348 THE DICTIONARY 
OF GARDENING, | 
Salsafy—continued. , ; 
quires an open situation and deep soil, but the latte 
should not be newly manured for the crop, as tbis tends 
to make the roots forked. Seeds may be sown at the 
end of March, or any time during April, in drills 1ft. 
apart, and the plants thinned, when large enough, to 9in. 
Fig, 409. SALSAFY. 
asunder in the rows. The roots (see Fig. 409) will be 
ready for use from October through the winter. A 
supply should be lifted before severe frost sets in, and 
stored in sand, in a cool shed. Salsafy is not usually 
required in large quantities. 
SALSOLA (a diminutive from salsus, salted; alluding 
to the salty soil in which the plant is found). Alicant 
Soda; Saltwort. ORD. Chenopodiacee. A genus com- 
prising about forty species of mostly hardy herbs, shrubs, 
or sub-shrubs, of variable habit, mainly natives of saline 
districts in temperate regions. The ashes of S. Kali, the 
Prickly Saltwort, a British plant, and of 8S. Soda, a South 
European and North American species, were formerly 
much used in the production of an impure carbonate of 
soda, known as Barilla (see remarks under Salicornia). 
The species have no horticultural value. 
SALSOLACEZ. Included under Chenopodiaceae. 
SALT. A general term used by chemists to signify 
compounds formed by the union of an acid with a metal, 
or with some other substance of similar chemical powers, 
and known as a base. For example, Sodium Carbonate 
is made up of Carbonic Acid, and of the metallic base 
Salt—continued. 
Sodium. So Ammonium Nitrate consists of Nitric Acid 
united with the base Ammonium. But the word “ Salt” 
is often used by itself, or in the expression “ Common 
Salt,” to denote Sodium Chloride, the substance so 
familiar to everyone, and so essential as a part of our 
daily food. As the name Sodium Chloride denotes, it is 
composed of Sodium and Chlorine, there being in it one 
equivalent of each, or 23 parts of Sodium to 354 of 
Chlorine by weight. Both elements have been found 
to occur in the ashes of all plants, and in special 
abundance in those of maritime districts. There is great 
doubt as to the use of each element, since experiments 
tend to show that neither is absolutely essential to any 
plant. Yet common Salt has long been used as a manure, 
and there is a very general belief among agricul- 
turists that it is valuable in strengthening Cereals, 
and increasing the yield from them, and also in de- 
stroying noxious insects and weeds. Experiments on its 
use have afforded no very definite results. Dr. Voelcker 
found that it rather lessened the yield of straw, and 
had no appreciable effect on the grain, and that it 
restrained any tendency to rank growth. He also found 
that, when supplied to Mangel-Wurzel, it increased the 
weight of the crop. It is able to bring nitrogenous sub- 
stances in the soil, and in farmyard and artificial manures, 
into a condition suited for being absorbed by plants; 
hence, it is probably of use in this way. It has been 
observed that it produces markedly useful results when 
supplied along with nitrogenous manures. ‘There is 
usually no need to supply Salt to soils on the sea-coast, 
as they are already supplied from the sea by spray. The 
refuse Salt of the fish or ham-curer is the cheapest 
and most suitable form in which to employ Salt as 
manure. 
SALTPETRE (Nitrate.of Potassium). A substance 
found in quantities as a natural product in Hindostan, 
and also much prepared artificially from heaps of organic 
remains allowed to decay in contact with Carbonate of 
Potassium, Its high price renders the use of it as 
manure impracticable, despite the good results that have 
attended its employment in experimental farming. Its 
value is due to its supplying both Potassium and Nitrogen 
in a form readily available to plants. Its place as a 
manure, in commerce, is supplied, in so far as yielding 
nitrogenous food, by Nitrate of Sodium, which is found 
in very extensive beds in South America, and can be 
sold, after being freed of excess of earthy substances, 
at a sufficiently low price to permit of its profitable em- 
ployment by farmers. Saltpetre increases the yield of 
Cereals, and of Clover and other leguminous plants, 
= seems peculiarly to promote the growth of the green 
parts. 
SALT-TREE. A name’ applied to several species 
of Halimodendron. 
SALTWORT. See Salsola. 
SALTWORT, BLACK. A common name for Glaux 
(which see). 
SALVADORA (named after J. Salvador, a Spanish 
botanist). ORD. Salvadoracee.. A small genus (two or 
three species) of stove, evergreen shrubs or trees, natives 
of East Africa, Arabia, and India. Flowers small, ra- 
cemose or spicate, on the branches of terminal or 
axillary panicles; calyx lobes four, imbricated; corolla ~ 
campanulate, the tube with four small teeth between the 
bases of the filaments, the lobes four, imbricated ; 
stamens four. Leaves opposite, entire, rather thick, often 
pale. §. persica, the only species introduced, is sup- 
posed, by many authorities, to be the Mustard-tree of 
Scripture (Matt. xiii. 32). It thrives in well-drained loam, 
and may be increased by cuttings, inserted in sand, 
under a glass, in heat. 
