The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-09-25
TEAzEL RAISING.

TEAZEL RAISING.
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A Oirooznsosibsd Industry In This
Country. sFss f
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A few weeks ago onondaea county.
n. Y, harvested theslast OF thie years
crop Of teazlee, statementwhich. judg-
ing from stha effect of it as made in tho
presence of q number Of generally we'll
informed people, means nothing to the
average New Yorker. And yet the hum
BILE and almost unknown Dipsacns Full
lonum plays q larger and until recently
ON indispensable part in each mans
economy, and, in these tailor made
days, of many woman's. Nature has
devised about $50 patterns OF teazel,
but, 80 far as known, only one species,
the fuller's, the subject, as the political
biogfaphers say, of this sketch, has any
value to man. He used to drink de-
coction made from it's roots as dur
etic and sudorifc, 80 old books of ma
terra medica say, but the plants chief
utility has been found in its peculiar
seed-cases, which careless observer
might call it's burrs. These, with their
elastic recurring spines, with points
finer than the most delicate cambria
needle, are used to raise the nap on such
fabrics as are commonly used for mems
clothing, and have always been valu-
able article of commerce in the coun-
tries where these latter are manufac-
tured.
Though so greatly in demand in this
country, teazels have never been raised
in any quantity outside of the circum-
scribed territory of Onondaga county;
not because there was not q market
for more, but because the peculiar soil
necessary to the development of the
best quality seems to have been found
nowhere else in America, If we except
portion of Oregon, which produces
few good teazels. The possibilities Of
the rich central New York uplands were
discovered by the men of Somersetshire.
England, who formed so large an ele-
ment of the early population of this
part of the state and who naturally
turned their attention to an industry
which had fourished in their native
country across the sea.
Perhaps another reason why the teazle
IL not found distributed in wider area
is that its cultivation is too slow for the
average northern farmer. 1t takes two
years to bring it to maturity. The first
year the seed is drilled in, as is done
with wheat, except that the rows are
about three feet apart. As the. plants
come up, they are thinned out, and the
crop is hoed and cultivated at intervals,
hills OF corn being planted among it,
that the stalks may hold the snow on
the ground, lest the tender plants be
winter-killed. The second year they
are cultivated until they are so high
and spreading that horse can no long
er pass between the rows, and the cut
ting begins at any time from July 20
to August 1, occupying space of three
weeks or more. A teazle field approach
ing maturity is pleasant sight, with
its tall, sturdy plants, with their spread
ing, serrated leaves and blossoms some
what resembling those of a large thistle
and Of sweet and penetrating odor.
The cutting begins DIS soon as the seed
cases growing on the central stem be
come ripe and hard. They are the
largest, and are called kings" next
come the mediums" on the branching
stems, and last the buttons" or small
est of all. The teazel farmer has teazel
barn, built much in the style of to-
bacco barn, in which he places hiscrop
for drying, on scafolds, or shelves, four
feet apart, piling the teazes eight or
ten deep. They are left here from two
to five weeks. At the end of that time
the teazel buyer is making his rounds.
This year the price offered the producer
was ten cents q pound, without sorting.
IF he thought that too low, he was under
no necessity Of selling, 90 far as any de-
terioration Of his teszels were con-
cerned, for while teazel cannot be said
to improve with age, and dealers prefer
new ones, the product is serviceablc
even after 90 years storage, and many
man has had to hold his crop year
after year until his barns were full to
overhowing, in the hope of receiving
higher prices. In . good year the sup
ply has been known to reach 40, ,OOO, 900.
and it has fallen as low AZ 10000, ,o0e
pounds. -
AT the woolen factories the sum pail
for teazels ranges from ten to twenty
Ave cents . pound, but that is after the
heads have been trimmed, sorted and
packed, . work requiring some patience,
for each teazel must be handled sep
arately. How elaborate an operation
this sorting Is may be understood from
the fact that within the three classes al
ready mentioned there are 80 sub
classes.-N. z. Tribune.
Worikiag By the Eye
The advance in the accuracy Of work
n,anship in machinery is one of the re-
markable features Of manufactures.
Formerly II shaft could be made right
within 1-32 OF an inch all was well. Inc
deed, under old processes this was %
fine degree of correctness as the eye
could perceive. But this was alto
gether too Tar from perfect to answer
many purposes, and mechanics ret
about devisin9 some means to insure
"a Al