This opinion was expressed by Bernard McMahon of Philadelphia, 

 author of one of the most important American garden books of the early 

 19th century (1806, p. 322). ^ 



Doubtless many of McMahon's contemporaries agreed with him on 

 the importance of madder. It was a staple red wool, silk, and cotton dye 

 by the 18th century, although it had probably been brought to America 

 a century earlier by immigrating colonists. Madder dye was obtained 

 from the roots of Rubia tinctorum until the last quarter of the 19th century 

 when alizarin, its main constituent, was synthesized. 



The perennial madder, a native of Asia Minor, was cultivated in 

 Italy, then France and Holland. Most madder imported to America 

 came from the latter two countries. It seems strange that it was never 

 cultivated to any great extent in America though growing conditions 

 were considered quite suitable. In 1785, the Society for the Promotion of 

 Agriculture in South Carolina offered a premium for growing madder. 

 Many prominent citizens, among them Thomas Jefferson and Dolley 

 Madison, strongly urged farmers to raise this useful plant. Evidently 

 Jefferson was personally interested in madder cultivation, for an 1811 

 entry in his garden book reveals that he imported madder seeds from 

 France and planted them in the southeast corner of his garden. This 

 madder, Galium mollugo, was known as wild madder, and although its 

 roots also contain red dye, it is a member of the lady's bedstraw family 

 and not the true madder, Rubia tinctorum. Jefferson, in replying to a Boston 

 gentleman's query about madder, recalled that it had been cultivated in 

 Virginia for household use since before the Revolution (Jefferson, 1944, 

 p. 452). 



The American Philosophical Society in 1802 offered a $150 premium 

 for the "best experimental essay on the native red dies of the United 

 States." Mrs. Madison was to have made a report to the society on speci- 

 mens dyed with madder raised under her direction; however, this paper 

 never appeared in the society's transactions. Thomas Cooper, in his account 

 of madder cultivation in the settlement of Harmony, about 20 miles from 

 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reported that 8 or 10 acres of madder were 

 planted annually for local consumption. 



Homegrown madder was very simply prepared. It took 3 years for the 

 roots to reach their peak yield. Then, according to Jefferson, the fresh root 

 was beaten into a paste 12 hours after it was washed. He claimed that 

 fresh madder was twice as potent as the dried root. Commercial madder 



•^ This entry does not appear in the 1857 edition. Thomas Jefferson's letter to WilUam 

 Coolidge on the cultivation of madder refers to the 1806 edition (see Jefferson, 1944, p. 

 452). 



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