418 THE WOAD AND WELD CHOPS. 



quality. It is clear, therefore, that the richest soils are 

 the most advantageous to occupy in this cultivation, as 

 the expenses of preparation, &c., which are very heavy, 

 are thus spread over four instead of over two years' crops. 

 The crop being, in every respect, of a special character, 

 does not interfere with the regular rotation of the farm, 

 and indeed the manner in which its cultivation is usually 

 carried on, removes it from any direct connection with 

 the farm at all, save where the occupier of the land 

 grows the crop himself. By far the more common prac- 

 tice is for the " woad-grower " to hire the piece of land 

 suitable for his purpose at an agreed price for the term 

 eith'er two, three, or four years of his cropping, for 

 which a high price is always paid from five to fifteen 

 guineas per acre the grower undertaking the whole of 

 the subsequent tillage, harvesting, and preparation of the 

 produce for market. 



In the preparation some growers prefer breaking up the 

 land late in the autumn, by giving it a good deep 

 furrow, and leaving it exposed to the action of the winter's 

 rains and frosts. Others, again, consider that the sooner 

 the seed is sown after the land is broken up the better, 

 and consequently defer the ploughing until the early 

 spring. Probably the difference in the mechanical tex- 

 ture of the soil may affect this question. The alluvial 

 soils on the banks of rivers, containing certain proportions 

 of argillaceous matter and having at the best but a sluggish 

 drainage, would be far less likely to be reduced to the fine 

 tilth necessary for the seed-bed if the breaking up were 

 left until the spring, than if it had been done in the 

 previous autumn ; whereas the deep, friable organic 

 loams of Lincolnshire, and those met with in the valleys 

 of older geological formations, would probably be better 

 adapted for sowing directly after being ploughed than if 

 they had been left in furrow during the winter months 



