X 
to let the earth fall from their roots ; the pots fiiould 
0o, be plunged into a moderate hot-bed, giving the 
plants plenty of air at all times when the weather 
will permit, and fupporting their ftalks, which will 
otherwife trail on the ground •, with this management 
the plants will flower in June, and ripen their feeds 
in September. 
The three . laft forts are not cultivated for ufe, fo 
are only preferved in botanic gardens for the fake of 
variety *, thefecond and third forts are propagated by 
feeds, which ftrould be fown in autumn ; and when 
the plants come up, they muft be thinned, leaving 
them fix inches apart ; afterward they muft be kept 
clean from weeds : the fummer following they will 
flower and produce ripe feeds, after which thefe forts 
foon decay ; the roots of the firft fort will live another 
year. The flrft fort which is propagated for ufe, is fown 
upon frefti land which is in good heart, for which the 
cultivators of Woad pay a large rent ; they generally 
chufe to have their land fituated near great towns, 
where there is plenty of drefling, but they never ftay 
long on the fame fpot, for the beft ground will not 
admit of being fown with Woad more than twice 
for if it is oftener repeated, the crop feldom pays the 
charges of culture, &c. 
Thole who cultivate this commodity, have gangs of 
people, who have been bred to this employment, fo 
that whole families travel about from place to place, 
wherever their principal fixes on land for the purpofe ; 
but thefe people go on in one track, juft as their pre- 
decefiors taught them ; nor have their principals de- 
viated much from the practice of their anceftors, fo 
that there is a large field for improvement, if any of 
the cultivators of Woad were perfons of genius, and 
could be prevailed on to introduce the garden cul- 
ture fo far as it may be adapted to this plant ; this I 
know from experience, having made numbers of 
trials in the culture of this plant, therefore I lhall in- 
fert them here for the benefit of thofe who may 
have ingenuity enough to ftrike out of the old beaten 
track. 
As the goodnefs of Woad confifts in the fize and 
fatnefs of the leaves, the only method to obtain this, 
is by fowing the feed upon ground at a proper feafon, 
and allow the plants proper room to grow, as alfo to 
keep them clean from weeds ; which, if permitted to 
to grow, will rob the plants of their nourifhment. 
The method pra&ifed by fome of the moft fldiful 
kitchen-gardeners in the culture of Spinach, would 
be a great improvement to this plant, for fome of 
them have improved the round-leaved Spinach fo 
much by culture, as to have the leaves more than fix 
times the fize they were formerly •, and their fatnels 
has been in the fame proportion, upon the fame land, 
which has been effected by thinning of the plants 
when young, and keeping the ground conftantly 
clean from weeds ; but to return to the culture of 
Woad. 
After having made choice of a proper fpot of land, 
which ihould not be too light and fandy, nor over ftiff 
and moift, but rather a gentle hazel loam, whofe 
parts will eafily feparate : the next is to plough this up 
juft before winter, laying it in narrow high ridges, 
that the froft may penetrate through the ridges, to 
mellow and foften the clods ; then in the fpring plough 
it again croffway, laying it again in narrow ridges •, 
after it has lain fome time in this manner, and the 
weeds begin to grow, it fnould be well harrowed to 
deftroy them this fhould be twice repeated while the 
weeds are young, and if there are any roots of large 
perennial weeds, they muft be harrowed out, and car- 
ried off the ground. In June the ground fiiould be a 
third time ploughed, when the furrows fhould be nar- 
row, and the ground ftirred as deep as the plough will 
go, that the parts may be as well feparated as poflible ; 
and when the weeds appear again, the ground fiiould 
be well harrowed to deftroy them. Toward the end 
of July, or the beginning of Auguft, it fhould be 
ploughed the laft time, when the land fiiould be laid 
liiiooth, and when there is a profpedt of ihowers, the 
I S A 
ground muft be harrowed to receive the feeds, which 
fhould be fown either in rows with the drill plough/ 
or in brcad-caft, after the common method -, but it will 
be proper to fteep the feeds one night in water before 
they are fown, which will prepare them for vegetation : 
if the feeds are fown in drills with a plough, they will 
be covered by an inftrument fixed to the plough for 
that purpofe ; but thofe which are fown broad-caft in 
the common way, muft be well harrowed in. If the 
feeds are good and the feafon favourable, the plants 
will appear in a fortnight, and in a month or five 
weeks after will be fit to hoe ; for the fooner this is 
performed when the plants are diftinguifhable, the 
better they will thrive, and the weeds being then 
young, will be foon deftroyed. The method of hoe- 
ing thefe plants is the fame as for Turneps, with this 
difference only, that thefe plants need not be thinned 
fo much ; for at the firft hoeing, if they are feparated 
to the diftance of three or four inches, and at the laft 
to fix inches, it will be fpace enough for the growth 
of the plants ; if this is carefully performed, and in 
dry weather, moft of the weeds will be deftroyed : 
but as fome of them may efcape in this operation, 
and young weeds will arife, fo the ground fhould be 
a fecond time hoed in October, always chufing a dry 
time for this work ; at this fecond operation, the plants 
fhould be Tingled out to the diftance they are to re- 
main. After this the ground will be clean from weeds 
till the fpring, when young weeds will come up, there- 
fore about a fortnight in April will be a good time 
to hoe the ground again, when the weeds will be 
young, fo may be performed in lefs than half the 
time it would require if the weeds were permitted to 
grow large, and the fun and wind will much fooner 
kill them this hoeing will alfo ftir the furface of the 
ground, and greatly promote the growth of the 
plants $ if it is performed in dry weather, the ground 
will be clean till the firft crop of Woad is gathered, 
after which it muft be again well cleaned •, if this 
is carefully repeated, after the gathering of each 
crop, the land will always lie clean, and the plants 
will thrive the better. The expence of the firft hoe- 
ing will be about fix {killings per acre ; and for the 
after-hoeingshalf that price will be fufficient, provided 
they are performed when the weeds are young ; for if 
they are buffered to grow large, it will require more 
labour, nor can it be fo well performed •, therefore it 
is not only the beft hufbandry to do this work foon, 
but it will be found the cheapeft method ; for the fame 
number of men will hoe a fiekftof ten acres three times, 
when it is performed while the weeds are young, as 
is required to hoe it twice only, becaufe the weeds 
have longer time to grow between the operations. 
If the land in which the feed is fown, fhould have 
been in culture before for ether crops, fo not in good 
heart, it will require drefling before it is fov/n, in 
which cafe rotten liable dung is preferable to any 
other ; but this fhould not be laid on till the laft 
ploughing before the feeds are fown, and not fpread 
but as the land is ploughed, that the fun may not 
exhale the goodneis of it, which in fummer is foon 
loft, when fpread on the ground. The quantity 
fhould not be lefs than twenty loads to each acre, 
which will keep the ground in heart till the crop of 
Woad is fpent. 
The time for gathering the crop is according to the 
feafon, but it Ihould be performed as foon as the 
leaves are fully grown, while they are perfectly green , 
for when they begin to change pale, great part of 
their goodneis is over ; for the quantity will be lels, 
and the quality greatly diminilhed. 
If the land is good, and the crop well hufbanded, it 
will produce three or four gatherings, but the two 
firft are the beft •<, thefe are commonly mixed together 
in the manufacturing of it, but the after-crops are al- 
ways kept feparate 5 for if thefe are mixed with the 
other, the whole will be of little value. The two 
firft crops will fell from twenty-five to thirty pounds 
a ton ; but the latter will not bring ipore than 
feven or eight pounds, and fometimes not fo much. 
4 An 
