228 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



(From ihe Ohio Fnrraer.) 



tOCATIOIS, SOIL AIVD CULTIVATIOIV OP THE 



KIADOER CltOP, 



A Jopation fiiciiig the south or south-east is to 

 be preferred. A sandy Loam not over stiff and 

 heavy, or lij^ht and sandy, or a good hrown,deep, 

 rich upland Loam, free frotn foul grass, weeds! 

 stones or stumps of trees. Where a c-rop of po- 

 tatoes, peas, corn or wheat, has been ciihivated 

 the past season, plongli deep twice, once in Sei>- 

 tember and once in Octoher, and if rather stiff let 

 it lie after the plough until spring. When the 

 sprmg 0|.ens,and the ground has become dry and 

 warm, (say in Tennessee, 1st of April, Ohio L5th 

 and New York, 25th to 1st of i\Iav ; J speak of 

 the sprmgof 183(3.) Plough again <leep, the deep- 

 er the better, then harrow well and strike it into 

 ridges with a one horse plough, three feet wide, 

 and four feet vacant, or making a ridge once in 

 seven feet, raising it, if on rather moist gr.)und. 

 eight or ten inches, and dry land si.v or eight from 

 the natural level, then with a li-ht harrow level, 

 and shape the ridges like a well formed bed of 

 beets, &c. 



We will suppose you intend to plant one acre 

 of ground, and that you have purchased 8 b:ishels 

 of top roots in the fall and burie.I them like pota- 

 toes on your premises — count the ridges on your 

 acre, and take out of the ground, one bushel of 

 roots,and plant it on 1-8 of vour ridges ; you will 

 then be able to as.rertain how to proportion your 

 roots for the reujainder. 



The following is the manner of planting, cul- 

 tivating, &e., when the quantities of ground do 

 not exceed three or four acies. One person on 

 each side of the ridge to make the holes, (plant 

 four inches below the surface of the bed, or there- 

 abouts, when covered,) one on each side to drop 

 the roots, and one on each side to cover, pressi:ig 

 tLie hill like that of planting corn, or three per- 

 sons on one side, as the case may be, whether 

 you have one or more acres to plant. Let the 

 owner he the dropper of roots, and his most tho- 

 rough assistants behind him. Make the holes 

 Irom twelve to eighteen inches apart, and about 

 SIX inches from the edge of the ridge. As the 

 plants are suijposed to have been purchased in the 

 tall, the roots may liave thrown out sprouts, and 

 a)oss>bly have leaved. In this case, in dropping 

 and covering, you will leave the most prominent 

 sprout or sprouts a little out of the ground, as 

 where a plant has leafed, it ought not to be smo- 

 thered. 



When the plant gets up three or four inches, 

 weed with the hoe, and plough with one horse, 

 between the ridges or beds, but not on them : 

 this will take ,dace 2 or 3 weeks after planting. 

 When up 12 or 15 inches, inanv of the tops will 

 lail ; assist them with a ten foot pole ; two per- 

 sons cross them esch way across the be.l, cover 

 then, with a shovel or garden rake,- throwin ^ the 

 80.1 from between the ridges. _ Alter loosening 

 with the one horse plough, you will, with a shovel 

 scatter the earth between the stalks rather than 

 throw It into heaps; of course we wish to keep 

 the stalks separate, us they are to form new and 

 important roots in the centre of the beds. About 

 ^he 20th of June, you may phugh between the 

 beds and scatter more earth on the fresh to,s 

 (all but the ends) and when you get through, vou' 

 may plant potatoes between the beds if you choose 

 1 do not recommend it, if you have plenty of land 

 although I raised 1070 bushels of Pink Eves on 



JANUARY 25. 18 !?. 



eight acres the first year, and 60 bushels of corn. 

 If your land is perfectly clear of weeds, you are 

 through with your labor on the Madder crop for 

 this year, except in latitudes where there is not 

 much snow, and considerable frost ; in this case 

 cover in October two inches or thereabout. 2d 

 year ; .«ame ojierations in weeding, but no crop 

 between ; cover once in June. 3d year : weed 

 only; 4th year; weed in the spring, if a weedy 

 piece of ground. 



Begin to plough out the roots in Tennessee, 

 [3 years old] first Sept. Ohio [4 years] same 

 time. New York, 15th or 20th, after cutting off 

 the tops with a sharp hoe. [n ploi^ighing ourthe 

 roots use a heavy span of horses, and a large 

 1 plough. We ought to choose a soil neither too 

 wet or too dry, too stiff or light. Shake the dirt 

 from the roots, and rinse or wash, as the soil may 

 be, stiff or light ; dry in a common hop kiln ; 

 grind them in a mill after Wilson's Patent Cof- 

 fee Mill ; this mill weighs from one to two 

 pounds. The madder mill may be from 60 to 80 

 lbs. weight. Grind coarse, and fan in a fanning 

 mill ; then grind again for market. The profit 

 of this crop is immense ; the exhaustion of soil 

 trifling, and glutting the market out of the ques- 

 tion. 



The Editor of the Albany Cultivator, vol. 2, 

 page 20, says — "It is principally cultivated in' 

 Holland, the province of Zealand, being literally 

 covered with it, from whence it is exported to 

 every part of Europe and America, yielding al- 

 most incalculable profits. The import of this 

 article for the use of our inanufacliirers, is said 

 to amount in value, to more than two millions of 

 dollars annually." Mr Jefferson, while minister 

 in France, writes: "They cultivate madder here 

 at immense profits; they dig it once in five or six 

 years." I have before me a communication from 

 a cultivator of the article, (see Cultivator, vol. 2, 

 page 93,) who makes the clear profit to amount 

 to $888 30, on an acre once in four years. The 

 lowest amount of profit that 1 have known on an 

 acre in fourycars is §300 ; the highest 1200; this 

 last included the sale of top roots for planting. 

 The amount will vary according to the soil and 

 cultivation. I have unquestionable evidence that 

 one hill (2400 to the acre) has jiroduced in five 

 years, 4 lbs. of kiln dri-jd madder; another at five 

 years old, 6 lbs. another wherein they took un- 

 common pains with the hill, 8 IIjs.8 oz. "Air Wood- 

 bury of Winfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., the 

 writer of the above mentioned communication, 

 purchased in the foil of 1834, one-fifth of an acre 

 of madder 4 years old and planted in hills, (far less 

 productive than if planted in ridges) for which he 

 paid $80, and dug from it one thousand one hun- 

 dred pounds. After it was kiln dried, he sold it 

 for 18 cents the pound. The usual yield for four 

 years is 3 pounds to the hill, where the land is 

 first rate, and the cultivation is performed by a 

 snug former. The crop increases something like 

 the following ratio, viz. 1st year, small grewth. 

 2d, double. 3d, equal to the two first. 4th, equal 

 to 15 per cent, on the whole ; at least this is my 

 opinion, not having dug any that was five years 

 old. Madder grows, and the stalks are fresh, in 

 any of the middle and western States until killed 

 by a hard frosi, and is almost the first vegetable 

 that starts in the spring, hence I should suppose 

 that madder in Tennessee, at 3 years old, would 

 be equal to fouryears at Birmingham, Ohio ; four 

 and a half, Oneida county, New York ; five years 



Winthrop, Me. The cuhivators of Holland and 

 France, from whom we draw most of our sup- 

 plies, and most of the agricultural authors of those 

 countries have been silent on the subject. 



I am located in the rich bottoms of the Vermil- 

 lion river. I, in connection with another person, 

 plant this spring 10 or 12 acres. As I have always 

 been of the opinion that a madder soil should be 

 composed in a great degree of decayed vegetables, 

 I think I shall get in four years from 5 to 6000 lbs', 

 of dried Madder per acre. I have a good upland 

 1 1-2 acres, planted some time since, from which 

 I can spare enough roots next fall, to plant 6 or 7 

 acres. The price will be, in the fall, for 6 bush- 

 els, $24; over 6 and under 12, $3 50 i>er bushel : 

 over 12, $3. 



Birmingham is 38 miles west from Cleveland, 

 Ohio, and 14 miles ^uth-east from Huron, Ohio. 

 Messrs. Wickham & Co., Forwarding Merchant." 

 Huron, will be applicant's agents, to whom funds 

 may be forwarded for the purchase of roots ; P. 

 E. & E. B. Bronson, Birmingham, owners, or R. 

 Bronson, Manager. All letters on the subject must' 

 be post paid to meet with attention. 



I had been in the ])ractice of using the 'Rubin 

 Tinctorum, or Dyer's aiadder,' for many years 

 previous to embarking in the business; and before 

 I commenced, I ascertained that the jirice of the 

 imported aiticle was worth (the preceding thirteen 

 years, on an average, in the New York tnarket,) 

 15 cents per lb.; the ten years preceding the thir- 

 teen years, it was worth 25 cents, and in that time 

 have known it worth 44 cents. In my early com- 

 munications to Editors of agricultural papers 1 

 stated the crop would equal 2000 lbs. 3 years old 

 but did not dream that 4 years would produce an 

 average of 4000 lbs. on good land and good cul. 

 ture. The cost docs not exceed 4 1-2 cts. per lb., 

 exclusive of selling top roots for planting. They 

 may be sold with profit at three years and even 

 two years old. 



It is sui-prising to me that no more than sixty 

 acres is as yet under cultivation. There will be 

 about one hundred acres planted this spring and 

 from forty-fiVe thousand to seventy-five thousand 

 acres wanted for the consumption of the United 

 States, and England as she cannot grow the ar- 

 ticle, imports all she uses. I say she cannot grow 

 it to advantage ; her summers are too moist and 

 cool. It is more absurd to let foreign nations ex- 

 port madder to this country, than to let them ex- 

 port wheat or wheat flour. It is more hardy than 

 the potato crop. It is worth three cents more per 

 pound, than t!ie best imported. As a proof, no 

 imported madder can be sold where this has been 

 kept for sale. The difference ci nsists in this, 

 that the brightest roots are selected in the field 

 ill those countries, dried and ground, and sent to 

 England. They use it in dyeing their Adriano- 

 ple, or Turkey red, on cotton ; the rest dried, 

 (without rinsing) giound, and sent to America. 

 In this country, a prudent cultivator rinses, dries, 

 and grinds altogether ; then fans or separates the 

 loose bark and small fibres from the pme article. 

 The refuse is used fur ground of many colors. 



Madder is used in whole, or part, for the fol- 

 lowing colors on wool, both in England, France, 

 and America, viz : blue, black, red, buff, olive- 

 brown, olive, navy-blue, and many others ; final- 

 ly it produces one of the most beautiful, durable, 

 and healthy colors that is at this time dyed ; as 

 for calico printers, it enters greatly into their 

 dyes. The city of Lowell, in Massachusetts 



