MADDER. 481 



peat the weeding when necessary, and run a single horse plough through the 

 alleys several times to keep the earth clean and mellow. As soon as the plants 

 again become ten or twelve inches high, hend down and cover them as before, 

 repeating the operation as often as necessary, which is commonly three times 

 the first season. The last time may be as late as September, or later if no frosts 

 occur. By covering the tops in this manner, they change to roots, and the 

 design is to fill the ground as full of roots as possible. When the vacant spaces 

 are all full, there is but little chance for weeds to grow ; but all that appear 

 must be pulled out. 



The second year. Keep the beds free from weeds ; plough the alleys and 

 cover the tops, as before directed, two or three times during the season. The 

 alleys will now form deep and narrow ditches, and if it becomes difficult to ob- 

 tain good earth for covering the tops, that operation may be omitted after the 

 second time this season. Care should be taken, when covering the tops, to keep 

 the edges of the beds as high as the middle ; otherwise the water from heavy 

 showers will run off, and the crop suffer from drought. 



The third year. Very little labor or attention is required. They will now 

 cover the whole ground. If any weeds are seen, they must be pulled out ; 

 otherwise their roots will cause trouble when harvesting the madder. The 

 crop is sometimes dug the third year ; and if the soil and cultivation have been 

 good, and the seasons warm and favorable, the madder will be of a good quality; 

 but generally it is much better in quality, and more in quantity, when left until 

 the for.rth year. 



Digging and harvesting. This should be done between the 20th of August 

 and the 20th of September. Take a sharp shovel or shovels, and cut off and 

 remove the tops with half an inch of the surface of the earth ; then take a 

 plough of the largest size, with a sharp coulter and a double team, and plough. 

 a furrow outward, beam-deep, around the edge of the bed ; stir the earth with 

 forks, and carefully pick out all the roots, removing the earth from the bottom 

 of the furrow ; then plough another furrow beam-deep, as before, and pick over 

 and remove the earth in the same manner ; thus proceeding until the whole is 

 completed. 



Washing and drying. As soon as possible after digging, take the roots to 

 some running stream to be washed. If there is no running stream convenient, 

 it can be done at a pump. Take large round sieves, two-and-a-half or three feet 

 in diameter, with the wire about as fine as wheat sieves ; or if these cannot be 

 had, get from a hardware store sufficient screen wire of the right fineness, and 

 make frames or boxes, two-and-a-half feet long and the width of the wire, on 

 the bottom of which nail the wire. In these sieves or boxes, put half a bushel 

 of roots at a time, and stir them about in the water, pulling the branches apart 

 so as to wash them clean ; then, having a platform at hand, lay them on to dry. 

 (To make the platform, take two or three common boards, so as to be about 

 four feet in width, and nail deals across the under side). On these spread the 

 roots about two inches thick for drying in the sun. Carry the platforms to a 

 convenient place, not far from the house, and place them side by side, in rows 

 east and west, and with their ends north and south, leaving room to walk 

 between the rows. Elevate the south ends of the platforms about eighteen 

 inches, and the north ends about six inches from the ground, putting poles or 

 sticks to support them this will greatly facilitate drying. After the second or 

 third day's drying, the madder must be protected from the dews at night, and 

 from rain, by placing the platforms one upon another to a convenient height, 

 and covering the uppermost one with board. Spread them out again in the 

 morning, or as soon as danger is over. Five or six 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. 



Kiln-drying. The size 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 time. Place four strong posts in the ground, 

 twelve feet apart one way, and eighteen the other ; the front two fourteen feet 

 high, and the other eighteen ; put girts across the bottom, middle, and top, and 

 nail boards perpendicularly on the outside as for a common barn. The boards 



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