MADDEE. 



479 



wliicli, bj some, is thought the best method, but the more usual 

 mode is by the division of, and transplanting, the roots. The 

 ground should be thoroughly and deeply pulverised, clean, 

 and well-manured for the preceding crop, that the manure may 

 be thoroughly rotted and incorporated with the soil : in April 

 or May the suckers will be fit for taking from the older 

 plantations — those of two or three years producing the best. 

 The sets should have roots four or five inches long. Mark out 

 rows two feet apart, with a line, and set the plant with a dibble, 

 one foot apart in the rows. The roots should be dipped in a 

 puddle of fine rich earth and water, beaten to the consistence of 

 cream, previous to planting ; let the crown of the plant be clearly 

 over ground, and secure the earth well around the root, to keep 

 out drought. The plantation requires nothing more but to be kept 

 perfectly clean and well-hoed during the summer months ; and 

 after the top decays in the autumn, to be earthed up by the plough 

 for the winter, each year, till the plants are three years old, when 

 they are of the proper size and age for lifting, wliich must be done 

 by trenching the land two feet deep — several hands accompanying 

 the digger to pick out the roots, which must be thoroughly cleaned 

 and dried on a kiln till they are so brittle as to break across, when 

 they are fit to be packed in bags, and sold to the dye-stuft' manu- 

 facturers who grind and reduce them to powder for use. The 

 produce is variable ; usually from eight to twenty cwt. per 

 acre, but as much as 3,000 to 6,000 lbs. is frequently obtained. 

 The forage amounts to about 15,000 lbs. the first year, and 

 7,500 lbs. the second year. In a new and good soil manure 

 may be dispensed with for the fii^st crop. Some cultivators 

 interline and grow other crops between the rows, but the best 

 cultivators state that such a practice is objectionable. The 

 breadth of land under this crop in England is much reduced, in 

 consequence of the reduction in price from the competition of 

 the Dutch growers. 



Madder is extensively grown on the central table land of 

 Affghanistan, forming one of the leading products of Beloochistan ; 

 and, according to Mr. Pottinger, it sells in the Kelat Bazaar at 

 about 10 lbs. for 2s. The cultivation there pursued is as follows : — 

 The ground is repeatedly ploughed, and laid out finally in small 

 trenches, in which the seed is sown, covered slightly with earth, 

 and then the whole is flooded. Whilst thus irrigated, the trenches 

 are fiUed with a mixture of rich maniu-e and earth. The plants 

 appear in about ten days, and attain a height of three or four feet 

 during the first summer. They are cut down in September and 

 used as fodder for cattle. Subsequently, and until spring arrives, 

 the ground is manured and repeatedly flooded. During the second 

 year's growth, the plants which are intended to produce seed are 

 set apart, but the stems of the remainder are cut every four or 

 six weeks, in order to increase the size and goodness of the 

 roots. 



Madder is said to repay a nett profit of 200 doUars to the acre, 



