280 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



VOL. I, 



(Fi-om the Ohio Fnniiei.) 



I<ocatloii« Soil and Cultivation of the 

 Madder Crop. 



A location facing the south or south-east 

 is to be preferred. A sandy loam not over 

 iJtifFaJid heav}', or light and sandy, or a good 

 brown, deep, rich upland loam, free from tbul 

 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 tJie ground has become dry and warm, 

 (say in Tennessee, 1st of April, Ohio l.'jth, 

 and New York, 2.'3th to 1st of May ; 1 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, 

 three feet wide, and four feet vacant, or mak- 

 ing a ridge once in seven feet, raising it, if 

 on rather moist ground, eigiit or ten inches, 

 and dry land six or eight from the natural 

 level, then with a liglit 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 top roots in the fall and buried 

 them like potatoes on your premises — count 

 the ridges on your acre, and take out of the 

 ground, one bushel of roots, and plant it on 

 1-8 of your ridges; you will then be able to 

 ascertam how to proportion your roots for the 

 remainder. 



The following is the manner of planting, 

 cultivating, &c., when the quantities of ground 

 do not exceed three or four acres. One per- 

 son on each side of the ridge to make the 

 holes, (plant four inches below the surface of 

 the bed, or there-abouts, when covered,) one 

 on each side to drop the roots, and one on 

 each side to cover, pressing the hill like that 

 of planting corn, or three persons on one side, 

 as the case may be, whether you have one or 

 more acres to plant. Let the owner be the 

 dropper of roots, and his most thorough assist- 

 ances behind him. Make the holes from 

 twelve to eighteen inches apart, and about 

 six 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 anil covering, you will leave 

 the most prominent sprout or sprouts a little 

 out of the grmmd, as where a plant has leafed, 

 it ought not to be smothered. 



When the plant gets up three or four 

 inches, weed with the hoe, and plough with one 

 horse, between 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 



weed only ; 4th 

 a weedy piece 



of the tops will fall ; assist them with a ten 

 foot pole ; two persons cross them each way 

 across the bed, cover them with a shovel or 

 garden rake, throwingthe 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 be- 

 tween the beds if you choose. 1 do not re- 

 commend it, if you have plenty of land, al- 

 though I raised 1070 bushels Pink Eyes on 

 eight acres the first year, and 60 bushels ot 

 corn. If your land is perfectly clear of weeds, 

 you are through with your labor on the Mad- 

 der crop for this year, except in latitudes 

 where there is not much snow, and consider- 

 able frost ; in this case cover in October two 

 inches or thereabout. 2d year ; same opera- 

 tions in weeding, but no crop between; cover 

 once in June. 3d year; 

 year: weed in the spring, if 

 of ground. 



Begin to plough out the roots in Tennessee, 

 [3 years old] first Sept. Ohio [4 years] same 

 time. New York, 1.5ih 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 

 neitiier too wet or 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 

 after Wilson's Patent Coffee Mill; this mill 

 weighs from one to two pounds. The madder 

 mill may be from 60 to 80 lbs. 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. 



The Editor of the Albany Cultivator, vol. 

 2, page 20, says — " It is principally cultivated 

 in Holland the province of Zealand ; being 

 literally covered with it, from whence it is 

 exported to every part of Europe and America, 

 yielding almost incalculable profits. The 

 import of this article for the use of our manu- 

 facturers, is said to amount in value, to more 

 than two millions of dollars annually." ]\Ir. 

 Jeflerson, while minister in J'ranco, writes: 

 " They cultivate madder here at immense 

 profits ; they dig it once in five or six years." 

 I have before n>c a communication from a 

 cultivator of the article, (see Cultivator, vol. 

 2, page 93,) who makes the clear profit to 

 amount to $888 30, on an acre once in four 

 years. The lowest amount of profit that I 

 have known on an acre in four years is $di 0; 



