424 THE WO AD AND WELD CROPS. 



The first process in the preparation or manufacture of 

 woad is that of grinding or crushing the leaves to the 

 state of pulp. This is effected by submitting them to the 

 action of large and heavy wheels (edge-runners), attached 

 to a central upright shaft, and travelling in a circle on 

 a floor, either in iron or granite prepared for the pur- 

 pose. A rotating motion given to the shaft is of course 

 communicated to the wheels, which are either made of 

 wood bound together by iron tire- hoops, or they are 

 skeleton wheels in iron, with thick and heavy peripheries, 

 and " coned," so as to reduce the friction in moving 

 round small circles of unequal diameters. The amount of 

 " coning " required is determined by the relation between 

 the " sweep " of the mill and the breadth of the wheels 

 employed, bearing in mind that a small sliding action is 

 desirable, as that combines a tearing or grinding, with the 

 simpler crushing force of the wheel. The mill is fed 

 with the fresh leaves as they are brought from the field, 

 and the pulp, when sufficiently ground, is removed from 

 time to time, and laid up in small heaps to drain, until 

 the mass is sufficiently dried to cohere when taken up in 

 the hand and moderately pressed. It is then ready for 

 the next process, that of " balling/' which is performed by 

 the hand, the pulp being squeezed and made up into 

 flattened round or oval-shaped lumps, of about 4 to 6 

 inches diameter. A stout lad or man is able to " ball " as 

 much pulp as is ground by each wheel or edge-runner 

 worked in the mill. The "balls" are then taken to the 

 drying shed, which is usually economically built of rough 

 materials, tiled at the top, and weather-boarded, "louvre" 

 fashion, at the sides, the object being to give free access 

 to the passage of air throughout the range, and at the 

 same time to keep the interior perfectly rain-proof. The 

 interior is fitted up with skeleton frames or shelves, carry- 

 ing rows of "wattled" hurdles, one above another, on 



