RUB 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



RUB 



491 



should be any young weeds appearing on the ground, let it be 

 first scuffled over to destroy the weeds, and then raked over 

 smooth ; after this, the same care must be taken in the following 

 summer to keep the ground clean ; and if it is performed by 

 the hoe-plough, the earth of the intervals should be thrown up 

 against the side of the ridges, which will earth up the roots, 

 and greatly increase their strength ; but before the ground 

 of one interval is so hoed, the haulm of the plants should be 

 turned over to the next adjoining interval ; where they should 

 be permitted to lie for a fortnight or three weeks, and then 

 turned back again on those intervals which were hoed, observ- 

 ing first to scuffle the ground, to destroy any young weeds 

 which may have appeared since the stirring of the ground ; 

 then the alternate intervals should be ploughed in like man- 

 ner, turning the earth up against the opposite sides of the roots; 

 by this method the intervals will be alternately ploughed, 

 and the plants earthed up, whereby the ground will be kept 

 clean and stirred, which will greatly promote the growth of 

 the roots; and by this method the superficial shoots will be 

 subdued, and the principal roots greatly strengthened. The 

 following autumn the ground should be cleared of the haulm 

 and weeds, and the earth raised in ridges over the roots, as 

 in the foregoing year. The third spring the roots will fur- 

 nish a great supply of young plants ; but before these appear, 

 the ground should be cleaned and raked smooth, that the 

 shoots may have no obstruction to their coining up ; and when 

 the young plants are fit to take off, it should be performed 

 with care, always taking off those which are produced at the 

 greatest distance from the crown of the other plants, because 

 they rob them of most of their nourishment, and the wouuds 

 made by separating them from the old loots, are not near so 

 hurtful as those near the crown ; for the stripping off too 

 many of the shoots there, will retard the growth of the plants. 

 The culture of the Madder in the third summer must be the 

 same as in the second ; but as the roots will then be much 

 stronger, the earth should be laid up a little higher to them 

 at the times when the ground is cleaned ; and if all the dis- 

 tant superficial shoots which come up in the intervals are 

 hoed or ploughed off, it will tend to strengthen the larger 

 downright root: and as the haulm will now be very strong 

 and thick, the frequently turning it over from one interval 

 to another will prevent its rotting; for if it 'lies long in the 

 same position, the shoots which are near the ground, .where 

 there will always be more or less damp, from being covered 

 with the upper shoots, the air will be excluded, and rotting 

 will be the consequence, for the shoots of Madder are natu- 

 rally disposed to climb up any neighbouring support; but as 

 the expense of staking them could not be generally incurred, 

 turning over the haulm from one interval to the other will be 

 found of great use, keep it from decaying, and alternately 

 admitting the sun to each side of the noots, which is of vital 

 importance to the growth and perfection of the Madder. As 

 soon as the haulm begins to decay in the third autumn, the 

 roots may be taken up for use, because, when they have done 

 growing for the season, they will be plumper and less liable 

 to shrink than if dug up sooner, or suffered to remain longer. 

 The digging up should be thus performed : a deep trench 

 must be dug out at one side of the ground next to the first 

 row of plants, in order to make a sufficient opening to receive 

 the earth, which must be laid therein in digging up the row 

 of roots ; in order to that, it should be at least two feet broad, 

 dtwo spits and two shovellings deep, and should be made 

 close as possible to the roots, being careful not to break 

 >r cut the roots in doing it. The row of roots must then be 

 carefully dug up, turning the earth into the trench before 

 mentioned. In the doing of this, there ought to be, to every 

 VOL. 11. 107. 



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person who digs, two or three persons to take out the roots, 

 that none may be lost, and that as much earth as possible 

 may be shaken out. After the principal roots are taken up, 

 there will be many of the long fibres remaining below ; there- 

 fore, to extract the roots as completely as possible, the whole 

 spot of ground should be dug of the same depth as the first 

 trench, and the pickers should follow the diggers to get them 

 all out to the bottom. As the digging of the land to this 

 depth is necessary in order to taking up the roots with as 

 little loss as possible, so also is it the finest preparation for 

 any succeeding crop, which will amply repay the labour and 

 expense. After the roots are taken up, the sooner they are 

 carried to the place of drying, the finer will be their colour. 

 The first place in which they should be laid to dry, must be 

 open on the sides to admit the air, but covered on the top to 

 keep out the wet. If a building is to be erected new, such 

 as the tanners have for drying their skins will be as proper 

 as any, for they have weather boards from top to bottom at 

 equal distances to keep out the driving rain, but the spaces 

 between being open, admit the air freely ; and if, instead of 

 plank-floors or stages above each other, they were furnished 

 with hurdles or basket-work, upon which the roots might be 

 laid, the air being thereby allowed to have a freer passage 

 all round the roots, would be more equally dried. In this 

 place they may remain four or five days, by which time the 

 earth which adhered to the roots will be so dry as easily 

 to be rubbed off before they are removed into the cold stove; 

 for the slower the roots are dried, the less they will shrink, 

 and the better will be the colour of the Madder; and the 

 cleaner they are from the earth, the better the commodity 

 will be for use when prepared. After the roots have lain a 

 sufficient time in this place, they should be removed into 

 another building, called the cold stove, in which there should 

 be conveniences of flues passing through different parts of 

 the floor and the side walls; in this the roots should be laid 

 thin upon the floors, and turned from time to time as they 

 dry, taking away those roots which are nearest to the hottest 

 flues, and placing them in a cooler part of the room ; remov- 

 ing such of them as had been in the colder parts, to that 

 warmest situation. Constant care in this particular will im- 

 prove the quality of the root; for the more equally it is dried, 

 the better it will be for use. When the outside of the root 

 has been sufficiently dried in the cold stove, they should be 

 removed to the threshing floor, which may be the same as 

 in a common barn where corn is threshed. The floor should 

 be swept as clean as possible, and the roots threshed to beat 

 off the skins or outside coverings, which is the part that is 

 prepared separately from the inner part of the root, and is 

 called Mull, being sold at a very low price, as it is the worst 

 sort of Madder, and cannot be used where the permanency 

 or beauty of the colours are regarded. These husks therefore 

 are separated from the roots, and pounded by themselves, and 

 sold under the above-mentioned name of Mull. After this 

 mull is separated from the roots, they must be removed to a 

 warmer stove, and there dried with great care ; for if the heat 

 be too great, the roots will dry too fast, whereby they will 

 lose much in their colour and weight. The way to prevent 

 this, is, to turn them frequently, and to keep the fires pro- 

 perly regulated. If a good thermometer be fixed in the room, 

 it will enable the superintendant to ascertain the degree of 

 heat, which should be greater in some cases than others, 

 according to the dryness or succulence of the roots, and to 

 the state of the weather, whether cold or damp ; it may 

 however be observed, that it is safer to fall short of the pro- 

 per temperature than to exceed it, for though the roots may 

 require a longer time to dry with a slow heat, yet the colour 

 6 I 



