NO. 18. 



THE FARMKRS' 



CABINET. 



281 



the highest 1200; this last incliuled the sale 

 of top roots for planting. The amount will 

 vary according to the soil and cultivation. J 

 have unquestionable evidence tliat one hill 

 (2400 to the acre) has produced in five years, 

 4 lbs. of kiln dried madder; another at five 

 years old, lbs. anotiier wherein they took 

 uncommon pains with tlie hill, 8 lbs. 8 oz. 

 ]\Ir. Woodbury, of Winfiold, Herkimer coun- 

 ty, N. Y., the writer ot the above mentioned 

 communication, purchased in the fail of 1834, 

 one-fifth of an acre of madder 4 years old 

 and planted in lulls, (far le.?s productive than 

 if planted in ridges) for which he paid $80, 

 and dug from it one thousand one hundred 

 pounds. After it was kiln dried, he sold it 

 tor 18 cents the pound. The usual yield for 

 four years is 3 pounds to the hill, wlierc the 

 land is first rate, and the cultivation is per- 

 formed by a snug farmer. Tiie crop increases 

 sometiiing like the following ratio, viz. 1st 

 year, small growth. 2d, double. .3d, equal 

 to the two first. 4th, equal to 15 per cent. 

 on the whole ; at least this is my opinion, not 

 having dug any that was five years old. Mad- 

 der grows, and the stalks are fresh, in any of 

 the middle and western States until killed 

 by a hard frost, and is almost the first vege- 

 table that starts in the spring, hence I should 

 suppose that madder in Tennessee, at 3 years 

 I old, would be equal to four years at Birming- 

 I ham, Ohio ; four and a half, Oneida county. 

 New York ; five years W'inthrop, Me. The 

 cultivatorsof Holland and France, from whom 

 I we draw most of our supplies, and most of the 

 I agricultural authors of those countries, have 

 been silent on tlie subject. 

 j I am located in the rich bottoms of the 

 Vermillion river. I, in connection with 

 another person, plant this spring 10 or 12 

 acres. As I have always been of the opinion 

 that a madder soil should be composed in a 

 great degree of decayed vegetables, I think I 

 shall get in four years from 5 to 6000 lbs. of 

 dried Madder per acre. I have a good upland 

 1 1-2 acres, planted some time since, from 

 which I can spare enough roots next fall, to 

 plant or 7 acres. The price will be, in the 

 fall, fir 6 bushels, $24 ; over 6 and under 12, 

 .S3 .50 per bushel ; over 12, .$3. 



Birmingham is 38 miles west from Cleve- 

 land, Ohio, and 14 miles south-east from 

 Huron, Ohio. Messrs. Wickliam and Co., 

 Forwarding Merchants, Huron, will be ap- 

 plicant's agents, to whom funds may be for- 

 warded for the purchase of roots; P. E. and 

 E. B. Bronson, Birmingham, owners, or R. 

 Bronson, Manager. All letters on the subject 

 must be post paid to meet with attention. 



I had been in the practice of using the 

 * Rubin Tinctorum, or Dyer's Madder,' for 

 many years previous to embarking in the 

 business ; and before I commenced, I ascer- 



tained that the price of the imported article 

 was worth (the preceding thirteen years, on 

 anaveiage,in theNew York market.) 15 cents 

 per lb,; the ten years preceding the tiiirteen 

 year.-^, it was worth 2.3 cents, and in that time 

 have known it worth 44 cents. In my early 

 communications to Editors of agricultural pa- 

 pers, 1 stated the crop would equal 2(100 lbs. 

 3 years old, but did not dream that 4 years 

 would produce an average of 4(JU0 lbs. on 

 good land and good culture. The cost does 

 not e.vceed 4 1-2 cts. per lb., exclusive of 

 selling top roots for planting. They may be 

 sold with profit at three years and even two 

 years old. 



It is surprising to me that no more than 

 sixty acres is as yet under cultivation. There 

 will be about one hundred acres planted this 

 spring, and from forty- five thousand to seven- 

 ty-five thousand acres wanted for the con- 

 sumption of the United States: And England, 

 as she cannot grow the article, imports all 

 she uses. I say she cannot grow it to advan- 

 tage ; her summers are too moist and cool. It 

 is more absurd to let foreign nations export 

 madder to this country, than to let them ex- 

 port wheat or wheat flour. It is more hardy 

 than the potatoe crop. It is worth three cents 

 more per pound, than the best imported. As 

 a proof, no imported madder can be sold 

 where this has been kept for sale. The dif- 

 ference consists in this, that the brightest 

 roots are selected in the field in those coun- 

 tries, dried and ground, and sent to England. 

 They use it in dyeing their Adrianople, or 

 Turkey red, on cotton ; the rest dried, (with- 

 out rinsing,) ground, and sent to America. In 

 this country, a prudent cultivator rinses, dries, 

 and grinds altogether ; then fans or separates 

 the loose bark and small fibres from the pure 

 article. The refuse is used for ground of 

 many colors. 



Madder is used in whole, or part, for the 

 following colors 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 colors that is at 

 this time dyed ; as for calico printers, it enters 

 greatly into their dyes. The city of Lowell, 

 in Massachusetts, uses thirty thousand dollars 

 worth per year. A war with Fiance would 

 raise the article to thirty one cents per lb. in 

 the New York market. One small establish- 

 ment in Otsego County, New York, uses 

 equal, each year, to three-fourths of all that 

 is raised in the Northern States at this time. 



The reader will now inqure why have not 

 the farmers in the United States, entered into 

 the culture of this article, and completely 

 glutted the market ? I will answer, that 

 most of them want their profit at the expira- 

 tion of each year, not thinking that the horse 



