Ch.XXIX.] ON WELD. 337 



conveniently, on evates in drying-houses. There they turn nearly black on 

 the outside, and of a purplish cast in the inside, and are valued in propor- 

 tion to their specific weight and clearness of colour. The crop may 

 amount to a ton and a-half, or, on very good land, to even two tons per 

 acre, and has been sold as high as from 201. to 251. per ton. It, however, is 

 thought to exhaust the land, and in general is not sown more than once 

 within six years ; though in the rich soils of Lincolnshire three successive 

 crops have been taken. 



In order, however, to bring the woad into a state ready for the dyer's 

 use, it must go through the fermentative process for seven or eight weeks, for 

 the details of which we must refer to Arthur Young's " Survey of Lincoln- 

 shire," in which there are plates descriptive of the machinery, and a very 

 minute account of the entire management of the crop, from the putting in 

 of the seed, until ready for the manufacturer. 



WELD 



is another of our native plants, which affords a fine yellow dj'e; and pos- 

 sessing the great advantage of only requiring to be dried, in order to be 

 ready for use, it therefore occasions no extraneous trouble to the grower. 

 It can likewise be grown upon a great variety of soils, although a clayey sand 

 is that which is most appropriate. The seed, which is small, should 

 be sown in August, at the rate of about twelve pounds per acre, and is 

 usually put into the ground alone, and broad-cast ; though sometimes it 

 is drilled, and not unfrequently sown in the spring along with other crops. 

 The ground should be in fine order, and the seeds sown by hand, as they 

 will not bear to be much covered. The plants should be kept perfectly 

 clean, during the following summer, and in the latter end of July, if the 

 season be favourable, they will be in flower, and then are to be pulled up, 

 without waiting for the ripening of the seeds. The grain, however, may be 

 employed for the expression of oil. 



The plants are pulled up by the roots, and set up in small parcels to dry ; 

 after which they are bound into moderate-sized sheaves, and may then be 

 stacked without further care, as they are not subject to heat, and will re- 

 main during a series of years without injury. It is said to be an exhaust- 

 ing crop ; but this, if it be not allowed to perfect its seed, we believe to be 

 a notion rather entertained by prejudice than arising from fact. Its cultiva- 

 tion requires nothing more than ordinary care ; and as it commonly produces 

 crops of a large amount, which frequently bear a good price, it is a fa- 

 vourite with many farmers in the manufacturing districts ; it is indeed 

 evidently profitable, for those who commence it are seldom found to give 

 it up. 



However beneficial the growth of these articles may be to those indivi- 

 duals who are enabled by locality to avail themselves of the advantage, yet 

 as they cannot be reckoned on generally, nor without perfect knowledge of 

 the details of their culture and preparation for market, as well as a cer- 

 tainty of demand, they are not objects which can be recommended to the 

 attention of common farmers. Indeed, considering the risk attendant upon 

 both crops and prices, and the consequent anxiety which they occasion, 

 no one should enter upon such a speculation without an expectation of 

 large profit; and it maybe doubted whether upon soils of the requisite 

 quality, the ordinary articles of farm growth may not nearly equal the gain, 

 without incurring anything like the hazard or the care of their cultivation, 



VOL. II. Z 



