242 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The leaves of the Fumitory are saline and bitter to the taste. The 

 expressed juice has been used in medicine to correct acidity in the 

 stomach, and an infusion of the leaves has been used as a cosmetic 

 to remove freckles and clear the skin. 



Order 4. MUSTARDS — Crucifer^. But few species of this 

 important family are natives of North America. The more useful 

 plants of the order, such as the cabbage, turnip, cauliflower, &c., 

 as well as those classed with weeds, have been introduced from 

 Europe. " It is the universal character of the cruciferse to possess 

 antiscorbutic and stimulant qualities, combined with an acrid 

 flavor." — (Lindley.) In all the species the parts of the flower are 

 in fours, and opposite each other in the form of a cross, whence 

 the Latin name cruciferoe, which means "bearing a cross." 



10. Hedge Mdstakd — Sisymbrium officinale, iJoof annual. >Siem one to two feet high, 

 branched. Lower leaves runcinate, upper ones somewhat hastate. Flowers small, yellow. 

 Racemes elongated after flowering. Pods erect, half an inch or more long, awl-shaped, 

 appressed to the rachis. 



This troublesome little foreigner is an unwelcome intruder in our 

 gardens, and in waste places. The plant is warm and acid to the 

 taste, and when cultivated has been used as a pot herb. " It was 

 formerly held in some repute in Europe as a remedy for coughs, 

 the hoarseness of singers, and the like." It is said to be a useful 

 remedy in ulcerations of the mouth and throat. As this plant is 

 propagated by seed it should be removed from the grounds before 

 flowerinpr. 



■o' 



11. Field Mustard, Charlock — Brassica Sinapistrum. Annual. Stem simple, or 

 branched, twelve to thirty inches high, bristly with stiff recurved hairs. Leaves oval or 

 oblong, lower ones somewhat pinnatifid, all toothed. Flowers quite large and showy, of 

 a sulphur yellow color. Pods knotty, ascending on spreading Stalks ; beak two-edged, 

 fully one third the length of the pod. 



The authors state that this plant is found as a noxious weed in 

 grain fields, from Pennsylvania and New York westward. I was 

 hoping that it had not been introduced into this State ; but while 

 in Waterville the past season I saw a grain field thickly sprinkled 

 with the yellow blossoms of this most unwelcome intruder, which 

 seemed to have taken possession of the ground and made itself as 

 much at homo as though the field had been cultivated expressly 

 for its own benefit. Todd, in his excellent work, the "Young Far- 

 mer's Blanual," says : " We know of no weed in the grain-growing 

 districts of Now York that is so difficult to exterminate as this. 



