MADDER. 227 



Soil and preparation. " The soil should be a deep, 

 rich, sandy loam, free from weeds, roots and stones. Al- 

 luvial bottom land is the most suitable, but it must not be 

 wet. If old upland is used, it should receive a heavy coat- 

 ing of vegetable earth, from decayed wood and leaves. The 

 land should be plowed very deep in the fall, and early in the 

 spring apply about one hundred loads of well-rotted manure 

 per acre, spread evenly and plowed in deeply, then harrow 

 till quite fine and free from lumps. Next, plow the land 

 into beds four feet wide, leaving alleys between three feet 

 wide, then harrow the beds with a fine light harrow, or rake 

 them by hand so as to leave them smooth and even with the 

 alleys ; they are then ready for planting. 



Preparing sets and planting. Madder sets or seed 

 roots are best selected^when the crop is dug in the fall. The 

 horizontal uppermost roots with eyes are the kind to be 

 used ; these should be separated from the bottom roots and 

 buried in sand, in a cellar or pit. If not done in the fall, 

 the sets may be dug early in the spring, before they begin to 

 sprout. They should be cut or broken into pieces, contain- 

 ing from two to five eyes each. The time for planting is as 

 early in spring as the ground can be got in good order, and 

 severe frosts are over, which in this climate is usually about 

 the middle of April. With the beds prepared as directed, 

 stretch a line lengthwise the bed, and with the corner of a 

 hoe make a drill two inches deep along each edge and down 

 the middle, so as to give three rows to each bed, about two 

 feet apart. Into these drills drop the sets, ten inches apart, 

 covering them two inches deep. Eight or ten bushels of sets 

 are requisite for an acre. 



After-culture. As soon as the plants can be seen, the 

 ground should be carefully hoed, so as to destroy the weeds 

 and not injure the plants ; and the hoeing and weeding 

 must be repeated as often as weeds make their appearance. 

 If any of the sets have failed to grow, the vacancies should 

 be filled by taking up parts of the strongest roots and trans- 

 planting them ; this is best done in June, As soon as the 

 madder plants are ten or twelve- inches high, the tops are 

 to be bent down on to the surface of the ground, and all ex- 

 cept the tip end, covered with earth shoveled from the 

 middle of the alleys. Bend the shoots outward and inward, 

 in every direction, so as to fill all the vacant space on the beds, 

 and about one foot on each side. After the first time cover- 

 ing, repeat the weeding when necessary, and run a single 



