Mobile register and journal., 1845-03-13
CULTIVATION OF NADER.


 the culture of Madder, referred by our eOrrespon- dent ..Sonlh Alabama' in our paper of Monday
 Soil and P,sparation-The soil should he deep. rich sandy ham, free rom weeds, roots, stones. &c and containing good portion of vegetable earth. Alhyial .sbouom'' land is lhs most suiiable but il must not be (nor too dry II old upland used, Il should receive heavy cotlng of vegetable earth, (lrom the deeayed wood and leaves The land should be plowed very deeply in the iall, and early | in spring apply about hundred loads oi well routed manue per acre, spread eseniy' ana pio"ed
 in deeply; then harrow till que hne and Tree from Iumps. Nexl blow the land into beds four feet wide, leaving alleys between. three feet wide, then harrow
 the beds with fine light harrow, or rake them hy | hand go as to leave them smooth and even with the alleys; they then ready for plan'"g
 Preparing Seis and Planting. .-Madder sets, or | seed root. are best selected when the crop IS dug | in the fall. The horizontal uppermost roots, with
 eyes) are the kind be used these should be sepa- rated from the bottom rools and buried m sand, in | a cellar or pit. If not done m the iali, the sets
 may be dug early in the spring. before they begin to | sprout They should be cut or broken into pieces, l containing from two five eyes each; ie To
 nces long. The time for planting IS as early Tn
 spring as ihe ground can be got in good order, and
 when severe foss areOver, which, m this cimse IS | usually about the middle of April With the beds
 prepared as direcied, stretch line lengihwise the | bed. and win the corner of hoe make a drill two l inches deep along each edge and down the middle,
 so as to gi three to each bed, about two feet
 Into these drIilrs drop ihe sets, leu tlChes | apart covering them two inches deep. EgAt or ten
 bushels of seis are requisite for an acre.
 | Auer Cuifns.-As soon as ihe n adder plants can
 he seen. ,he ground should be carefully hood destroy ,Ie weeds and inure the plants and the l b,cinG and yee,ling must be repeated often l eeds make their appearance. II any of the sets have failed to grow, the vacancies should be filled by taking u parts of the strongest roots and transplant | ing them. This is best done ill June. As soon as the madder plants are ten or twelve inches high, the | I..L In..,u fhn atrInR of Ina ground and all excepting the tip end, covered wth
 earth shoveled roul the middle of the alleys. Bend
 the ahoois ortward and inward, in every direction, SO as in time fill all the vacant space on the beds, | and abou one foot on each side. Alter me hrst | time covering, repeat the weeding when necessary, and run single horse plough through the alleys sev
 eral lims to keep, the earth clean and mellow. As
 soon as te plants again become ten or twelve inch es high lend down and them as before, repeat | ing the operation as often necessary, which IS | commonly three times the first season. The last
 time may be as late AIS September or later Il no frost
 occur. By covering the tops in this manner, they
 change |, roots, and the design is to fill the ground
 full of roots as possible hen the vacant spaces
 are a II fug, lhere will be bal le chance for weeds | to grow; but all that appear must be pulled out. The .Scond Year.--Keep the beds free from
 weeds plough the alleys and cover the tops, as be
 fore directed, two three times during the season.
 The alley, will now form deep. and narrow diches. and If il becomes difficult to obtain good earih for covering te tops, that operation may be omitted af- | ter the second time this season. Care should
 be taken when so,erins the tops to keep the edges
 of the bed, as high ihe mddle otherwise the wa | ter from heavy showers will run oh and the crop
 suffer rou drought
 | The Thrd Yeor Very little labor or attention is required. The plants ~ill now cover the whole ground. If any weeds are seen they must be all pull | led out, otherwise thr roois will cause trouble when harvesting the madder. The crop sometime dug
 rhe third ,ear and if ihe soil and cultivation have been gooo, and the seasons and Favorable, the
 madder will be oi good quality, but generally, il is much better in quality and more in quantity, when | left until the fourth year.
 | Digging .nd Haruesting This should be done be- tween the 2oh of August and he 20th of September. | Take shap shovel or shoves, and cut of and re- move the tors within half inch of the surface of the earth; then take plough of the largest size, | with sharp coulter and a double teem and plough | lurrow outward, beam deep. around the edge of the bed stir ,he earth with folks, and carefully pick ont all the roots, removing the earth from the bottom of the fmrowI then plough another mrrow beam deep, beire, and pick over and remove the earth | in the nsnner thus proceeding ull the whole | is completed.
 | Washing and Dryng-As soon as possible after digging, take the to some running stream to be | washed. If there IS no running stream convenient IL can be done at pump. Take ,arge' round sieves, 2{ or feet in diameter, Hound in eastern cties,) with the wire abent as fine wheat sIe,es; or if these cannot be had, get from hardware store suf fcent screen-wire of the right fneness, and make frames boxes about 2t feet long and the width of the wire the bottom Ol which nail the wire. In these sieves boxes put about half barrel v al time and stir them about in the water, pulling the bunehes apart as to Wash tlem clean; then having platform at hand, lay them on t to dry To make the platform. take two three common boards 10 be about ionr feet in width, and nail elects across the under side. On these spread the roots about inches thick for drying in the sun. Carry the platforms to convenient place, not far from the house. and place them side by side, in I d.. south, having room to walk between the rows. Ele- vate the south ends of the platforms about eighteen
 inches, and the north ends about six inches from the ground, putting poles sticks support them, and | il will greatly facilitate drying. After the secnnd or third day drying, the madder be protected from the dews night and from rain, by placing the plat
 forms one upon anoller to d convenient height, and | covering the nppermost one with boards Spread I them again m the morning soan danger IS over, Five or six days of ordinarily fine wealth | CT will dry the madder sufficiently, when It may be put away ill it is convenient kiln dry and grind it. Kiln Dry,ng,-Th size and mode of constructing | the kiln may be varied to sut circunsances The following is very cheap plan, and sufficient to dry ton of roots al a time. Place four strong posts | m the ground twelve feet apart way. and eigh- the other the front two fourteen feet high and | the others eighteen; put grts acioss the bottom,
 middle and top; and nail boards perpendieularly on
 the outside for common barn. The boards
 be well seasoned, and all cracks holes should
 be plaslered or otherwise stopped up. Make shed | roof of common boards. In the inside put upright
 standards about five feet apart, with pieces to
 support the scafoldng. The first cross pieces to be
 four feet from the floor. On these pieces lay
 small poles about six feet long and inches thick. 1 four five inches apat. On these scafods the madder is to be spread nine inches thick. floor | is laid at the bottom to keep all dry and clean.- When the kiln is filed take six eight small ket | ties hand furnaces, aud place them four or five | feet apart the floor, first securing il from fire with bricks stones, and make fires in them with charcoal being careful not to make any Of the fires SO large 10 scorch the madder them, A
 person ipus be m constant attendance 10 watch and replenish ihe fires, The heat will ascend through the whole, and in or twelve hours il will all be
 sufficiently dried.
 Breaking and Grinding -lmmedintely after being dried, the lnadder be taken to the barn, and ihrashed with fails, or broken by machinery. Ca corn cracker something .pfihe kind) so that II will feed in a common grIst mill Ifn is not brok- | en and ground immediately, twill gather dampness so as to prevent its being ground. Any common grist m iii can grind madder properly. When ground finely is fit for use and may be packed in barrels like four for market.
 Amount and Value of Products. @c.-Mr. Swift measured of part of his ground and carefully weighed the product when dried which he found 10 be two thousand pounds per acre, nowithstand- ing the seasons mostly very dry and unavora- be, With his present knowledge of the business, he
 is oon6den that he can obnin aI least 5000 pounds per acre, which Is said to be more tan is oen oh. tained in Germany. The whole amount of labor he estimates at from 80 to 100 days work per acre. The value of the crop al the usual wholesale prce about Is cents per pound is ii Om 300 to 400 dollars. In