Chapter 4

81. PANICUM miliaceum. MILLET.--Millet is of two kinds, the brown and yellow. They are sometimes sown in this country for feeding poultry, and also for dressing; i. e. it is divested of the husk by being passed through a mill, when it is equal to rice for the use of the pastrycook. The seed used is from one to two bushels per acre. This is more commonly grown in Italy, and on the shores of the Mediterranean sea, from which large quantities are annually exported to the more northern countries.

82. PAPAVER somniferum. MAW-SEED.--The large white Opium Poppy is grown for seed for feeding birds, and also for pressing the oil, which is used by painters. The heads are also used by the apothecaries; which see under the head Medicinal Plants. About two pounds of seed to the acre.

83. PHALARIS canariensis. CANARY-SEED.--This is grown mostly in the Isle of Thanet, and sent to London &c. for feeding canary and other song-birds, and considered a very profitable crop to the farmer. It is sown in April, and the quantity of seed is about one bushel and a half per acre.

84. PISUM sativum. THE PEA [Footnote: At the request of Sir John Sinclair I made an experiment, from directions given by a French emigrant, of mixing Pease with urine in which had been steeped a considerable quantity of pigeon's dung. In the course of twenty-four hours they had swoln very much, when they were put into the ground. An equal quantity were steeped in water; and the same quantity also that had not been steeped, were sown in three adjoining spots of land. There was a difference in the coming up of the crops, of some days in each; but that with the above preparation took the lead, and was by far the best crop on the ground. This is an experiment worth attending to. It is usual to prepare wheat in a similar way, but no other grain that I have ever heard of.].--The Gray Hog-pea used to be the only one considered sufficiently hardy for culture in the fields; but since the improvement in our agriculture we have all the finer varieties cultivated in large quantities. The seed used is about two bushels and a half per acre, and the produce varies from three to ten quarters.

The varieties of Peas are many, but the principal ones used in agriculture are the Early Charlton Pea; the Dwarf Marrow; the Prussian Blue. All these are dwarf kinds; and as the demand for this article in time of war is great for the navy and army, if the farmer's land will suit, and produce such as will boil, they will fetch a considerably greater price in proportion.

The varieties that are found to boil are either used whole, or split, which is done by steeping them in water till the cotyledons swell, after which they are dried on a kiln and passed through a mill; which just breaking the husk, the two cotyledons fall apart.

85. POLYGONUM Fagopyrum. BUCK-WHEAT.--This is usually sown in places where pheasants are bred, as the seed is the best food for those birds; it is also useful for poultry and hogs. I have eaten bread and cakes made of the flower, which are also very palatable. Two bushels are usually sown per acre. The season is May; and it is often sown on foul land in the summer, as it grows very thick on the land, and helps to clean it by smothering all the weeds. The crop does not stand on the ground more than ten or twelve weeks.

86. SECALE cereale. RYE.--This is often grown for a spring crop of green food, by sowing it early in the autumn, as it is very hardy and is not affected by frost. It grows fast in the spring months, and affords a very luxuriant crop of green fodder. Tares and Rye are frequently sown mixed together for the same purpose, and the Tares find a support in the stalks of the Rye, by which means they produce a larger crop than they make by themselves. The grain is the next in estimation to Wheat, and is frequently used for making bread. The quantity sown per acre is the same as Wheat.

87. SINAPIS nigra. BLACK MUSTARD.--This is grown in Essex in great quantities for the seeds, which are sold to the manufacturers of flower of mustard, and is considered better flavoured, stronger, and capable of keeping better, than the white kind for such purpose. It is also in use for various medicinal preparations; which see. About two bushels of seed sown broad-cast are sufficient for an acre.

This plant affords another striking instance of the care of Providence in preserving the species of the vegetable kingdom, it being noticed in the Isle of Ely and other places, that wherever new ditches are thrown out, or the earth dug to any unusual depth, the seeds of Black Mustard immediately throw up a crop. In some places it has been proved to have lain thus embalmed for ages.

Flower of mustard, which is now become so common on our tables, and which is an article of very considerable trade, is but a new manufacture. A respectable seedsman who lived in Pall-Mall was the first who prepared it in this state for sale. The seeds of the white sort had been used to be bruised in a mortar and eaten sometimes as a condiment, but only in small quantities.

When used fresh it is weak, and has an unpleasant taste; but after standing a few hours the essential oil unites with the water which is used, and it then becomes considerably stronger, and the flavour is improved. It is prepared by drying the seeds on a kiln and grinding them to a powder. As this article is become of considerable importance from the demand, it has occasioned persons to speculate in its adulteration, which is now I believe often practised. Real flower of mustard will bear the addition of an equal quantity of salt without its appearing too much in the taste. In an old work, Hartman's treasure of Health, I find it to have been practised by a noble lady of that time to make mustard for keeping, with sherry wine with the addition of a little sugar, and sometimes a little vinegar. Query, Is this, with the substitution of a cheaper wine, the secret of what is called Patent Mustard?

88. TRITICUM aestivum. SPRING WHEAT.--Wheat is a grain well known in most countries in Europe. It has been in cultivation for many ages. This species was introduced some years ago from the Barbary coast, and has been found very beneficial for sowing in the spring, when it often produces a large crop. It takes a shorter time to come to maturity than the other sorts; and as it is a more profitable crop to the farmer on good soils than Barley, it is frequently sown after Turnips are over. This has, perhaps, been one of the best improvements in Grain husbandry that was ever introduced, as it gives the grower great advantages which he could not have under the common culture of Wheat at the usual seed-time. This is little different in appearance from the Common White Wheat. But there was a small variety of it with rounder grains sent to the Board of Agriculture from the Cape of Good Hope about the year 1801, of which I saved a small quantity of seeds which was distributed among the members; and I have lately seen a sample of it in the hands of a gentleman in Devonshire, who speaks very highly of it as producing a large crop in a short time, and that the flower was so much esteemed, that the millers gave him a higher price for it than the finest samples at market of the other kinds would sell for. I believe this variety is very scarce. It is now twelve years since I grew it, from which what I saw, and all other in cultivation, if any there are, have sprung.

89. TRITICUM compositum. EGYPTIAN WHEAT.--This is a species with branched ears, and commonly having as many as three and four divisions. It is much cultivated in the eastern countries, but has not been found to answer so well in this country as the common cultivated species.

90. TRITICUM hybernum. COMMON WHEAT.--Of this grain we have a number of varieties, which are grown according to the fashion of countries, differing in the colour of the ear and also of the grain. The most esteemed sorts are the Hertfordshire White and the Essex Red Wheat, which are both much cultivated and equally esteemed. The season for growing these kinds is usually September and October. The drill, dibble, and broad-cast modes are all used, as the land and convenience of the farmer happen to suit, and the produce varies accordingly; as does also the quantity of seed sown. From two pecks to two bushels and a half are sown on an acre.

Wheat is liable to the ravages of many terrestrious insects which attack its roots; and also some very curious diseases. One of these has been very clearly elucidated by our munificent patron of science, Sir Joseph Banks, in the investigation of a parasitical plant which destroys the blood of the stalk and leaves, renders the grain thin, and in some cases quite destroys the crop, which has done that gentleman's penetration great credit [Footnote: Sir Joseph Banks On the Blight in Corn.]. An equally extraordinary disease is the Smut, which converts the farinaceous parts of the grain to a black powder resembling smut: a cirumstance too well known to many farmers. Those who wish to consult the remedies recommended against this, may refer to The Annals of Agriculture, and most other books on the subject. It is usual with farmers to mix the Wheat with stale urine or brine, and to dry it by sifting it with slaked lime, which has the effect of causing it to vegetate quickly, and to prevent the attacks of many insects when the seed is first put into the ground. This is considered as productive of great benefit to the crop; but it is also to be remarked, that it is almost the only grain that is ever prepared with this mixture, although it might be applied with equal propriety to all others. See article Pisum sativum.

91. TRITICUM turgidum. CONE WHEAT.--This a fine grain, and cultivated much in the strong land in the Vale of Evesham, where it is found to answer better than any other sorts. It is distinguished by the square and thick spike, and having a very long arista or beard.

The following sorts of Wheat are mentioned as being in cultivation. But I have not seen them, neither do I think any of them equal to the sorts enumerated above:

Triticum nigrum. BLACK-GRAINED WHEAT. Triticum polonicum. POLISH WHEAT. Triticum monococcon. ONE-GRAINED WHEAT. Triticum Spelta. SPELT WHEAT.

Besides the use of Wheat for bread and other domestic purposes, large quantities are every season consumed in making starch, which is the pure fecula of the grain obtained by steeping it in water and beating it in coarse hempen bags, by which means the fecula is thus caused to exude and diffuse through the water. This, from being mixed with the saccharine matter of the grain, soon runs into the acetous fermentation, and the weak acid thus formed by digesting on the fecula renders it white. After setting, the precipitate is washed several times, and put by in square cakes and dried on kilns. These in drying part into flakes, which gives the form to the starch of the shops.

Starch is soluble in hot water, and becomes of the nature of gum. It is however insoluble in cold water, and on this account when pulverized it makes most excellent hair-powder.

92. Vicia Faba. THE BEAN.--Several kinds of Beans are cultivated by farmers. The principal are the Horse-Bean or Tick-Bean; the Early Mazagan; and the Long-pods. Beans grow best in stiff clayey soils, and in such they are the most convenient crop. The season for planting is either the winter or spring month, as the weather affords opportunity. They are either drilled, broad-cast sown, or put in by the dibble, which is considered not only the most eligible mode but in ge-neral affording the best crops. The seed is from one to three bushels per acre.

93. ZEA Mays. INDIAN CORN, or MAIZE. In warmer climates, as the South of France, and the East and West Indies, this is one of the most useful plants; the seeds forming good provender for poultry, hogs and cattle, and the green tops excellent fodder for cattle in general. I once saw a small early variety, that produced a very good crop, near Uxbridge; but I believe it is not in cultivation.

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SECT. V.--MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

94. CANNABIS sativa. HEMP.--This plant is cultivated in some parts of this country. It is usually sown in March, and is fit to harvest in October. It is then pulled up and immersed in water; when the woody parts of the stalks separating from the bark, which sloughs off and undergoes a decomposition by which the fibres are divided, it is then combed (hackled), dried, and reduced to different fineness of texture, and spun for various purposes. It requires good land, and the seed is usually two bushels and a half per acre.

The seed, which ripens about the time the hemp is pulled, is useful for feeding birds and poultry, and very nourishing.

95. DIPSACUS Fullonum. FULLER'S TEAVEL.--The heads of this plant are used for combing kerseymeres and finer broad cloths. The heads are generally fit to cut about the latter end of August, and are then separated and made up into bundles, and sold to the clothiers. The large heads are called Kings; the next size Middlings; and the smaller Minikins. The reason they are separated before sending to market is, that the large and small will not fit together on the frame in which they are fixed to the water-wheel, so that it is usual for the proprietor of the fulling-mills to purchase all of either one or the other size. The crop is considered very valuable, but the culture is confined to a small district in Somersetshire. The plant is biennial, and is usually sown in May, and the crop kept hoed during that season. In the following spring the plants bloom, and when the seeds are ripe the heads are fit for cutting; when they are assorted as above for the dealers. Three pounds of seed are used to an acre, and the plants at the last stirring are left from two feet to two feet and a half apart.

96. HUMULUS Lupulus. THE HOP.--The Hop is cultivated for brewing, being the most wholesome bitter we have, though the brewers are in the habit of using other vegetable bitters, which are brought from abroad and sold at a much cheaper rate. There is, however, a severe penalty on using any other than Hops for such purpose.

The Hops are distinguished by several varieties grown in Kent, Worcestershire, and at Farnham. The last place produces the best kind. For its culture more at length see Agriculture of Surry, by Mr. Stevenson.

97. ISATIS tinctoria. WOAD.--Is cultivated in the county of Somersetshire. It is used, after being prepared, for dyeing &c. It is said to be the mordant used for a fine blue on woollen. The foliage, which is like Spinach, is gathered during the summer months, and steeped in vats of water. After some time a green fecula is deposited in the bottom of the water, which is washed, and made into cakes and sold for use.

It is a perennial plant, and found wild in great abundance near Guildford, where great quantities might be gathered for use, and where a great deal of the seed could be collected. Its culture is very similar to that of the Teazle, with this difference, it requires the hoe at work constantly all the summer months.

The two plants Weld and Woad from the similarity of names are frequently confounded with each other, and some of the best agricultural writers have fallen into this error. They are two very different plants, and ought to be well defined, being each of them of very material consequence in this country.

98. LINUM usitatissimum. FLAX, or LINT-SEED.--Is grown for the purpose of making cloth, and has been considered a very profitable crop. The culture and management is similar to that of Hemp, and the seeds are in great demand for pressing. Lintseed oil, which it produces, is much used by painters, and is the only vegetable oil that is found fit for such purposes in general. The seeds are of several uses to the farmer; a tea is made of it, and mixed with skimmed milk, for fattening house-lambs and calves. Oxen are often fattened on the seed itself; but the cakes after the oil is expressed are a very common and most excellent article for fattening both black cattle and sheep. These are sold at from 10 l. to 16 l. per thousand.

It will require three bushels of Flax-seed for one acre, as it must be sown thick on the land. Lintseed cake has been used also for manure; and I have seen fine crops of Turnips where it has been powdered and sown in the drills with the seed.

99. RESEDA luteola. DYER'S-WEED, or WELD.--Is often confounded with Woad, but is altogether a very different plant. Weld is cultivated on the chalky hills of Surry, being sown under a crop of Barley, and the second year cleaned by hoeing, and then left to grow till it blooms, when it is pulled and tied up in small bundles, and after drying is sent to market, where it is purchased for dyeing yellow, and is in great request.

100. RUBIA tinctoria. MADDER.--This very useful dyeing drug used to be grown in this country in considerable quantities, but it is not cultivated here at the present time. The principal part of what is used now is brought from Holland, and affords a considerable article of trade to the Dutch farmers. Those who wish to be informed of the mode of culture may consult Professor Martyn's edition of Miller's Dictionary.

Some years since Sir Henry Englefield, Bart., obtained a premium from the Society of Arts for the discovery of a fine tint drawn from Madder, called the Adrianople red. It was found that it was to be obtained from a variety of the Rubia brought from Smyrna; and Mr. Smyth, our consul at that city, was prevailed on by Dr. Charles Taylor to procure seeds from thence, which the Society did me the honour of committing to my care; and I have now a considerable stock of that kind, from whence I have myself obtained the same beautiful and superior tint. See Trans. Soc. Arts. vol. 27, p. 40.

101. ULEX europaeus. FURZE, GORSE, or WHIN.--Is used in husbandry for fences, and is also much cultivated for fuel for burning lime, heating ovens, &c. Cattle and sheep relish it much; but it cannot be eaten by them except when young, in consequence of its strong spines; to obviate which an implement has been invented for bruising it. When it grows wild on our waste land, it is common to set it on fire in the summer months, and the roots and stems will throw up from the ground young shoots, which are found very useful food for sheep and other animals. It is readily grown from seeds, six pounds of which will be enough for an acre of land.

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PLANTS USEFUL IN THE ARTS.

SECT. VI.--BRITISH TREES AND SHRUBS.

102. ACER Pseudo-Platanus. SYCAMORE.--The wood of this tree is soft and of little use, unless it is for the turners' purposes, who make boxes and other small toys of it. It is not of value as timber.

103. ACER campestre. THE MAPLE.--Before the introduction of Mahogany and other fine woods the Maple was the principal wood used for all kinds of cabinet work, and was much esteemed: the knobs which grow on those trees in an old state afforded the most beautiful specimens, and according to Evelyn were collected by the curious at great prices. The Maple trees in this country are none of them at the present day old enough to afford that fine-veined variegation in the timber which is alluded to in this account.

104. ARBUTUS Unedo. THE STRAWBERRY-TREE.--Is a native of the islands in the celebrated Lake of Killarney in Ireland, where it grows to a large size. We know of no particular use to which it is applied. It is however one of our most ornamental evergreen shrubs, producing beautiful flowers, which vary from transparent white to deep red, in the winter months, at which season also the fruit appears; which taking twelve months to come to maturity affords the singular phaenomenon in plants, of having lively green leaves, beautiful flowers, and fruit as brilliant as the richest strawberry, in the very depth of our winter. We have a fine variety of this plant with scarlet blossoms, and also one with double flowers, both of which are singularly ornamental to the shrubbery.

105. ARBUTUS Uva Ursi. BEAR-BERRIES.--A small trailing plant of great repute as a medicine, but of no use in any other respect.

106. BERBERIS vulgaris. BARBERRY.--This has long been cultivated in gardens for its fruit, which is a fine acid, and it is used as a conserve, and also for giving other sweeter fruits a flavour. The common wild kind has stones in the fruit, which renders it disagreeable to eat. There is a variety without stones called the Male Barberry, which is preferred on this account.

This tree is subject to a disease in the summer, caused apparently from a yellow fungus growing on the leaves and young shoots; and it is said that where it grows near corn fields it imparts its baneful influence to the grain, for which reason it is recommended in some of our books on agriculture to exterminate the trees.

107. BETULA alba. BIRCH-TREE.--Is in great use and of considerable value on some estates for making brooms, and the timber for all purposes of turnery-ware and carving. The sap of the Birch-tree is drawn by perforating the bark in the early state of vegetation. It is fermented, and makes a very pleasant and potent beverage called Birch Wine.

108. BETULA Alnus. ALDER-TREE.--This is a valuable tree for planting in moors and wet places. The wood is used for making clogs, pattens, and other such purposes; and the bark for dyeing and manufacturing some of the finer kinds of leather. This wood is of considerable value for making charcoal for gunpowder. In charring it a considerable quantity of acetic acid is extracted, which is of great value for the purpose of bleaching, &c. &c.

109. BUXUS sempervirens. BOX-TREE.--The wood of Box is of great value for musical instruments, and for forming the handles of many tools: being very hard, it admits of a fine polish. This tree is growing in quantity at Box-hill in Surry, and has given name to that place.

This was planted by a late Duke of Norfolk, and has succeeded so well, that the wood has been cut twice, and sold each time for treble the value of the fee-simple of the land.

It forms a better cover for game than any other plant; and being very bitter, is not liable to be destroyed by any animal eating it down. An infusion of the leaves is frequently given as a vermifuge with good effect.

There is a smaller variety of this, much used for making edging to gravel walks in gardens.

110. CARPINUS Betulus. THE HORNBEAM.--This grows to a large tree, but is not of much account as timber: it is however very useful in forming ornamental fences, and is well adapted to this purpose from the tendency of its young branches to grow thick.

111. CLEMATIS Vitalba. TRAVELLER'S JOY.--A beautiful creeping shrub very useful to the farmers for making shackles for gates and hurdles, or withs for tying faggots and other articles. Whenever this plant is found in the hedges, &c. it is a certain indication of a ckalky under stratum in the soil.

112. CORNUS sanguinea. DOG-WOOD.--This is planted in pleasuregrounds as an ornamental shrub, and from the red appearance of the wood in the winter forms a beautiful constrast in plantations. It is also used by butchers for making skewers.

113. CORYLUS Avellana. THE HAZEL.--Is a well known shrub of large growth producing nuts, which are much admired. The Filbert is an improved variety of this plant. The farmers in Kent are the best managers of Filberts, and it is the only place where they are grown with any certainty; which appears to be owing principally to the trees being regularly pruned of the superfluous wood. It is performed in the month of March when the plants are in bloom, and is the only time when the fruit-bearing wood can be distinguished.

114. CRATAEGUS Aria. WHITE BEAM-TREE.--Is a beautiful tree producing very hard wood, and is much in esteem for cogs of millwork and various other purposes.