THE TRADE IK MADDER. 151 



essence of pearl. Up to a recent period the heirs of Jaquin, the first 

 inventor, carried on a considerable manufactory of these mock pearls in 

 Paris. The fish are tolerably abundant in the river Seine ; but their scales 

 are conveyed from distant parts in much larger quantities than can be pro- 

 cured on the spot, for which purpose they are preserved in volatile alkali, 

 or ammoniacal liquor, to prevent putrefaction. 



THE TRADE FN MADDER. 



BY P. L. SIMMONDS. 



It is discouraging to find that with the progress of our manufacturing indus- 

 tries — for the textile ones, and even some others — we are becoming largely, 

 and in some instances exclusively, dependent on foreign countries. The great- 

 est part of our cotton still comes from the United States. For wool we are 

 less dependent, as we have the produce of our own southern colonies. For flax 

 and silk we are largely indebted to foreigners ; and in like manner we draw 

 from foreign sources a great portion of our supplies of dyes and tanning 

 materials. The dyes are of great importance, and offer large returns to the 

 producer. Our Indian possessions furnish us with supplies of indigo; but 

 there is a wide field for enterprise in the supply of colouring substances in 

 many of our colonies. As an instance we may take the article of Madder, 

 for which there is now an immense demand. Why should we pay a million 

 annually for this dye root to the Continent, when it might be produced so 

 easily in many of our colonies ? The culture at present centres chiefly in 

 some of the departments of France, in southern Europe, Turkey, Syria, the 

 two Sicilies, and Spain. Although it is a crop demanding care and outlay, 

 yet the return is considerable, the average price ranging at about £2 5s. or 

 more the cwt., while the yield is fully one ton per acre. There is a large 

 demand, not only in Russia, Austria, and other European countries, for 

 madder, but the United States pays annually about £200,000 for this 

 article. Hence attention has lately been prominently directed by the 

 American government to the importance of extending the culture of the 

 root there, many of the States being well suited to 1 its production, both as 

 regards soil and climate. 



Madder has occasionally been cultivated in England, but without any 

 very great success or beneficial results, owing to the unsuitability of the 

 climate and the high price of land. Hence, a crop which takes three or 

 four years to mature and harvest will scarcely pay. That, however there 

 are many of our colonies in which it might be raised to great advantage, we 

 fully believe, especially in Australia and Southern Africa ; and with this 

 view we desire to draw attention to the subject, and to collect and arrange 

 a few instructive hints, so that some of the hundreds of thousands of pounds 

 now spent on the Continent may go into the pockets of our countrymen in 

 the Colonies, rather than into those of the foreigner. 



