DEI?. 209 



\ i'ii 'i i lie >econd or third day drying, the madder must be 

 protected from the dews at night, and from rain placing the 

 platforms one upon another to a convenient height, and 

 covering the uppermost one with boards. Spread them out 

 again in the morning, or as soon as the danger is over. Five 

 or si.\ days of ordinarily fine weather will dry the madder 

 sufficiently, when it may be put away till it is convenient to 

 kiln-dry and grind it. 



Kir.\-i)i{vi\c. The -si/e and mode of constructing the 

 kiln may be varied to suit circumstances. The following is 

 a very cheap plan, and sufficient to dry one ton of roots at a 

 tin H-. Place four strong posts in the ground, twelve feet 

 apart one way, and eighteen the other ; the front two four- 

 teen feet high, and the others eighteen ; put girts across the 

 bottom, middle and top ; and nail boards perpendicularly on 

 the outside as for a common barn. The boards must be well- 

 seasoned, and all cracks or holes should be plastered or other- 

 wise stopped up. Make a shed-roof of common boards. In 

 the inside put upright standards about five feet apart, with 

 cross-pieces, to support the scaffolding. The first cross- 

 pieces to be four feet from the floor ; the next two feet higher, 

 and so on to the top. On these cross-pieces, lay small poles 

 about six feet long and two inches thick, four or five inches 

 apart. On these scaffolds the madder is to be spread nine in- 

 ches thick. A floor is laid at the bottom, to keep all dry and 

 clean. When the kiln is filled, take six or eight small kettles 

 or hand furnaces, and place them four or five feet apart on 

 the floor, (first securing it from fire with bricks or stones,) 

 and make fires in them with charcoal, being careful not to 

 make any of the fires so large as to scorch the madder over 

 them. A person must he in constant attendance to watch and 

 replenish the fires. The heat will ascend through the whole, 

 and in ten or twelve hours it will all be sufficiently dried, 

 which is known by its becoming brittle like pipe-stems. 



BREAKIXG AND CKIMH.\<;. Immediately after being 

 dried, the madder must be taken to the barn and threshed 

 with flails, or broken by machinery, (a mill might easily be 

 constructed for this purpose,) so that it will leed in a common 

 grist mill. If it is not broken and ground immediately, it 

 will gather dampness so as to prevent its grinding freely, 

 Any common grist-mill can grind madder properly. When 

 ground finely it is fit for use, and may be packed in barrels 

 like flour for market." 



