ON PLANTS IN RELATION TO ANIMALS. 305 
that of this island, when Csesar found the natives stained 
with it. 
“ At this time it must have been a plentiful inhabitant of 
the country, but afterwards, probably from its extensive 
use, it became less common, and we find our Saxon fore¬ 
fathers importing woad to dye their homespun cloth. Their 
name for it was wad, or waad, whence the English word in 
use for the colour itself. 
“The plant is still cultivated in this country on account of 
its colouring properties, chiefly in Lincolnshire, and is used 
not so much to produce a blue colour on cloths, as to form a 
base or mordant for a black dye. 
“ The cultivation of woad was formerly carried on by 
people who devoted themselves entirely to it; and, as crops 
of the plant are not successful for more than two years on 
the same piece of land, they never stayed long in one place, 
but, hiring land in various districts, led a wandering life 
with their families, and gained their living by their crops; 
now, however, many farmers devote a portion of their land 
to the growth of woad, alternating the spots year after year. 
The foliage is the part of the plant used; the leaves are 
picked off just when the herb is in flower, the lower ones 
being taken just when turning yellowish; the gathering is 
repeated three or four times, at intervals of a few weeks; 
but the first picking is the best. 
“The leaves are dried a little in the sun, when they are 
ground in a mill to a pasty mass, which is formed into heaps 
exposed to the air, but protected from rain, until it ferments. 
A crust which forms over it is carefully prevented from 
breaking, and when fermentation is complete—usually in 
about a fortnight—the mass is again mixed up and formed 
into cakes. 
“ Before being used by the dyer these cakes have to be 
again broken up, moistened, and subjected to further fer¬ 
mentation ; much of the quality of the dye is said to depend 
on the way in which this operation is performed. The 
colour is brought out by mixing an infusion of the woad thus 
prepared with lime water. The best woad is worth £20 or 
more a ton, although its price has declined since the extensive 
introduction of indigo, to which it is inferior in richness of 
colour, but is more permanent. Some time ago the woad 
was recommended as a fodder plant, and has been so em¬ 
ployed in France and Belgium, but our farmers do not con¬ 
sider it a remunerative investment in comparison with our 
own root and leaf crops. The interest of this plant is con¬ 
siderable, when we consider the antiquity of its use and its 
