Ch. XXIX.] ON MADDER. SS3 



the ground ; and the stems, which rise to a considerable height, bear 

 bundles of yellow flowers, clustered together in the form of a bouquet. 

 It can be propagated by the seed„ but the more usual method is by trans- 

 plantation. It requires land of a deep and rich sandy quality, and soils 

 of that nature existing largely in Holland, this, added to the comparative 

 cheapness of labour, has thrown the culture almost entirely into the hands 

 of the Dutch, 



The mode there pursued is, at the end of April or May, according as the 

 young plants are large enough to be transplanted, to plough the land in 

 beds of two feet, or two and a-half feet wide, putting down the young suckers 

 of the roots at intervals of a foot, or a foot and a-half, and at six or eight 

 inches distance in the row. During the entire summer, the land is fre- 

 quently stirred and kept free from the weeds ; and in the month of Novem- 

 ber, when the leaves are faded, the plants are covered with two inches of 

 earth, by a plough having the point of the coulter a little raised, or rounded, 

 so as not to injure the young plants. 



In the following spring, when the young shoots are four or five inches 

 long, they are gathered, or torn off, and planted in new beds, in the same 

 manner as pointed out above ; and in the months of September or October, 

 the old roots are taken up and placed under cover to guard them from 

 rain *. 



This gathering of the roots at the end of the second year can, however, 

 ordy be properly carried into effect upon very rich land, for, on ordinary soils, 

 they require three years to perfect tiieir growtli ; and the method recom- 

 mended by a successful Flemish agriculturist is to plant the sets at two feet 

 distance, and to leave every third or fourth row vacant for the purpose of 

 afterwards covering the young shoots with the mould. The ground is thus 

 formed into beds intersected by deep trenches, which are dug every year 

 until the third, when the roots are taken up ; but at the commencement of 

 the first winter, the berls are heavily spread with long dung, which, in the 

 following spring, is raked off into the trenches, and thus is again used as 

 manure during the succeeding years. The planting is usually in May, and 

 as the shoots do not rise high in the first year, many farmers sow vege- 

 tables in the intervals between the rowsf. 



In this country several modes of ])lanting have been practised ; but that 

 which appears to be the best is to phmt it in single rows, about two feet 

 apart. The land should be perfectly free from weeds, and have been well 

 manured the preceding year, so that the dung may be thoroughly incorporated 

 with the soil ; which should be a fine, deep, rich, sandy loam, without any 

 redundancy of moisture. In order to prepare the land for planting, it 

 should be ploughed in the autumn, and kept clean by harrowing and horse- 

 hoeing, until the young plants are ready for drawing from the beds, which 

 is usually by the end of May, or the beginning of June ; the proper time 

 being known bv the plants having got to the height of 10 or 12 inches from 

 the ground, and having produced roots branching out from the bottom of 

 the suckers, which may be ascertained by drawing up a few of them. 



When the suckers are in this state, a great number of hands are required 

 to perfect the work, as the operation should proceed with all possible 

 despatch, and an acre requires about 20,000 plants. They should have about 

 a third of their tops cut oft", and then their roots sliould be dipped in earth, 

 or fine mould and water, beaten together to the consistence of batter. One 



* RadclifPs A>2;ricuUure of East and West Flanders, p. 272. 

 f Schwertz, Sur rAgriculture Beige, torn, ii., p. 203, 



