324 Various Notices^ 
Iheir extensive woollen manufactory, why cannot this be done evc*^ 
ry where ? 
English Madder, Spencer Smith has lately introduced 
that valuable plant, Smyrna Madder, into this country. Mr. Smith 
furnished the society of Arts with some seed, from which Mr. 
Salisbury, of the Botanical-garden, Sloane-street, has raised plants 
that have grown in the most promising manner ; he expects to 
obtain seed from them, and there is every reason to hope that this 
useful dye-root will, in a short time, become naturalized to our 
soil. (Z Comm, Mag, 248.J 
Query on the Cultivation of Madder,^ and Observations thereon. 
To the Editor of the Tradesman^ or Commercial Magazine, 
SIR, — In looking over the list of articles permitted to be im- 
ported to this country from the enemy under his majesty’s Orders 
in Council, and for which it should appear that we stand in great 
need for the support of our manufactures, I observe the article of 
madder one, and on referring to the custom house lists of importa- 
tion, I see that article makes a very conspicuous figure against our 
balance of trade. As this is an article mostly brought from Hol- 
land, it may be inferred that the climate of England would not be 
unfavourable thereto ; and although the great argument is for cul- 
tivating every possible spot with the more necessary article of 
corn, yet there are many unprofitable and considerable spots of 
gi’ound unoccupied, quite unfavourable to wheat or other corn^ 
that I may presume might be occupied by the cultivation of mad- 
der ; I could therefore wish to know if it has been attempted, and 
with success in this country. If trial has not already been made, 
it is not too late to attempt it, and at the same time I beg leave to 
close my question with the following account of the cultivation of 
that root, for the benefit of those whom it may concern, taken from 
the French Journal de Physique. 
This plant may be propagated either by offsets or seeds ; if 
the latter method is preferred, the seed should be of the true Turk- 
ish kind, which is called lizari in the Levant. On a light thin, 
soil the culture cannot be carried on to any degree of profit, that 
soil in which the plant delights is a rich sandy loam, being three 
feet or more in depth. The ground being first made smooth is 
divided into beds- four feet wide, with alternate alleys, half as 
broad again as the beds; the reason of this extraordinary breadth, 
©f the alleys will appear presently^ In each alley is to be a shaL 
Jew channel for the convenience of irrigating the whole field, &c .4 
