196 



LOVE-APPLE. MADDER. 



would be from three to six hundred, worth from fifty cents 

 to one dollar each. The increase of feed and surplus wood 

 would fully pay the labour of cultivation ; so that the pro- 

 ceeds of the timber would be the profits of the land. 



" An objection to the cultivation of the locust-tree is often 

 brought from the fact that they are sometimes destroyed by 

 worms. This is true ; but the ravages of this insect are 

 found to be greatest where the trees are few and scattered. 

 In the grove on this farm, which extends over a number of 

 acres, and in the other groves in the vicinity, but very few 

 of the trees are at all injured by worms. This objection is 

 by no means sufficient to authorize the neglect of their cul- 

 tivation. It certainly is of the highest importance to the 

 farmers of Essex, to inquire how they can improve their 

 pastures ; or, rather, how they can save them from ruin ; 

 for it must be obvious to all, that, as at present managed, 

 they are constantly growing worse, and many of them 

 have already become of very little value. If, by planting 

 them with trees, by ploughing, by applying plaster, as has 

 been done, with good success, on the farm of Mr. Bartlett, 

 or in any other way, they can be reclaimed, it surely is 

 worthy of the experiment." 



LOVE-APPLE.— iS^ee Tomato. 



MADDER. — Rubia tinctoria, — The following directions 

 for raising this plant are copied from The Emporium of Arts : 



" This plant may be propagated either by offsets or seeds. 

 If the latter method is preferred, the seed should be of the 

 true Turkish kind, which is called Lizari^ in the Levant. 

 On a light, thin soil, the culture cannot be carried on to any 

 great profit. The soil in which the plant delights is a 

 rich, sandy loam, being three feet in depth, or more. 



" The ground, being first made smooth, is divided into 

 beds four feet wide, with alternate alleys half as wide again 

 as the beds. The reason of this extraordinary breadth of 

 the alleys will presently appear. In each alley is to be a 

 shallow channel for the convenience of irrigating the whole 

 fields, &c. That part of the alley which is not occupied 

 may be sown with legumes. 



" The madder seed is sown broad-cast, in the proportion 

 of from twenty-five to thirty pounds per acre, about the end 

 of April. In a fortnight or three weeks, the young plants 

 begin to appear ; and from this time to the month of Sep- 

 tember, care must be taken to keep the ground well wa- 

 tered, and free from weeds. 



*'If the plants are examined in autumn, they will be 



