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Growing and Kiln-Drying Madder Root for the Dyer (Tomlinson, 1854)
How 19th-century madder growers raised the dyer's red root, from Tomlinson's Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts: shoots set a foot apart in August, lifted after two seasons, dried by air and kiln, thrashed to strip the dark skin, and kiln-dried again in a current of air so the colour is not spoiled.
Intermediate
Two growing seasons
Instructions
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1
How many shoots
How many shoots
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2
Read the Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts
Read the Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts
"The plant is propagated by shoots, which are planted in August, a foot apart, and allowed to remain two seasons, with attention to weeding."
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3
Plant the shoots
Plant the shoots
In August set madder shoots (Rubia tinctorum) a foot (30 cm) apart in dug ground. Keep the bed weeded for two seasons. The stalks die back each year; the root is perennial.
Materials for this step:
Madder Shoots1 pieceTools needed:
Spade
Hoe4
4
Lift the roots
Lift the roots
In the second year the plants flower and come to perfection. After their leaves have fallen, dig up the roots.
Tools needed:
Spade5
5
Dry them outwardly
Dry them outwardly
Dry the roots on the outside in the air and then in a kiln. In very warm climates they are dried without any artificial heat.
Tools needed:
Ventilated Drying Rack
Drying Kiln6
6
Thrash off the skin
Thrash off the skin
Thrash the dried roots like corn to remove the dark outer skin. The skin and fragments are an inferior madder called mull: pack it away separately.
Tools needed:
Threshing Flail
Jute Sack7
7
Kiln them again
Kiln them again
Put the naked roots back in the kiln at a higher heat than before, with a current of air through the kiln to carry off the vapours from the roots, which would spoil the colour. Store the dry root in sacks, away from damp.
Tools needed:
Drying KilnJute Sack8
8
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Madder root troubleshooting.
Flow
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9
History and honest limits
History and honest limits
From Charles Tomlinson (ed.), **Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts** (1854), vol. II, "Madder" (checked on the archive.org scan cyclopdiaofuse02tomlrich, p. 209). He gives no kiln temperatures. Growers then ground the root between mill-stones or under knives like a tan-bark mill into a coarse red-orange powder. The metric sizes, the tools and the sacks are ours.
Materials
1- 1 piecePlaceholder
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