WISP. 



sion that the wire-worm may be successfully j 

 repelled and eradicated by carefully destroying ; 

 all weeds and roots, drilling white mustard-! 

 seed, and keeping the ground clear by hoeing." 

 (Brit, Farm. Mag. 1831.) 



Nature herself has taken means to check 

 their superabundant increase by making them 

 the prey of a small ichneumon, which searches 

 out their retreats, and deposits its eggs in their 

 bodies, which are consumed by the parasitical 

 larvae as soon as hatched." (Mr. Duncan, Qwirf. 

 Journ. of jigr. vo\. viii. pp. 96, 348.) (See Ix- 

 HKCTS.) Under the head BKKTLK, at page 174, 

 the American wire-worms have been described 

 as materially differing in structure and habits 

 from those of Europe. 



WISP. A term applied to a small bunch 

 of hay or straw, when used in rubbing down 

 horses or cattle. 



WITHY. A name sometimes given to the 

 flexible boughs of willows and osiers. 



WOAD, DYER'S (Isatis linrtoriu). This is a 

 biennial plant, growing wild in cultivated fields 

 and about borders in England, but rare. As 

 the ancient Britons are reported to have paint- 

 ed their bodies with the blue colour obtained 

 from this plant, which is still used in dyeing, 

 the woad is most probably an original produc- 

 tion of England; though what occurs now and 

 then about cultivated fields is supposed to have 

 escaped from the crops occasionally raised, 

 chiefly in the middle part of the island. The 

 naturalized plants are less perfectly smooth, 

 and far less luxuriant than the cultivated ones. 

 This plant has a tapering and fibrous root. 

 The stem rises 2 or 5 feet high, wand-like, 

 slightly glaucous, leafy, panicled at the top. 

 Panicle of many compound racemose branches, 

 beset with diminished lanceolate leaves, all of 

 a yellow hue as well as the stalks. Flowers 

 numerous, small, bright yellow. 



Woad has been cultivated in France from 

 time immemorial. In England its culture is 

 mostly confined to Lincolnshire, where it is a 

 common practice to take rich flat tracts near 

 rivers, at a high price, for the purpose of grow- 

 ing ii for 2 or 4 years. Those who engage in 

 this sort of culture form a sort of colony, and 

 move from place to place as they complete 

 their engagements. It is sometimes, however, 

 grown by stationary farmers. The leaves are 

 the parts of the plant used, and it is considered 

 as a severe crop. 



There is a varie'y of woad, called the Dalma- 

 tian, described by Miller, and also a wild sort, 

 but only ihe common is cultivated in England. 



The soil for woad should be deep and per- 

 fectly fresh, such as those of the rich, mellow, 

 loamy, and deep vegetable kind. Where this 

 culture is carried to a considerable degree of 

 perfection, as in Lincolnshire, the deep, rich, 

 putrid, alluvial soils on the flat tracts extend- 

 ing upon the borders of the large rivers, are 

 chiefly employed for the growth of this sort of 

 crop; and it has been shown by repeated trials 

 that it answers most perfectly when they arc 

 broken up for it immediately from a state of 

 sward. 



The preparation of the soil, when woad is lo be 

 grown on grass land, may either be effected by 

 deep ploughings, with the aid of the winter's 



WOAD, DYER'S. 



frost; cross-ploughing and harrowing in spring; 

 by deep ploughing and harrowing in spring; by 

 paring and burning; or by trench-ploughing or 

 spade-trenching. The first mode appears the 

 worst, as it is next to impossible to reduce old 

 turf in one year, and even if this is done, the 

 danger from the grub and wire-worm is a suf- 

 ficient argument against it. By ploughing deep 

 in February, and soon afterwards sowing, the 

 plants may germinate before the grub is able 

 to rise to the surface ; by trench-ploughing the 

 same purpose will be more effectually obtained; 

 and, best of all. by spade-trenching. But a me- 

 thod which is equally effectual with the first, 

 more expeditious, and which has a superiority 

 over it in more completely destroying grubs, 

 insects, and other vermin, which are apt to 

 feed on the plants in their early growth, is that 

 of paring and burning. This is, however, 

 chiefly practised where the sward is rough and 

 abounds with rushes, sedge, and other plants 

 of the coarse kind, but might be had recourse 

 to on others with benefit. 



The time of sowing may be extended from Feb- 

 ruary to July. Early sowing, however, is to be 

 preferred, as in that case the plants come up 

 stronger, and afford more produce the first 

 season. 



The mode of souring is generally broadcast, but 

 the plant might be most advantageously grown 

 in rows and cultivated with the horse-hoe. The 

 rows may be 9 inches or a foot apart, and the 

 seed deposited 2 inches in depth. The quantity 

 of seed for the broadcast method is 5 or 6 Ibs. 

 to the acre; for the drill mode, 2 Ibs. are more 

 than sufficient, the seed being smaller than that 

 of the turnip. New seed, where it can be pro- 

 cured, should always be sown in preference to 

 such as has been kept for some time ; but when 

 of the latter kind, it should be steeped for some 

 time before it is put into the ground. 



The lifter-culture of the woad consists in hoe- 

 ing, thinning, prong-stirring, and weeding, 

 which operations may be practised by hand or 

 horse-tools, as in the culture of teazle. 



In refpect to th( business of gathering the rrops r 

 with the spring-sown ones, the leaves will ge- 

 nerally be ready to be gathered towards the 

 latter end of June or beginning of July, accord- 

 ing to the nature of the soil, season, and cli- 

 mate; but for those put in at a later period in 

 the summer, they are often fit to be gathered 

 earlier. This business should, however, con- 

 stantly be executed as soon as the leaves are 

 fully grown, while they retain their perfect 

 green colour and are highly succulent, as, 

 when they are let remain till they begin to turn 

 pale, much of their goodness is said to be ex- 

 pended, and they become less in quantity, and 

 of an inferior quality for the purposes of the 

 dyer. In the execution of this sort of business, 

 a number of baskets are usually provided in 

 proportion to the extent of the crop, into which 

 the leaves are thrown as they are taken from 

 the plants, which is effected by the hand, by 

 grasping them firmly and giving them a sort 

 of a sudden twist. In favourable seasons, 

 where the soils are rich, the plants will often 

 rise to the height of 8 or 10 inches; but in 

 j other circumstances they seldom attain more 

 i than 4 or 5; and where the lands are well ma* 



1151 



