WOAD. 



must be thinned out by hand, leaving 

 the strongest about two feet apart : 

 the leaves will soon till up tlie inter- 

 vals. They begin to ripen in June. 

 They are fit to gather vihcn they be- 

 gin to droop and become yellowish : 

 This should be done in very dry weath- 

 er, and alter the dew is off. The 

 leaves of the woad are either twisted 

 off close to the stems, or cut down 

 with a sickle. Great care must be 

 taken that no dirt or earth adheres to 

 them. Some recommend taking olT 

 the lower leaves first, when Ihey ap- 

 pear ripe by drooping and turning 

 yellow, and letting the upper leaves 

 remain till they show the same ap- 

 pearance ; then nothing but ripe 

 leaves will be gathered. This strip- 

 ping may be repeated two or three 

 times, as the leaves grow again. The 

 plants destined for seed are only strip- 

 ped once or twice, for fear of weak- 

 ening them. It might probably be ad- 

 vantageous not to strip them at all, 

 but to leave the whole strength for 

 the formation of the seed, wliich will 

 be larger and produce finer plants the 

 next year. 



" The first gathering of the leaves 

 is the best ; they should therefore be 

 kept separate, to obtain the best dye. 

 As soon as the leaves are gathered 

 the beds should be well and deeply 

 hoed or dug, to give a fresh impulse 

 to the roots. 



" 'I'he leaves are naturally full of 

 sap, and soon begin to decompose if 

 laid in a heap. They should there- 

 fore be partially dried, and imme- 

 diately carried to the mill to be man- 

 ufactured. 



" There is a variety of this plant 

 cultivated in Flanders and about Va- 

 lenciennes, which has seeds of a 

 violet colour, and the leaves very 

 smooth ; it is larger than the other, 

 and gives a better dye. It is that 

 which is cultivated near Avignon, 

 whence the best woad dye is procu- 

 red. The leaves are ground in a mill, 

 like an oil mill, into a paste, which, 

 when quite uniform and smooth, is 

 laid in heaps under a shed, and pressed 

 with the hands or feet into a mass : 

 each addition is carefully joined to 



the preceding, so that the whole crop 

 forms a long heap. A fermentation 

 is soon established, by which the blue 

 dye is separated. A black crust is 

 formed all over the heap, which keeps 

 in the gases produced. If any part 

 of this crust is cracked, it must be 

 immediately stopped up with some 

 of the paste. It takes a fortnight to 

 complete the operation. When the 

 disengagement of gas ceases, which 

 is soon perceived by the smell, the 

 heap is broken up, the crust is mixed 

 with the inside, and small })ortions, 

 like bricks of about one pound weight, 

 are made up with the hands by press- 

 ure in a mould, which, when dry, 

 are fit for sale. As great attention 

 is required both in the growing and 

 preparing of the woad, it is best done 

 by those who make a trade of it, 

 and have the necessary experience. 

 When the crop succeeds, the profit 

 is very considerable ; but, like all oth- 

 er crops, it is liable to many acci- 

 dents. 



" Woad is often shamefully adul- 

 terated with earth and other impuri- 

 ties. In Germany the process of pre- 

 paring the woad is somewhat differ- 

 ent. The leaves are first washed, 

 and then put into a tub three quarters 

 full of water, and kept under water 

 by blocks of wood laid on them. The 

 fermentation soon begins, and is 

 shown by a blue scum on the water. 

 When it has gone on to a certain 

 point, the water is drawn olf below, 

 and it comes away of a deep green. 

 It is strained through a cloth, the re- 

 maining leaves are washed with fresh 

 water, and this is added to the first. 

 Lime-water is now added, in the pro- 

 portion of two or three pounds for 

 every ten pounds of leaves used, and 

 the mixture is well shaken for some 

 time ; the dye is deposited in the 

 form of a powder, as starch is ; the 

 water is decanted off, and the thick 

 part at the bottom is filtered through 

 very fine cloths ; the powder which 

 remains is waslied repeatedly, till the 

 water comes off without being dis- 

 coloured. The residue is cut into 

 squares and set to dry. If there is too 

 much water added, the dye is infe- 



