VoL. LX. 
No. 2703. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 16 , 1901 . 
$1 PER YEAR. 
THE CULTIVATION OF THE TEASEL" 
A PROFITABLE LOCAL INDUSTRY. 
AH About the Culture. 
HOW TEASELS ARB USED.—Near Skaneateles, 
Onondaga Co., N. Y., there has grown up an industry 
which is unique in many respects. While there are 
other sections of the country in which teasels are 
grown, yet the German and English manufacturers 
of woolen goods pronounce the teasel which is grown 
near Skaneateles to be the best grown anywhere. There 
seem to be some peculiar conditions of soil and cli¬ 
mate which make this teasel tough and elastic, quali¬ 
ties which are of great importance when the teasel 
is used in the mill. Before proceeding to discuss the 
cultivation of teasels it may be well to explain what 
use is made of them after they are grown. In the 
manufacture of woolen goods it is the custom to pro¬ 
duce what is known as the “nap.” This is the slight 
roughening of the fibers which gives to the goods the 
fuzzy appearance so prized in woolen fabrics. To pro¬ 
duce this slight roughening there has been nothing 
found yet so well adapted to the purpose as the teasel 
point. Efforts have been made to manufacture steel 
points which would displace the teasel, and while for 
the coarser grades of goods a steel point is now used, 
yet for all the finer fabrics the teasel point has not 
been displaced. The teasel heads are fastened to cyl¬ 
inders, and then over the rapidly revolving cylinders 
the woolen goods are passed. The tip of the teasel 
point is allowed merely to touch the goods, and thus 
is produced the roughened appearance. It is found 
that the point of steel cannot be made perfectly 
smooth, while the teasel point, even under the high¬ 
est magnifying power, is entirely smooth. If a fine 
cambric needle is examined under the microscope it 
will be found rough and jagged in comparison with 
the teasel point. Fig. 347 shows a teasel head 
trimmed for use, enlarged. The market for teasels 
seems at the present time to be a permanent one. 
Many tons are exported each year to England and 
Germany, and they are used in the manufacture of the 
finer grades of woolen cloth. American manufacturers 
are using large quantities of steel points, but only 
in the manufacture of the coarser goods. 
QUALITY AND CLIMATE.—Just why 
Skaneateles has come to be a center for 
teasel growing is unknown, but it is 
found from actual experience that in a 
section of about 10 miles square a fine 
quality of teasel can be raised, and in 
sections outside of this area the teasel 
which is produced is almost worthless. 
The qualities which make the teasel 
valuable are extreme toughness and 
elasticity: consequently a moist climate 
is necessary, and it is found that the 
teasel, when grown in an extremely dry 
year, is not of as good quality as when 
grown in a damp season. At present 
two varieties or species of teasel are 
grown, one known as the Oregon teasel 
and the other as the Skaneateles teasel. 
The latter is a large, coarse teasel, while 
the Oregon variety is small, with finer 
points. It is found that the Oregon tea¬ 
sel, when grown at Skaneateles, pro¬ 
duces a product which in the English 
market is worth 50 per cent more than 
the same variety of teasel when grown 
in Oregon. This is due to the fact that 
a certain degree of elasticity and toughness is impart¬ 
ed to it which it does not receive in the dry climate 
of Oregon. Four years ago the market demanded a 
large teasel, but at the present time double the price 
will be paid for a teasel not more than Inch in 
length than will be paid for one two inches or more 
in length. Four years ago the reverse was true. At 
the present time the German manufacturers of fine 
goods will not purchase a teasel more than two inches 
long, and they prefer inch. The wild teasel is 
more or less familiar to all. In its general appearance 
the plant is not very different from the cultivated 
HEAD OF TEASEL (Enlaroed.) Fig. 347. 
teasel. The wild teasel, however, is lacking in the 
rigid point which makes the teasel of commerce valu¬ 
able. Fig. 349 shows mature wild teasel plant at left. 
and cultivated teasel at end of first season’s growth 
at right. 
SOIL AND CULTURE.—The soil upon which teasels 
are grown should be a heavy clay or clay loam, and 
well drained. The more thorough the preparation the 
better. It is found that the manure would better be 
applied to the crop which precedes the teasels, and 
that teasels do better when following a crop of corn 
or beans rather than following a grass crop. The 
effort is made to give the ground clean intensive cul¬ 
ture the season previous to growing the teasels that 
all weeds may be destroyed. In early Spring the land 
is plowed, and it is even better if it can be plowed in 
the Fall, and after thorough harrowing some time 
during April or in early May the teasel seeds are 
planted. Rows are marked off three feet apart, and 
the teasel seed is drilled thickly in the row in order 
to secure a stand. They are covered lightly, about as 
lettuce seed would be covered. After the plants are 
well up they should be, but are not always, thinned 
out to distances of about one foot in the row. This 
is not always done in practice, yet it is conceded by 
growers that a better product would be produced if it 
were done. In the rows with the teasels corn is 
planted, the hills of corn being from five to six feet 
apart. This corn is planted, not for the purpose of 
producing a crop of corn, but for the infiuence of the 
corn stubble in holding the snow during the Winter. 
Fig. 348, a teasel field in October, shows the topped 
corn and the teasel plants. 
SECOND-YEAR TREATMENT.—The teasel is a 
biennial, and occupies the land for two seasons. The 
first season the plants attain a growth of from 15 to 
18 inches, but during the Winter they hug the ground 
closely and it is important that they be covered with 
snow, otherwise they may winterkill. The corn, which 
is simply topped, causes the snow to lodge, and thus 
protect the teasel plants. In the Spring of the second 
year cultivation begins early, and is continued until 
about June 1, at which time the teasel plants so 
branch out that it is impossible to continue tillage. 
From the middle of July to the first of August is the 
harvest season. The head on the central axis is har¬ 
vested first, and then the tops from the branches are 
cut as they reach maturity, several cuttings being 
necessary. About three Inches of the stem is cut off 
with the top, and the remainder of the teasel stalk is 
either plowed under or burned (usually burned) upon 
the land where grown. The tops are placed in bas¬ 
kets and carried to scaffolds or drying frames, and 
for two or three weeks are permitted to 
dry. A teasel-drying house need not 
necessarily be different from a tobacco¬ 
drying house. Free circulation of air is 
the important requisite. After drying 
they are sold by the farmer to the deal¬ 
er. The price secured by the farmer 
varies with the season and with the de¬ 
mand. During the past season it has 
been about 10 cents per pound. It is 
said by the dealers that after purchas¬ 
ing teasels from the farmers the shrink¬ 
age is about one-fifth in weight. The 
dealer trims the tops and packs them 
according to size, in large shipping 
boxes. The work of packing must be 
very carefully done, as the teasel tops 
must not vary more than one-fourth 
inch in length or diameter. The ship¬ 
ping boxes, weighing from 400 to 600 
pounds each, are then sent to the woolen 
manufacturer either in this country or 
abroad. The price received by the deal¬ 
er during the past season was about 17 
cents per pound. One firm in Germany 
would purchase all the teasels grown in 
Skaneateles of the proper size if they could be pur¬ 
chased. The amount raised upon one acre in a good 
season is about 1,600 pounds, this amount, of course, 
varying with the season. Inasmuch as two seasons 
are required in which to produce the crop, the profit 
is probably no more than from many other farm crops. 
SCENE IN A FIELD OF CULTIVATED TEASELS. Fio. 
