 

 on the teasel heads, and their wonderful elasticity, seem to mock at the skill 

 of man. 



"For art may err, but uature cannot miss." 



" King" teasels are used on heavy coarse cloths for overcoating and blank- 

 ets; " medium," or middlings, are used the most, and on any of our medium 



