The Grit-advocate., 1903-11-06
THE TeASEL.
specially of sLaneat-Irs which Once
Nh- an Industry of Much Importance.

= specially of >Eaneat-Iss which Once
Wa an lndu-tr, of Much Importance.
Whatever may be said of Skan-
e;il'."s.' remarked Mr.. ii. Thurlow
OF lhat New York town of strange
ma. 1t raises tcasels, which for
liiaMt years could not be successfully
produced i'll any other portion of this
Df"ad lamd Of all sorts of products
Somebody wanted 10 know what
tcaSol was.
1T is Il plant continued Mr.. Thur
low. whose burr is used to produce
pie ON cloth. and for certain kinds
oil iabrics nothing has yet been found
I" Iak" its place. Forty years or more
az" The tcascl was in great demand,
and as they could not be raised any
where except in small area about
skaneateles. the industry was very
considerable within II radius of ten
miles of my town. Tcasel raising be-
gan aS long ago as eighty years and
at one time it represented business
OF half :. million dollars Il year and
Over 300 people were engaged i'll it.
| i'll II, and the amount has similarly de-
creased. This is owing rather 10 the
production Of smoother cloth than the
| adoption of Il substitute FOR the teaScl.
because rs | said. they cannot get Il
| substitute for it. Steel has been tried.
but the finest points they can make
ar" rough and Jagged compared with
| tIn finn -I,,t-.I 1yhi.h
puts on the teascl burr. and which
| are necessary in producing the proper
| nap on the cloth.
The tcaSel is Sown in the spring
as soon rs the ground is ready, and the
plant is left to grow till the frost kills
1t down. The root remains. and the
following season the plant grows from
this and bears the bUrrs. which are
| out in August, basEetcd and wagoued
10 sheds, where they are housed and
trimmed ready for market. An acre
of ground will produce from 1IO.OW
to 2UuoGO teascls. running ten pounds
to the thousand and worth now scv-
| enty-fivp cents to 81 Il thousand. al
| though | have seen them worth as
| much aS 81 II thousand. l remember
| buyin. a.HOO0O tcaSclS at fifty cents
a thousand from Il man who had held
| them for 1wcnty-onc years, and had
at one time refused $50 Il thousand
| for them. They require three or four
years to dry: then they are trimmed.
| the stems cut to about six inches. and
| then are packed in boxes. 10000 to the
| box. The burrS vary in length from
al inch TO six inches, and they are
designated by sizes rs Buttons.
Mediums and Kings those of from
an inch to an inch and a half hein"
choice. A great many are shipped
abroad, and several years ago l sent
a lot to Moscow.
Some people say the bull thistle
and the teascl are the same, but if they
Will examine the two they will find
| that the prOncs of the wild teasel are
straight, while those of the real thin.
are hooked. which is all the difference
! ia. the world for the work they have to
do. In the wooden mills 4 teasel will
| last about tweniy-four hours. and some
Of the big mills Of New England have
used rs high as 100000 Il day, but
they don't use them that way now.
Very comfortable fortunes were once
made in teascl raising. too. but that
time is past also. Most of the product
is now used in the making of blankets
and coarse cloths. SkaneatcleS is out
Of it, to q large extent. as Oregon has
| come into the field with even Il better
are turning our plowshareS 10 other
uses. Any visitor 10 our town may
see teascl farms and the teasel clip
pers at their benches shipping away
with their scissors. but the business
is no longer what it once was. and it
Sn't improving"-Ncw York Sun.