ON THE CULTURE AND CURING OF MADDER.

IF it is required to eſtabliſh a plantation of Madder, to which plants muſt be brought from a foreign country, they muſt be winter plants, which are pieces of the main root on which are many buds; theſe are to be had in the latter end of autumn or ſpring, when the crop is taken up. The beſt method is to pack them in ſand, as the buds will ſhoot; the ground ſhould be extremely rich, a ſandy loom, and perfectly clean; furrows ſhould be made about a foot aſunder and about four inches deep; ſtrew the pieces of root and any of the yellow ſhoots, that are broken off, juſt ſuffici⯑ently [2] to cover the bottom, and earth them. In the month of April there will appear numberleſs ſhoots, which ſhould be kept very clean, and a little fine mould thrown over them to lengthen the ſtem, which are the ſpring plants; when the ſhoots are about ſix or eight inches above ground, they are fit to draw, but care muſt be taken to pull them up with as long a ſtem as poſſible, as that becomes the principal part of the crop; the earth muſt be looſened by an old trowel or any ſuch like inſtrument to facilitate the drawing of the plants, but it muſt be done with care, as in a few days time there will be a freſh ſucceſſion of plants like aſparagus. The above are merely di⯑rections for the nurſery, which may be dug up for crop when all the plants are obtained; for the repeated pulling will ſo weaken the roots, as to render them not worth ſtanding for crop; for want of this precaution many people injure their crop by drawing plants from it, inſtead of plant⯑ing a ſmall patch as above deſcribed for a nurſery. It muſt likewiſe be obſerved, that you will obtain the longeſt and beſt plants from the firſt year's growth, as the original plant or mother root is much deeper, than the crowns of the plants will be by earthing.

[3] The land for the crop ſhould be as for the nurſery a rich mellow loam, either hazle, or black; it cannot be too rich, and muſt be per⯑fectly clean; it muſt be ploughed as deep as the good ſoil will admit of the preceding year of planting. Soil, that will not admit of ploughing eighteen inches deep at leaſt, is not fit for madder. It muſt be laid up in high four feet lands before winter, that it may be ſufficiently dry for working in the ſpring; for unleſs the land is in exceeding good tilth when you plant, it is in vain to attempt it.

[8] The madder muſt be frequently turned, and will be dry enough for grinding in twenty four hours. The firſt time, that it goes under the ſtones, requires but a few minutes; it muſt be ſifted and produces a very inferior ſpecies, which is the out⯑ward coat or rind. The remainder is returned to the ſtones, and is kept there till the eye tells you that the interior part begins to grind, which diſ⯑covers itſelf by the paleneſs of the colour. If you require the beſt ſort to be very fine, you continue this ſecond grinding a little longer, in ſhort till all the rind is pulled off; it muſt be then ſifted, and the remainder put again under the ſtones and ground till fine enough for uſe. Each ſort ſhould be caſked up ſeparately, and kept in a dry place where no moiſture can affect it; care ſhould like⯑wiſe be taken to preſs the madder well down in the caſks.

There are various ſorts of madder differing greatly from each other both in appearance, and value. The ſort I prefer is the Turkey, being more vigorous, and of a darker green. It like⯑wiſe produces abundance of ſeed, which the com⯑mon ſort does not; it puts out many vigorous and ſolid runners, whereas the runners of the com⯑mon [9] ſpecies are hollow, and produce none of the beſt part of the madder, which is contained in the woody part of the root.

My mills conſiſted of two vertical ſtones, that run on a bed ſtone, ſuch as they uſe for grinding gunpowder, dye woods &c.