166 
Some Minor Farm Crops. 
harvest season. Consequently the land is usually ploughed 
in ridges of from eight to ten furrows. This leaves an open 
furrow on either side of each four or five rows. From May to 
August of the first year of growth the plants are worked by 
hand labour, being “ spuddled ” three times. The hoe is 
rarely used, but a small light spade takes its place. Spuddling 
through the plants three times usually costs from 21. 10s. to 31. 
per acre. One of the chief factors in success is the cleanliness 
of the ground, and the securing of loose soil round the plants. 
The looser the soil, so long as it is kept close to the plants, the 
bigger the “knot” at the bottom of the plant, and it is stated 
that the size of the “ knot ” determines the number of heads 
yielded by the plant. 
The transplanting, at the rate of about 18,000 plants to the 
acre, takes place at the end of October or the beginning of 
November. If done in September or early in October fresh 
dry winds may cause the plants to shrivel, and they are unable 
to recover from this. After transplanting, the plants are 
left till the following spring, when during April, May, and 
June the ground is again subjected to three spuddlings at a 
similar cost. The harvesting begins during the early days of 
July and continues for six or eight weeks. Men and women 
go through the crop about three times, at intervals of a fort- 
night, taking the heads as they show signs of losing the flower. 
A short knife is used, and each head must be cut separately. 
When cut they are tied in small bandies of a dozen or less and 
then gathered and placed upon long ash or hazel poles to dry. 
During fine days these poles and their contents are placed in 
the sun ; but should rain fall they are housed in a rough open 
shed where the wind can proceed with the drying process. 
The cost of cutting depends upon the yield, but the rate is 
about 7s. 3d. per pack of 20,000. 
When the teazles are thoroughly dry they are taken from 
the poles and thrown in a heap in a dry place, and the sorting 
is proceeded with. During the sorting they are separated into 
two or three grades, as already stated, according to the desire 
of the teazle-merchant or of the cloth-dresser. When sorted 
the teazles are packed on “staffs,” each holding 500, and forty 
“ staffs ” in Somersetshire constitute one “ pack ” of 20,000 ; but 
the number of heads in the pack varies. The Yorkshire 
“pack” only numbers 13,500, consisting of twenty-seven “staffs.” 
The Normandy “pack” numbers 14,400, “or thereabouts.” 
Before or after the grading, the growers are visited by merchants 
from Bradford and Leeds, who buy up the whole of the supply. 
It occasionally happens that a grower is unable to make a satis- 
factory bargain with the merchants, when he proceeds to sell 
his produce direct to the users. But this method of disposing 
