MADDER. 



moving the parth from the bottom of 

 the furrow ; tlifti liloii^h aiiothc^r fur- 

 row beam deep, as before, ami pit-k 

 over and remove the earth in the 

 same manner ; thus proceeding until 

 the whole is completed. 



" Washing and Drying. — As soon 

 as possible after digging, take the 

 roots to some running stream to be 

 washed. If there is no running stream 

 convenient, it can be done at a pump. 

 Take large, round sieves, 2J or 3 feet 

 in diameter, with the wire about as 

 fine as wheat sieves ; or if these can- 

 not be had, get from a hardware store 

 sufficient screen-wire of the right 

 fineness, and make frames or boxes 

 about two and a half feet long and 

 the width of the wire, on the bottom 

 of which nail the wire. In these 

 sieves or boxes, put half a bushel of 

 roots at a time, and stir them about 

 in the water, pulling the bunches apart 

 so as to wash them clean ; then, hav- 

 ing a platform at hand, lay them on 

 it to dry. (To make the platform, 

 take two or three common boards, so 

 as to be about four feet in width, and 

 nail cleets across the under side.) On 

 these spread the roots about two inch- 

 es thick for drying in the sun. Carry 

 the platforms to a convenient place, 

 not far from the house, and place 

 them side by side, in rows east and 

 west, and with their ends north and 

 south, leaving room to walk between 

 the rows. Elevate the south ends of 

 the platforms about eighteen inches, 

 and the north ends about six inches 

 from the ground, putting poles or 

 sticks to support them : this will 

 greatly facilitate drying. After the 

 second or third day drying, the mad- 

 der must be protected from the dews 

 at night, and from rain, by placing the 

 platforms one upon another to a con- 

 venient height, and covering the up- 

 permost one with boards. Spread 

 them out again in the morning, or as 

 soon as danger is over. Five or six 

 days of ordinarily fine weather will 

 dry the madder sufficiently, when it 

 may be put away till it is convenient 

 to kiln-dry and grind it. 



" Kiln-drying. — The size and mode 

 of constructing the kiln may be va- 

 474 



ried to suit circumstances. The fol- 

 lowing is a very cheap plan, and suf- 

 ficient to dry one ton of roots at a 

 time : Place four strong posts in the 

 ground, twelve feet apart one way, 

 and eighteen the other ; the front two 

 fourteen feet high, and the others 

 eighteen ; put girts across the bot- 

 tom, middle, and top, and nail boards 

 perpendicularly on the outside as for • 

 a common barn. The boards must 

 be well seasoned, and all cracks or 

 holes should be plastered or other- 

 wise stopped up. Make a shed-roof 

 of common boards. In the inside, 

 put upright standards about five feet 

 apart, with cross-pieces to support 

 the scaffialding. The first cross-pie- 

 ces to be four feet from the floor, the 

 next two feet higher, and so on to the 

 top. On these cross-pieces lay small 

 poles about six feet long and two 

 inches thick, four or five inches apart. 

 On these scaffolds the madder is to 

 be spread nine inches thick. A floor 

 is laid at the bottom to keep all dry 

 and clean. "When the kiln is filled, 

 take six or eight small kettles or hand- 

 furnaces, and place them four or five 

 feet apart on the floor (first securing 

 it from fire with bricks or stones), 

 and make fires in them with charcoal, 

 being careful not to make any of the 

 fires so large as to scorch the mad- 

 der over them. A person must be in 

 constant attendance to watch and re- 

 plenish the fires. The heat will as- 

 cend through the whole, and in ten 

 or twelve hours it will all be suffi- 

 ciently dried, which is known by its 

 becoming brittle like pipe-stems. 



" Breaking and Grinding. — Imme- 

 diately after being dried, the madder 

 must be taken to the barn and thrash- 

 ed with flails, or broken by machin- 

 ery (a mill might easily be constructed 

 for this purpose), so that it will feed 

 in a common grist mill. If it is not 

 broken and ground immediately, it 

 will gather dampness, so as to prevent 

 its grinding freely. Any common 

 grist mill can grind madder properly. 

 When ground finely it is fit for use, 

 and may be packed in barrels like flour 

 for market. 



" Amount and Value of Product, &c. 



