MADDER. 



MADDER. 



to separate it from any remaining earth or dirt. 

 It is then replaced in the oven for a short time, 

 and when taken out is spread upon a hair- 

 cloth to cool; after which it is ground and 

 cleaned once more. It is then carried to a 

 bruising-mill, and reduced to a fine powder, after 

 which it is packed in casks or barrels for market. 



Several interesting communications upon 

 the subject of the culture of madder in the 

 Northern and Eastern States, may be found in 

 the agricultural periodicals. (See American 

 Farmer, New England Farmer, Cultivator, &c.) 



Mr. Russel Bronson, of Birmingham, Huron 

 county, Ohio, a successful cultivator of madder, 

 has published a communication upon this sub- 

 ject, which contains the following information: 



A location facing the south or south-east is 

 to be preferred. A sandy loam not over stiff 

 and heavy, or light and sandy, or a good 

 brown, deep, rich upland loam, free from foul 

 grass, weeds, stones, or stumps of trees. Where 

 a crop of potatoes, peas, corn, or wheat has 

 been cultivated the past season, plough deep 

 twice, once in September and once in October, 

 and if rather stiff let it lie after the plough 

 until spring. When the spring opens, and the 

 ground has become dry and warm (say in 

 Tennessee, 1st of April, Ohio, 15th, and New 

 York, 25th to 1st of May I speak of the spring 

 of 1836), plough again deep, the deeper the 

 better, then harrow well and strike it into 

 ridges with a one-horse plough, 3 feet wide and 

 4 feet vacant, or making a ridge once in 7 feet, 

 raising it, if on rather moist ground, 8 or 10 

 inches, and dry land 6 or eight from the natural 

 level ; then with a light harrow, level and shape 

 the ridges like a well-formed bed of beets, &c. 



We will suppose you intend to plant one 

 acre of ground, and that you have purchased 8 

 bushels of tap roots in the fall and buried them 

 like potatoes on your premises count the 

 ridges on your acre, and take out of the ground 

 1 bushel of roots and plant it on one-eighth of 

 your ridges ; you will then be able to ascertain 

 how to proportion your roots for the remainder. 

 The following is the manner of planting, culti- 

 vating, &,c., when the quantities of ground do 

 not exceed 3 or 4 acres. One person on each 

 side of the ridge to make the holes (plant 4 

 inches below the surface of the bed, or there- 

 abouts, when covered) one on each side to drop 

 the roots, and 1 on each side to cover, pressing 

 the hill in the manner of planting corn; or, 3 

 persons may be placed on one side, as the case 

 may be, whether you have 1 or more acres to 

 plant. Let the owner be the dropper of roots, 

 and his most thorough assistants behind him. 

 Make the holes from 12 to 18 inches apart, and 

 about 6 inches from the edge of the ridge. As 

 the plants are supposed to have been purchased 

 in the fall, the roots may have thrown out 

 sprouts, and possibly have leaved. In this case, 

 in dropping and covering, you will leave the 

 most prominent sprout or sprouts a little out of 

 the ground, as where a plant has leafed, it 

 ought not to be smothered. 



When the plant gets up 3 or 4 inches, weed 

 with the hoe, and plough with 1 horse, be- 

 tween the ridges or beds, but not on them ; this 

 will take place 2 or 3 weeks after planting. 

 When up 12 or 15 inches, many of the tops will 1 



fall ; assist them with 10 foot poles crossing 

 the bed, covering them with a shovel or garden 

 rake, throwing the soil from between the ridges. 

 After loosening with the one-horse plough, you 

 will with a shovel scatter the earth between the 

 stalks rather than throw it into heaps ; of 

 course we wish to keep the stalks separate, as 

 they are to form new and important roots in 

 the centre of the beds. About the 20th of June, 

 you may plough between the beds, and scatter 

 more earth on the fresh tops (all but the ends), 

 and when you get through, you may plant 

 potatoes between the beds if you please. I do 

 not recommend it, if you have plenty of land, 

 although I raised 1070 bushels of pink eyes on 

 8 acres the first year, and 60 bushels of corn. 

 If your land is perfectly clear of weeds, you 

 are through with your labour on the madder 

 crop for this year, except in latitudes where 

 there is not much snow, and considerable frost; 

 in this case cover in October 2 inches or there- 

 about. Second year, same operations in weed- 

 ing, but no crop between ; cover once in June. 

 Third year, weed only. Fourth year, weed in 

 the spring, if a weedy piece of ground. 



Begin to plough out the roots in Tennessee, 

 [3 years old] 1st September. Ohio, [4 years] 

 same time. New York, 15th or 20th, after 

 cutting off the tops with a sharp hoe. In 

 ploughing out the roots use a heavy span of 

 horses, and a large plough. We ought to 

 choose a soil neither too wet nor too dry, too 

 stiff or light. Shake the dirt from the roots, 

 and rinse or wash, as the soil may be stiff or 

 light ; dry in a common hop kiln ; grind them 

 in a mill similar to Wilson's Patent Coffee 

 Mill; this mill weighs from 1 to 2 pounds. 

 The madder mill may be from 60 to 80 pounds 

 weight Grind coarse, and fan in a fanning 

 mill ; then grind again for market. The profit 

 of this crop is immense ; the exhaustion of soil 

 trifling, and glutting the market out of the 

 question. 



Madder is used in whole, or part, for the 

 following colours on wool, both in England, 

 France, and America, viz. blue, black, red, 

 buff, olive-brown, olive, navy blue, and many 

 others; finally it produces one of the most 

 beautiful, durable, and healthy colours that is 

 at this time dyed ; as forcalico printers,it enters 

 greatly into their dyes. (Am. Farmer's Instructor.) 



As the tops of the plants spread very much, 

 some advise placing them in hills somewhat 

 like Indian corn, 4 and even 6 feet apart each 

 way, and 2 plants in each hill. 



Rules have been laid down by Miller, On the 

 Culture and Manufacture of Madder, for manag- 

 ing the land, separating and planting the shoots, 

 gathering and drying the roots, and for pound- 

 ing, casking, and preparing them for sale, 

 according to the most approved English prac- 

 tice. The reader who wishes to attempt the 

 cultivation of madder, will also find some use- 

 ful hints in the Penny Cyclopaedia, vol. xiv. p. 

 260, and Brit. Husbandry, vol. ii. p. 332 ; Beck- 

 mann's Hist, of Invent, vol. iii.; and The Com- 

 plete Farmer, vol. ii. The haulm of madder, 

 though sometimes employed in the feeding of 

 cattle, is not very generally used for that pur- 

 pose, for it tinges red the milk, the urine, the 

 sweat, and even the bones of the animals fed 



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