MANUFACTURE OF WOAD. 425 



which the " balls " are arranged, and left until they are 

 sufficiently dry. The time required for this of course 

 varies with the hygrometric conditions of the atmosphere, 

 and also with the internal arrangement, more or less per- 

 fect, of the shed. Great care is needed that the balls be 

 perfectly dry before they are removed, as unless such be 

 the case, fermentation will be set up, and the produce pro- 

 portionately injured. 



The colour and the handling of the balls are the best 

 indications of their fitness for removal ; the outside should 

 have become very nearly black, and the inside be of a 

 purplish tint, and if a small portion be taken and rubbed 

 between the forefinger and thumb, it should have a ten- 

 dency to separate, and not rub down into a paste. Much 

 of the future value of the woad depends upon its condi- 

 tion at this stage, the quality and consequent market 

 price being in proportion to its specific weight, Clearness 

 of colour, and freedom from grit or other impurities. As 

 the "balls" are from time to time removed from the 

 drying sheds, they are stored away in a dry and ven- 

 tilated place appropriated to their reception, until the 

 cropping season is over, when the entire produce of the 

 year is submitted to the last process of the preparation, 

 the fermentative action, technically known by the term 

 "couching." This process requires more judgment, skill, 

 and careful labour on the part of those engaged in it than 

 any of the previous operations, either of growth or mani- 

 pulation, and as it is carried on during the winter months, 

 it retains and occupies profitably the skilled labour re- 

 quired for the general cultivation of the crop. The only 

 preparation required for " couching" is to reduce the 

 " balls" to a coarse powder, which is readily effected by 

 the same machinery used in the first grinding process; 

 the ground woad is then spread on the floor of the couch 

 to the depth of 2 to 3 feet, where it remains until the 



