CULTIVATION OF LICORICE. 



Sytionyms. — Glycyrrhiza glabm, Diadelpliia decandiia. 

 BY WM. R. PRINCE, FLUSHING, N. Y. 



The Licorice is one of the most important plants tliat are destined to be added 

 to American agriculture, and it merits at our hands an early adoption on account 

 of the facility of its culture, its great usefulness for various purposes, and the large 

 l)rofits it yields to the cultivator. When the high priced lands of England are 

 profitably devoted to it, how much more profitable must it prove, where land is 

 plentiful and cheap, and where, above all (as is the case in several of the Western 

 States), the soil is naturally permeable, free from stones, and no manuring re- 

 quired. It is indeed mortifying to American pride to witness the many thousands 

 now paid to Europe for an article like this, so simple in its culture that we ought 

 to be the largest exporters of it, thus adding another item to our Granary of the 

 World. 



The Licorice is a deep-rooting perennial plant, of the Leguminosa3, the roots 

 creeping to a considerable distance. It has herbaceous stems four to five feet high, 

 with composite dark green leaves. 



The flowers, which are blue, come out in axillary spikes during July or August. 

 It has long been extensively cultivated in Spain, and from the commencement of 

 Queen Elizabeth's reign it has been largely grown in various parts of England. 



The soil for the Licorice should be a deep sandy loam, or other light soil, and 

 be trenched by the spade, or by a subsoil plough, or by the aid of both, two to 

 two and a half or three feet in depth, and well manured. The light permeable 

 soils of our Western States, which are enriched by nature, are the soils pre-emi- 

 nently suited to the most profitable culture of this plant. 



The propagation is by cuttings of the root, and usually the small side roots are 

 taken for this purpose, and made into cuttings six inches in length. The planting 

 season may be either autumn or spring, as most convenient. 



The cuttings should be planted in rows 2j to 3 feet asunder, and at the dis- 

 tance of 18 inches in the row. During the first season the plants do not attain a 

 height of more than a foot, and the space between the rows may be used to grow 

 onions, lettuce, beans, or similar vegetables. Keep the ground free from weeds, 

 and, after the subordinate crop comes off, hoe and dress it well, when for economy 

 a horse-hoe or cultivator may be used. During the second and third seasons, a 

 crop of vegetables covering less width than the first may be grown, each year 

 allowing additional space to the increasing stems of the Licorice. Every autumn 

 the haulm should be cut and removed after it becomes withered. As this plant 

 spreads its roots rapidly in every direction, they will form a complete mass, yield 

 mmense crops. 



