PRACTICAL FARMER. 



139 



trifling, tind glutting the market out of the ques- 

 tion. 



Tlie Editor of the Albany Cuhivator, vol. 2, 

 page 20, says — "It is j!rinci|)a.'ly cultivated in 

 lloll in(i, the j)rovince of Zealand, being lit(-rally 

 covered with it, from whence it is exported to 

 every part of Europe and America, yielding al- 

 most incalculable profits. The import of this 

 article for the use of our manufacturers, is said 

 to amount in vaUie, to more than two millions of 

 dollars annually." Mr Jefferson, while minister 

 in France, writes: " 'Ihey cultivate madder here 

 at immense profits; they dig it once in five or six 

 years." 1 have before me a communication from 

 a cultivator of the article, (see Cultivator, vol. 2, 

 page 9-3,) who luakes the clear profit to amount 

 t(j $8S8 30, on an acre once in four years. The 

 lowest amount of profit that 5 have known on an 

 acre in four years is $300 ; the highest 1200; this 

 last included the sale of top roots for planting. 

 The amount will vary according to the soil and 

 cultivation. I have unquestionable evidence that 

 one hill (2400 to the acre) has produced in five 

 yeard; 4 lbs. of kiln dried madder ; another at five 

 years old, 6 lbs. another wherein they took un- 

 common pains with the hill, 8 lbs. 8 oz. Mr Wood- 

 bury of VVinfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., the 

 writer of the above mentioned communication, 

 ))urcliased in the fall of 1834, one-fiflh of an acre 

 of madder 4 years old and planted in hills, (far less 

 productive than if plantefl in ridges) for wiiich he 

 paid $80, and dug from it one thousand one hun- 

 dred pounds. After it was kiln dried, he sold it 

 for 18 cents the pound. The usual yield for four 

 years is 3 pounds to the hill, where the land is 

 first rate, and the cultivation is performed by a 

 snug farmer. The crop increases something like 

 the following ratio, viz. 1st year, small grevvih. 

 2d, double. 3d, equal to the two first. 4th, equal 

 to 15 per cent, on the vv'iole ; at least this is my 

 opinion, not having dug any that was five years 

 old. Madder 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 vegetable 

 that starts in the spring, hence I should sufipose 

 that madder in Tennessee, at 3 years old, would 

 be equal to fouryears at Birmingham, Ohio ; four 

 and a half, Oneida county. New Y(n-k ; five years 

 Winthroji, Me. The cultivators of Holland and 

 France, from whom we draw n;ost ot our sup- 

 plies, and most of the agricultural authors of those 

 countries have been silent on the subject. 



I am located in the rich bottoms of the Vermil- 

 lion river. I, in connection with another person, 

 plant this spring 10 or 12 acres. As J have always 

 been of the opinion that a madder soil should be 

 composed in a great degree of decayed vegetables, 

 1 think I shall get in four years from 5 to 6000 lbs. 

 f dried Madder per acre. I have a good upland 



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

 I can sjiare enough roots next fall, to plant 6 or 7 

 acres. The price will be, in ihe fall, for 6 bush- 

 els, $24; over 6 and under 12, $3 50 Jier buthel ; 

 over 12, $3. 



Birmingham is 38 tuiles west from Cleveland, 

 Ohio, and 14 miles south-east from Huron, Ohio. 

 Messrs. Wickham & Co., Forwarding Merchants, 

 Huron, will be ap|;licant's agents, to whom funds 

 may be forwarded for the purchase of roots ; P. 

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

 Broivson, Manager. All letters on the subject must 

 be I ost paid to meet with attention. 



1 Iwid been in the practice of using the 'Rubin 

 Tinctorum, or Dyer's Madder,' for many years 

 jjrevious to embarking in the business ; and before 

 I commenced, 1 ascertained that the price of the 

 imported aiticle was worth (the ])receding tliirtt en 

 years, on an average, in the New York market,) 

 15 cents per lb.; the ten years preceding the thir- 

 teen years, it was worth 25 cents, and in that tinie 

 have known it worth 44 cents, in my early com- 

 munications to Editors of agricultural j)a|.ers, J 

 stated the crop would equal 2000 lbs. 3 years old, 

 but did not dream that 4 years would produce an 

 average of 4000 lbs. on good land and good cul- 

 ture. The cost does not exceed 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 

 froin forty-five thousand to seventy- five thousand 

 acres wanted for the consumfition of the United 

 States, and England as she cannot grow the ar- 

 ticle, imports all she uses. I say she cannot grow 

 i: to advantage ; her summers are too moist and 

 cool. It is more absurd to let foreign nations ex- 

 jiort madder to this country, than to let them ex- 

 port wheat or wheat flour. It is moi-e hardy than 

 the potato crop. It is worth three cents more per 

 I)ound, than the best imported. As a proof, no 

 imported madder can be sold where this has been 

 kept for sale. The difference c( nsists in this, 

 that the brightest roots are selected in the field 

 in those countries, dried and ground, and sent to 

 England. '1 hey use it in dyeing their Adriano- 

 ple, or Turkey red, on cotton; the rest dried, 

 (without 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 jiart, for the fol- 

 lowing colors on wool, both in England, France, 

 ' and America, viz : blue, b'ack, red, buff, olive- 

 brown, olive, navy-blue, and many others ; final- 

 ly it produces one of the most beautiful, durable 



