438 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR USES 



in every respect, to the best German. This gentleman had 

 tested them, and his declaration was founded on that test. 

 I enquired why he did not use native teasels wholly; his 

 rrplv was, "We cannot safely rely upon our farmers for a 

 regular supply some are inattentive to the culture and bring 

 in an inferior article, and receive a corresponding price, be- 

 come dissatisfied, and give it up. Others, who by proper at- 

 tention, and there are but few of this class, raise a prime article, 

 receive an excellent return for their labour, outlay, &c.; but 

 these are too limited to depend upon or to supply the demand, 

 which is frequently fluctuating as well as the price." 



In the Agricultural Survey of Berkshire county, Massa- 

 chusetts, the Commissioner states, "that of other crops raised 

 in this country, the one that principally deserves attention, 

 because the cultivation is not much known, is the Fuller's 

 Teasel. In some few places it has been cultivated with emi- 

 nent success. We believe, that considerable attention is paid 

 to its cultivation in Vermont, and small parcels have been 

 raised in Pennsylvania east of the Susquehanna, but its cul- 

 ture has no where in the middle states been systematically in- 

 troduced. Mr. COLMAN, in his notice of the cultivation of the 

 teasel in Berkshire county, says:* 



I have the estimates of three farmers familiar with the cultivation, whose 

 estimates of the yield of an acre will be found to differ considerably from each 

 other. This may arise from a difference in the cultivation, or in the assort- 

 ing of the several qualities; perhaps the one includes more what he deems 

 marketable than the other. Of the farmer who reported the smallest amount, 

 I only say that his crop was beautiful, and his teasels all assorted with the 

 greatest care, being done up in separate bunches with neatness, and hung up 

 separately to be dried. He reports eighty-five thousand to an acre. Another 

 reports from two to three hundred thousand. A third, two hundred and fifty 

 thousand; and states, that on three acres, he, in one instance, obtained a crop 

 of one million. In one instance thirty thousand were raised on one-sixth of 

 an acre that is, at the rate of four hundred and fifty thousand per acre. The 

 bur must be one inch and a half in length in order to be merchantable. The 

 manufacturer will buy those which are shorter, but at an inferior price. The 

 English divide them into three qualities, viz: kings, middlings, scrubs. The 

 latter are sold at a low rate. 



They are a crop which requires two years to come to maturity and they 

 are liable to be killed by the winter. The soil should be a deep, rich, moist 

 loam. The cultivation should be as careful and thorough as for any garden 

 crop. The English speak of a clayey soil as being most favourable to this 

 crop, and advise against high manuring. Our own cultivators are of a differ- 

 ent opinion, and say that the ground cannot be made 'too rich. [In this they 

 coincide with the most experienced cultivators in Germany.] The crops with 

 us are as large as the English crops but our cultivators often raise a crop of 

 carrots between the rows of teasels. 



The plants are sowed in rows eighteen inches apart, and they are subse- 

 quently thinned to the distance of four inches in the row. They are to be kept 

 as clean as possible, and in the spring every other row is to be taken up, and 



* Second Report of the Agriculture of Massachusetts, by Rev. HENRY COL- 

 MAN, Commissioner for the Agricultural Survey of the Slate Berkshire county. 

 This is an interesting and important document. 



