MADDER. 



371 



ment of technical industry and scientific investigation, the concentra- 

 tion or separation of the valuable constituents gradually commenced. 

 The first step was the manufacture of ' fleur de garance,' madder 

 deprived of all substances soluble in water, and then dried again, 

 which reduced the bulk to about 60 per cent. The washings contain 

 a considerable amount of sugar, which by some French manufacturers 

 is converted into alcohol. A ton of madder gives about 15 gallons of 

 alcohol, of rather unpleasant flavour, but well adapted for technical 

 purposes. Garancine is madder further treated with sulphuric acid, 

 which destroys part of the ligneous fibre, yielding about 25 per cent, 

 in the form of a fine powder of light-brown colour. Alizarine verte 

 and purpurine are the results of treating madder with sulphurous 

 acid, which dissolves both ; after adding sulphuric acid to the solu- 

 tion, and heating to 40° C, purpurine separates about ^ or f per cent., 

 and on further heating to 100° C, alizarine separates about 3 per 

 cent. Yellow alizarine is obtained by further purifying this alizarine 

 verte. Extracts of madder are mostly obtained by treating the root 

 with boiling water, collecting the precipitates which separate on 

 cooling, mixing them with gum or starch, and adding acetate of 

 alumina or iron. This is, in fact, a mixture of colouring matter and 

 a mordant, which may be used for printing, direct. These are the 

 principal madder preparations ; many of which are manufactured in 

 this country." 



The madder root season in Naples commences with August of each 

 year and terminates in July of the following. It is customary to 

 carry the residue stock of one year forward and to add it to the next 

 season's crop. The estimates are made on bales of 9 cwt. each. The 

 following is a statement of the crop of Naples madder roots. The 

 shipments go chiefly to Liverpool and Glasgow, to Avignon via 

 Marseilles, and to Holland : 



Bales. Bales. 



1869 20,909 1872 38,093 



1870 20,375 1873 19,791 



1871 16,903 1874 22,646 



The shipments in the last named year were 19,650 bales, viz. to 

 England, 5270 bales ; to France, 14,084 bales ; and to Holland, 296 

 bales; local consumption and shipments in garancine, 2600 bales, 

 leaving a residue with which to commence the new season of 2396 

 bales. 



The produce of madder roots in France was, in 



Cwts. 



1857 420,000 



1862 .. 167,792 



1872 238,568 



The latter, at 93 francs 32 cents, per cwt., was equal in value to 

 22,268,709 francs, or about 890,750Z. 



A hectare in well-manured ground, and under favourable circum- 

 stances as regards atmosphere, will produce 12,000 lbs. of dry roots, 

 while, under unfavourable circumstances, it will not yield more than 

 one-half or one-fourth of that amount. As the yield varies greatly in 

 successive years, it is difficult to give an average yield. 



2 B 2 



