34 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



The above particulars will, we doubt not, prove interesting to many of our 

 readers who may be concerned in the business of the dairy, and may, in some 

 cases, supply a few hints of practical utility ; for there is much to admire and 

 something to copy in the numerous precautions taken by the Holstein dairy- 

 farmer to insure an article of first-rate excellence as the product of his industry. 



Note. — The recent liberation of glass from all duty, now affords manufacturers an opportunity of sup- 

 plying our dairy-farms with milk-pans made of that beautiful material. 



MADDER.— PRODUCTIVE FARM.— PROFITABLE COW. 



The following articles were cut from a Western paper — we suppose the Prairie Fanner — 

 without preserving the title of the paper at the time. 



Our soil and climate being perfectly well adapted for the growth of Madder, if farmers 

 had as much influence as Congress, as even their corn-fodder entitles them to, the growth 

 of it would be so encouraged as to give us a chance of making it, against the pauper labor 

 of Europe. 



CuLTURK OF Madder. — Messrs. Editors : 

 In the time of the last War with England, 

 when Madder could not be imported, it re- 

 tailed for from 75 to 87^ cents per lb. My 

 father seeing some directions in an almanac, 

 planted the first year about half an acre, be- 

 ing all the sets he could obtain. The result 

 of this crop I do not remember. The next 

 year we put out one acre, lacking sixteen 

 rods, which produced 2,300 lbs. of ground 

 Madder, which was sold wholesale at ICJ 

 per 100 pounds. It was raised on oak land, 

 that had been cleared some forty or more 

 years; clay soil — land prepared in the fol- 

 lowing manner : about seventy loads of ma- 

 nure, then planted in potatoes to ameliorate 

 the groujid, and tlie next spring plowed well 

 and deep. Several crops were raised after- 

 ward, but not with so good success. 



Now for the process. The land should be 

 rich, well and deeply plowed, and thorough- 

 ly pulverized. The soil should be deep and 

 contain considerable sand. Commence six 

 feet from one side of your ground, and tlu-ow 

 two furrows together. Now you are ready 

 for putting in the sets, as follows ; when the 

 Madder roots rise to the liight of eight or ten 

 inches, draw them out from tlie old bed, 

 from five to ten plants at a time, taking care 

 to draw the part of the plant that is in the 

 ground, which is yellow, and is commonly 

 from two to four inches long ; place them in 

 baskets and carry them to the place of plant- 

 ing. Lay the plants on each side of the ridge 

 thrown together Ijy the plow, four or five in- 

 ches apart, or six if scarce ; then go two 

 rounds, taking a light furrow. Then lay your 

 sets as before, and so on, so as to Imve three 

 rows of plants on each side of the center, 

 which will make six rows of plants, and the 

 bed when so completed sliould be about six 

 feet wide. Now commence the second bed, 



m 



so as to leave foiu" feet of space between the- 

 beds when finished. 



Now nothing more is to be done except to 

 keep it clear of weeds, and the intervals be- 

 tween the beds frequently stirred vvith the 

 plow, till toward harvest, when the plants 

 appear suflScient to cover the beds well. 

 Then weed clean, stir the middles, lay the 

 tops in, so as to fomi a straight edge to the 

 beds. If thin places occur, from failure, tm-a 

 some of the top so as to at least partially cov- 

 er the groimd. Now pat all the tops down 

 lightly with the head of a rake. Take a 

 shovel, and with the loose ground in the in- 

 tervals cover the beds in small ridges cross- 

 wise of the bed, a shovelfull making eight or 

 ten niches of the small ridge, and leaving 

 from two to four inches between the small 

 ridges: if entirely covered, the tops will 

 smother. The covered tops will become 

 crown roots, and soon wiU shoot up numerous 

 young plants. Now if the second growth 

 comes on so that it can be covered before the 

 middle of August, proceed and cover as be- 

 fore, as this will much increase the crop. It 

 is most convenient to cover one-half of the 

 bed on each side of the interval. Keep the 

 beds clear of weeds till fall. The second 

 sununer pull out all weeds and bunches of 

 grass that would smother the jilants, wliich 

 is all the cultivation that is needed. 



In the spring of the second season draw 

 your plants for setting the second crop. In 

 the fore part of September of the second sea- 

 son, you can commence digging your crop, 

 cleaning out the old tops and yellow shoots. 

 If plants are wanted i'or transportation, now 

 is the time to save them ; save the crown 

 plants and cover them si.x or eiglit inches 

 deep with earth. The small shoots before 

 described will not answer to catry but a few 

 miles. The roots can now be put in baskets 



