woad: A genus of the filiquea order, belonging to the tetradymania class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 39th order, the Siliquea. The filiquea is lanceolate, unilocular, monospermous, bivalved, and deciduous; the valves nivalcular or canoe-shaped. There are four species; but the only one worthy of notice is the tinctoria, or common woad, which is cultivated in several parts of Britain for the purpose of dyeing; being used as a foundation for many of the dark colours. See Colour-Making, p. 37; and Woad.

The plant is biennial; the lower leaves are of an oblong oval figure, and pretty thick consistence, ending in obtuse roundish points; they are entire on their edges, and of a lucid green. The stalks rise four feet high, dividing into several branches, garnished with arrow-shaped leaves sitting close to the stalks; the branches are terminated by small yellow flowers, in very close clusters, which are composed of four small petals, placed in form of a cross, which are succeeded by pods shaped like a bird's tongue, which, when ripe, turn black, and open with two valves, having one cell, in which is situated a single seed.

This sort is sown upon fresh land which is in good heart, for which the cultivators of woad pay a large rent. They generally choose to have their lands situated near great towns, where there is plenty of dressing; but they never stay long on the same spot: for the best ground will not admit of being sown with woad more than twice; and if it is oftener repeated, the crop seldom pays the charges of culture, &c. Those who cultivate this commodity have gangs of people who have been bred to the employment; so that whole families travel about from place to place wherever their principal fixes on land for the purpose. As the goodness of woad consists in the size and fatness or thickness of the leaves, the only method to obtain this, is by sowing the seed upon ground at a proper season, and allowing the plants proper room to grow; as also to keep them clean from weeds, which, if permitted to grow, will rob the plants of their nourishment. After having made choice of a proper spot of land, which should not be too light and sandy, nor over stiff and moist, but rather a gentle hazel loam, whose parts will easily separate, the next is to plough this up just before winter, laying it in narrow high ridges, that the frost may penetrate through the ridges to mellow and soften the clods; then in the spring plough it again croftwise, laying it again in narrow ridges. After it has lain for some time in this manner, and the weeds begin to grow, it should be well harrowed to destroy them: this should be repeated twice while the weeds are young; and, if there are any roots of large perennial weeds, they must be harrowed out, and carried off the ground. In June the ground should be a third time ploughed, when the furrows should be narrow, and the ground stirred as deep as the plough will go, that the parts may be as well separated as possible; and when the weeds appear again, the ground should be well harrowed to destroy them. Toward the end of July, or the beginning of August, it should be ploughed the last time, when the land should be laid smooth; and when there is a prospect of showers, the ground must be harrowed to receive the seeds, which should be sown in rows with the drill-plough, or in broad-cast after the common method; but it will be proper to steep the seeds one night in water before they are sown, which will prepare them for vegetation: if the seeds are sown in drills, they will be covered with an instrument fixed to the plough for that purpose, but those which are sown broad-cast in the common way must be well harrowed in. If the seeds are good, and the season favourable, the plants will appear in a fortnight, and in a month or five weeks will be fit to hoe; for the sooner this is performed when the plants are distinguishable, the better they will thrive, and the weeds being then young will be soon destroyed. The method of hoeing these plants is the same as for turnips: with this difference only, that these plants need not be thinned so much; for at the first hoeing, if they are separated to the distance of four inches, and at the last to six inches, it will be space enough for the growth of the plants; and if this is carefully performed, and in dry weather, most of the weeds will be destroyed: but as some of them may escape in this operation, and young weeds will rise, so the ground should be a second time hoed in the beginning of October, always choosing a dry time for this work; at this second operation, the plants should be singled out to the distance they are to remain. After this, if carefully performed, the ground will be clean from weeds till the spring, when young weeds will come up; therefore about the middle of March will be a good time to hoe the ground again; for while the weeds are young, it may be performed in less than half the time it would require if the weeds were permitted to grow large, and the sun and wind will much sooner kill them: this hoeing will also stir the surface of the ground, and greatly promote the growth of the plants; if this is performed in dry weather, the ground will be clean till the first crop of woad is gathered, after which it must be again well cleaned; if this is carefully repeated after the gathering each crop, the land will always lie clean, and the plants will thrive the better. The expense of the first hoeing will be about six shillings per acre, and for the after hoeings half that price will be sufficient, provided they are performed when the weeds are young, for if they are suffered to grow large, it will require more labour, nor can it be so well performed.

If the land, in which this seed is sown, should have been in culture before for other crops, so not in good heart, it will require dressing before it is sown, in which case rotten stable-dung is preferable to any other; but this should not be laid on till the last ploughing, just before the seeds are sown, and not spread till the land is ploughed, that the sun may not exhale the goodness of it, which in summer is soon lost when spread on the ground. The quantity should not be less than 20 loads to each acre, which will keep the ground in heart till the crop of woad is spent.

The time for gathering of the crop is according to the season; but it should be performed as soon as the leaves are fully grown, while they are perfectly green; for when they begin to change pale, great part of their goodness is over, for the quantity will be less, and the quality greatly diminished.

If the land is good, and the crop well husbanded, it will produce three or four gatherings; but the two first are the best. These are commonly mixed together in the manufacturing of it: but the after crops are always kept separate; for if these are mixed with the other, the whole will be of little value. The two first crops will sell from £5 l. to £10 l. a ton; but the latter will not bring more than £7 l. or £8 l. and sometimes not so much. An acre of land will produce a ton of woad, and in good seasons near a ton and an half.

When the planters intend to save the seeds, they cut three crops of the leaves, and then let the plants stand till the next year for seed; but if only one crop is cut, and that only of the outer leaves, letting all the middle leaves stand to nourish the stalks, the plants will grow stronger, and produce a much greater quantity of seeds.

These seeds are often kept two years, but it is always best to sow new seeds when they can be obtained. The seeds ripen in August; and when the pods turn to a dark colour, the seeds should be gathered. It is best done by reaping the stalks in the same manner as wheat, spreading the stalks in rows upon the ground; and in four or five days the seeds will be fit to thresh out, provided the weather is dry; for if it lies long, the pods will open and let out the seeds.

There are some of the woad planters who feed down the leaves in winter with sheep; which is a very bad method; for all plants which are to remain for a future crop should never be eaten by cattle, for that greatly weakens the plants; therefore those who eat down their wheat in winter with sheep are equally blamable.

zoology, a synonyme of the canis lagopus. See Canis.