On the Cultivation and Manufacture of Woad. 329 



land for a corn crop that has hitherto been discovered; 

 and, if the land is properly chosen for it, and well ma- 

 naged, will be found very profitable, more particularly at 

 this time, when its price is advanced to almost an unpre- 

 cedented degree : theretbre I conceive that in renderino its 

 cultivation and preparation better known and understood, 

 it may be greatly beneficial to the nation. 



I have the honour to be a member of the Bath and West 

 of England Agricultural Society, where many noble and 

 exalted characters unite their talents to promote the public 

 benefit. And to one of its earliest and most respectable 

 members I presume to address this information. 



I have been many years a considerable consumer of 

 woad, and have also cultivated it with much success : and' 

 ihough 1 am well experienced in the usual method of its 

 preparation, I was induced to depart from it in consequence 

 of the great waste of its juices in the old method of grind- 

 ing and balling. But I shall endea\"our to give instructions 

 for carrying on each process, and leave those who shall 

 undertake it to proceed as ihev thmk best. 



This plant is cultivated in different parts of England for 

 the use of the dyers, as well as in France, Germany, &c. 

 It is best to sow the seeds in the month of March, or early 

 in April, if the season invite, and the soil be in condition 

 to receive it j but it requires a deep loamy soil, and is bet- 

 ter still with a clav bottom, such as is not suhjeci to be- 

 come dry too quickly. 'It must never be flooded, but si- 

 tuated so as to drain its surface, that it may not be poisoned 

 by any water stagnant upon it. 



If (at any reasonable price) meadow land to break the 

 turf can be obtained, it will be doubly productive. This 

 land is generally freest Irom weeds and putrid matter- 

 though sometimes it abounds with botts, grubs, and snails. 

 However, it. saves much expense in weefling; and judi- 

 cious management will get rid of these otherwise destructive 

 vermin. A season of warm showers, not loo dry or loo 

 wet, gives the most regular crop, and produces the best 

 woad. 



If woad is sown on corn-land, much expense generally 

 attends ho<^ing and w ceding : and here it will require strong 

 manure, though on leys it is seldom much nccessarv, yet 

 land cannot be too rich for woad. On rich land dung 

 should be avoided, particularly on levs, to avoid weeds. Soirie 

 people sow it as grain, and harrow ii in, and afterwards hoe 

 It as turnips, leaving the plants at a distance in proportion 

 to ihc strength of the land : others sow it in ranks by a drilU 



' plough, 



