THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Mar 



i:) 



Messrs. Editors : — In Vol. 7, No. 3, of the 



Geru'si e Farmer, a subscriber wished information, 

 through the columns of that paper, concerning 

 Woai!, fcc. As no answer has appearetl, and as I 

 liavo some leisure tim.e, I will proceed brietiy to 

 answer the inquiry, if better late than never. Where 

 vvoaH stei can be obtained, I can not positively say. 

 In tli3 catalogue of G. Thorbubn fc Sons, of New 

 ■^'nik city, and in the catalogue of Mr. PKl^•cB, of 

 I'lu-liiiiiT, Long Island, some years ago, among other 

 :•. 'iis ih:il of vvoad was advertised for sale. I know 

 M iliiiin- about the price per pound. Several years 

 u u I iccuived a small quantity of woad seed from 

 .i iViend, which I sowed early in the spring, on good 

 sail !V loam. The amount was small, but it grew 

 f'ntlv. At the proper time the leaves were cut and 

 manufactured in the usual v.'ay, and the article so 

 i-aiiuiactured was used by a neighboring dyer. — 

 ^^'lla•■i seed should be sown early in the spring on 

 ^fiiid, dry, well prepared soil, in rows eighteen inches 

 apart, to stand six inches, or more, apart in the row, 

 rnd the ground to be frequently stirred with the hoe 

 ".r. I kept free from weeds during the season. Its 

 ciiUure is extremely simple. In France, five crops 

 i'.re taken in one season from the same woad field ; 

 but our seasons in this country are too short for so 

 inariy crops. 



']'o manufacture woad for the use of dyers, the 

 f iivi s :-ie cut when they have attained maturity, and 

 !;"ni. :iately taken to the mill to grind. The mill is 

 !;K'' llieuld faj-'hioned bark mill — a stone turns round 

 i;i :i circular trnntrh ; in this trough the leaves are 

 ]ihiroii, and bv the action of the stone reduced to a 

 i.Rste. The whole is then put together in a mass and 

 well beat down with a shovel to make it smooth. In 

 thia situation it is left to ferment for about two weeks. 

 It is then well mixed by stirring, and then made into 

 1* f mall balls and well dried without wet ; it is then fit 

 / for u^•e. The process above described is repeated 

 I with each successive crop of leaves, and the whole 

 C operation is performed under shelter, as no rain must 

 t be permitted to fall on the woad at any time after 

 ^ the leaves are cut. In France, indigo has been 

 f obtained from the leaves of woad by a process sim- 

 j, ilar to that used in the manufacture of indigo from 

 a the Indigofera, or Indigo plant ; and some thirty years 

 J ago. Gen. Dearborn, of Brinley place, near Boston, 

 i^Mass., by a similar process, obtained indigo from 

 i woad, an account of which was published i'l a 

 3 Massachusetts Agricultural Journal of that day. 

 I Before indigo was known to the dyers of Europe, 

 L* woad was their only resort for fast blues, but is now 

 J seldom used except in conjunction with indigo, to 

 f facilitate the fermentation of the blue vat and assist 

 |C the disoxvgenation of the indigo. J. Ellingwood. 

 i —Gainesville, Wyo. Co., JV. Y., 1850. 

 ? Woad some years ago was considerably used in 

 ) this country for dyeing, and generally as a base for 

 f blues, blacks, and some other colors. The produce 

 ? is from about a ton to a ton and a half of green 

 J leaves. The price varies ; but for woad of prime 

 ^ quality it is often from $125 to $150 per ton. The 

 S price of an inferior article is much less. It may now 

 > be used in the largo dyeing establishments. IIow- 

 \ ever, we think it has generally gone into disuse. It 

 ] is not to be found in any of oiir stores. 

 \ To prepare it for the dyer, it is bruised by machinery 



i to express the watery part ; it ia afterwards formed 



into balls and fermented, re-ground, and fermented in 

 vats, where it is evaporated into cakes in the manner 

 of iniligo. The haulm is burned for manure or spread 

 over the straw-yard, to be fermented along witTi straw- 

 dmig. To save seed, leave some of the plants unde- 

 nuded of their leaves the second year, and when it is 

 ripe, in July or August, treat it like turnep-seed. 

 The only diseases tij which the woad is liable are the 

 mildew and rust. When young it is often attacked 

 by the fly, and the ground obliged to be resown, and 

 this more than once even on winter-plowed grasslands. 



i 



YAWKEE CORISr SHELLES. 



The Yankee Corn Sheller is one of the best. It 

 has an iron hopper simply and firmly secured with a 

 double spring to suit all sized ears, with a balance 

 wheel inside. Thors are two sizes, at $10 and $12. 

 The small size will shell a bushel easily in five 

 minutes. For sale at the Agricultural Warehouse 

 in this city. 



THE SOIBKOE OF FOHCB AND MOTION. 



At a recent meeting of the New York State -'Agri- 

 cultural Society, says the Scientific American, a 

 report was presented and read by Mr. Dklakield, 

 (Vice President,) on essays, experiments and works 

 for schools. Mr. Dklafikld remarked that the 

 science of Force and Motion was essential and 

 important to the perfection of the farmer's work — 

 that some knowledge of practical mechanics was 

 necessary to a right understanding of the tools used 

 iu cultivating the earth, their uses, strength, and 

 proper construction — that the forces of fluids as well 

 as solids, were useful, and needed his study, as facili- 

 tating operations in draining, in irrigation, and pro- 

 tecting his soil from injury by running streams — 

 that the common occupation of loading wagons an.d 

 other farm operations, evidence the need of knowledge 

 of the laws of gravity. With these impressions, it 

 was urged that a premium be offered for the best 

 essay on Mechanics, on the science of Force and 

 Motion, to bo divested as far as practicable of tech- 

 nicalities, and illustrating the importance of this 

 branch of science in prosecuting successfully the 

 ordinary pursuits of agriculture. 



Wc learn that the Society determined, at a subse- 

 quent meeting, to offer a premium as recommended. 



