furrow; then plough another furrow beam-deep, as before, and pick
over and remove the earth in the same manner; thus proceeding until
the whole is completed.

_Washing and drying._--As soon as possible after digging, take the
roots to some running stream to be washed. If there is no running
stream convenient, it can be done at a pump. Take large round
sieves, two-and-a-half or three feet in diameter, with the wire
about as fine as wheat sieves; or if these cannot be had, get from a
hardware store sufficient screen wire of the right fineness, and
make frames or boxes, two-and-a-half feet long and the width of the,
wire, on the bottom of which nail the wire. In these sieves or
boxes, put half a bushel of roots at a time, and stir them about in
the water, pulling the branches apart so as to wash them clean;
then, having a platform at hand, lay them onto dry. (To make the
platform, take two or three common boards, so as to be about four
feet in width, and nail deals across the under side). On these
spread the roots about two inches thick for drying in the sun. Carry
the platforms to a convenient place, not far from the house, and
place them side by side, in rows east and west, and with their ends
north and south, leaving room to walk between the rows. Elevate the
south ends of the platforms about eighteen inches, and the north
ends about six inches from the ground, putting poles or sticks to
support them--this will greatly facilitate drying. After the second
or third day's drying, the madder must be protected from the dews at
night, and from rain, by placing the platforms one upon another to a
convenient height, and covering the uppermost one with board. Spread
them out again in the morning, or as soon as danger is over. Five or
six days of ordinarily fine weather will dry the madder
sufficiently, when it may be put away till it is convenient to
kiln-dry and grind it.

_Kiln-drying,_--The size and mode of constructing the kiln may be
varied to suit circumstances. The following is a very cheap plan,
and sufficient to dry one ton of roots at a time. Place four strong
posts in the ground, twelve feet apart one way, and eighteen the
other; the front two fourteen feet high, and the other eighteen; put
girts across the bottom, middle, and top, and nail boards
perpendicularly on the ou