MADDER. 



MADDER. 



The cultivation of madder has been attempted ] 

 in England, and it is still carried on to a limited 

 extent in some districts, but without any very 

 great success or beneficial results, owing to the 

 low price at which it can be procured from the 

 Dutch growers and from Turkey. 



Dyers' madder is an agricultural product 

 which has been very successfully and profita- 

 bly cultivated in the United States. The root 

 of the plant is composed of many long, thick, 

 succulent fibres, almost as large as a man's 

 little finger; these are joined at the top in a 

 head, like the root of asparagus, and strike 

 very deep into the ground, being sometimes 

 more than three feet in length. From the upper 

 part or head of the root come out many side- 

 roots, which extend just under the surface of 

 the ground to a great distance, whereby it pro- 

 pagates very fast ; for these send up a great 

 number of shoots, which, if carefully taken off 

 in the spring, soon after they are above ground, 

 become so many plants. The root is peren- 

 nial, although the stalk dies down every winter. 



The soils most suited to .the cultivation of 

 madder are deep, fertile, sandy loams, not re- 

 tentive of moisture, and having a considerable 

 portion of vegetable matter in their composi- 

 tion. It may also be grown on the more light 

 descriptions of soil, of sufficient depth, and in 

 a proper state of fertility. The preparation of 

 the soil may either consist in trench ploughings, 

 lengthwise and across, with pronged stirrings, 

 so as to bring it to a fine tilth ; or, what will 

 often be found preferable, by one trenching, two 

 feet deep, by manual labour. The sets or plants 

 are best obtained from the runners, or surface- 

 roots of the old plants. These being taken up, 

 are to be cut into lengths of from six to twelve 

 inches, according to the scarcity or abundance 

 of runners. Sets of one inch will grow if they 

 have an eye or bud, and some fibres ; but their 

 progress will be injuriously slow for want of 

 maternal nourishment. Sets may also be pro- 

 cured by sowing the seeds in fine, light earth, 

 a year before they are wanted, and then trans- 

 planting them; or sets of an inch maybe plant- 

 ed one year in a garden, and then removed to 

 the field plantation. The season of planting is 

 commonly May or June, and the manner is ge- 

 nerally in rows nine or ten inches asunder, and 

 five or six inches apart in the rows. Some 

 plant promiscuously in beds with intervals be- 

 tween, out of which earth is thrown in the lazy- 

 bed manner of growing potatoes ; but this is 

 unnecessary, as it is not the surface, but the 

 descending roots which are used by the dyer. 

 The operation of planting is generally perform- 

 ed by the dibber, but some ley-plant them by 

 v the aid of the plough. By this mode the ground 

 is ploughed over with a shallow furrow, and 

 in the course of the operation the sets are de- 

 posited in each furrow, leaning on and pressed 

 against the furrow-slice. This, however, is a 

 bad mode, as there is no opportunity of firming 

 the plants at the roots, and as some of the sets 

 are apt to be buried, and others not sufficiently 

 covered. The after-culture consists in hoeing 

 and weeding with stirring by pronged hoes, 

 either of the horse or hand kind. Some earth 

 up, but this is unnecessary, and even injurious, 

 as tearing the surface-roots. The madder crop 

 740 



is taken at the end of the third autumn after 

 planting, and generally in the month of October, 

 By far the best mode is that of trenching over 

 the ground, which not only clears it effectually, 

 but fits it at once for another crop. Where 

 madder, however, has been grown on land pre- 

 pared by the plough, that implement may be 

 used in removing it. Previously to trenching, 

 the haulm may be cleared off with an old 

 scythe, and carted to the farmery to be used as 

 'itter to spread in the straw-yards. Drying the 

 roots is the next process, and, in very fine sea- 

 sons, may sometimes be effected on the soil, by 

 simply spreading the plants as they are taken 

 up ; but in most seasons they require to be 

 dried on a kiln, like that used for malt or hops. 

 They are dried till they become brittle, and 

 then packed up in bags for sale to the dyer. 

 The produce from the root of this plant is dif- 

 ferent according to the difference of the soil, 

 but mostly from ten to fifteen or twenty cwt., 

 where they are suitable to its cultivation. In 

 judging of the quality of madder-roots, the best 

 is that which, on being broken in two, has a 

 brightish-red or purplish appearance, without 

 any yellow cast being exhibited. The use of 

 madder-roots is chiefly in dyeing and calico- 

 printing. The haulm which accumulates on 

 the surface of the field, in the course of three 

 years, may be carted to the farm-yard, and fer- 

 mented along with horse-dung. It has the sin- 

 gular property of dyeing the horns of the ani- 

 mals who eat it of a red colour. Madder-seed 

 in abundance may be collected from the plants 

 in the September of the second and third years, 

 but it is never so propagated. Madder is 

 sometimes blighted, but in general it has few 

 diseases. (London's Ency. dgr.) 



In the Netherlands, where every agricultural 

 process is conducted with such skill and suc- 

 cess, madder sometimes forms a crop. It is 

 always put upon land of the best quality, and 

 with plenty of manure. At the end of April or 

 May, accordingly as the young plants are large 

 enough to be transplanted, the land must be 

 ploughed in beds of two feet and two feet and 

 a half wide ; the beds are then to be harrowed 

 and raked, and the young suckers of the roots 

 or plants are to be put down in rows, at inter- 

 vals of a foot or a foot and a half, and six or 

 eight inches distant in the row. During the 

 entire summer the land should be frequently 

 stirred, and kept free from weeds. In the 

 month of November, 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 has been 

 pointed out above ; and then, in the month of 

 September or October, after the faded leaves 

 have been removed, the old roots are taken up. 

 The madder thus taken up should be deposited 

 under cover, to protect it from the rain ; and, 

 after ten or twelve days, placed in an oven 

 moderately heated. When dried sufficiently, 

 it is gently beaten with a flail, to get rid of any 

 clay that may adhere to the plants ; and, by 

 means of a small windmill, is ground and sifted, 



