438 THE MADDER CROP. 



spare plants, which it is always good policy to secure for 

 that purpose, either by having a small nursery piece in a 

 corner of the field, or other convenient spot, or by leaving 

 the plants of one or more of the rows a little closer on the 

 ground at the time of " singling/' Where " sets " are 

 used, as in Holland, the planting is usually delayed until 

 May. The sets are obtained from the surface roots of old 

 plants, and planted in rows about 18 inches to 2 feet 

 apart, and at 6 to 9 inch distances in the rows. They 

 are either planted with the dibble, or a light furrow is 

 run with the plough, and the " sets " laid against the fur- 

 row-slice, when they are covered in by another turn of 

 the plough, in the same manner as already described in 

 cabbage-planting (vol. i. p. 376). 



Under favourable conditions the plants grow freely, and 

 give a large amount of herbage, which may be cut once 

 the first year and two or three times in the second and 

 third years, and given to the cattle. The stock generally 

 eat it readily and thrive on it, many farmers considering 

 it equal to lucerne or clovers in its feeding qualities. 



About the month of November the practice, both in 

 France and Holland, is to earth up the plants. Where 

 sown or planted in "beds" the soil is taken from the in- 

 tervening trenches; where sown in regular rows they 

 may be earthed up by the plough. This practice, though 

 very general, is of questionable benefit, except where 

 "sets" or shoots are desired for the next year's planting, 

 as it encourages the plants to make surface-roots or " run- 

 ners/' which have no value for dyeing purposes, at the 

 expense of the other portions of the roots which consti- 

 tute the marketable produce of the crop. 



The crop is supposed to have reached its maximum 

 productiveness in the third year; the root produce is then 

 harvested and prepared for market. This is a tedious and 

 expensive operation, every plant having to be lifted sepa- 



