660 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. Part III. 



the plan of giving excess of water is peculiar, and that the vigorous growth of the 

 plant is more dependent on richness of soil than on any other cause. Ahercrombie 

 directs to earth up the bulbs four or five inches, to blanch them when they are full 

 grown. 



4018. To save seed. " Either leave some established plants in the spring where grow- 

 ing ; or in February or March dig up a competent number, cut down the top leaves, and 

 set the plants in the ground, full two feet asunder. They will produce seed in autumn." 



4019 Walker grows onlv red celery : and in preparing plants for seed, chooses the most solid, of the 

 reddest color, and the smallest size. When taken out of the transplanting-bed, the lateral shoots being 

 removed, they should be planted in a dry warm situation, where the seed will ripen well. 



SirBfcECT. 6. Mustard. — Sinapis, L. Tetradynamia Siliquosa, L. and Crucifera, J. 

 Seneve, Fr. ; Sen/, Ger. ; and Senapa, Ital. 



4020. Of mustard there are two species in cultivation, the black and tlie tuhite ; an- 

 nuals, and natives of Britain. 



4021. The white mustard is the Sinapis alba, L. {Eng. Bot. t 1677.) It grows na- 

 turally in corn-fields, and flowers in June and July. The leaves are pinnatifid, the 

 pod round and rough, and abruptly terminated. The seed is yellow, and, as well as 

 the flowers, is larger than those of the black species. 



4022. Use. This species is cultivated chiefly as a small salad, and is used like cresses 

 while in the seed ; when these are newly expanded, they are mild and tender ; but when 

 the plants have advanced into the rough leaves, they eat rank and disagreeable. 



4CP3 Culture For spring and summer consumption, sow once a week, or fortnight, in dry warm situ- 

 ations . in February and March ; and afterwards in any other compartment. " In summer, sow in shady 

 borders if it be hot sunny weather ; or have the bed shaded. Generally sow m shallow flat drills, trom 

 three to six inches apart ; scatter the seed thick and regular, and cover in thinly with the earth about a 

 quarter of an inch. To furnish gatherings in winter, or early in spring, sow in frames or under hand- 

 glasses • and when the weather is frosty or verv cold, in hot-beds and stoves, as directed for cress 



40°4 ' To save seed Either sow a portion in March or April, to stand for that purpose ; or, for small 

 supplies, leave some rows of the spring sowing, grown too large for salads ; they will ripen seed in 

 autumn. 



4025. The black mustard is the S. nigra, L. [Eng. Bot. 969.) the seneve of the French. 

 It is frequent in corn-fields. It is altogether a larger plant than the white, with much 

 darker leaves, and their divisions blunter. The flowers are small, the pods smooth, and 

 lying close to the stem. 



4026 Use Black mustard is chiefly cultivated in fields for the mill, and for medicinal purposes. It is 

 sometimes, 'however, sown in garden's, and the tender leaves used as greens early in spring. The seed- 

 leaves, in common with those of the cress, radish, rape, &c. are sometimes used as a salad ingredient ; but 

 the crand purpose for which the plant is cultivated is for seeds, which, ground, produce the well known 

 condiment If the seeds, Dr. Cullen observes, betaken fresh from the plant, and ground, the powder 

 has little pungencv, but is very bitter ; by steeping in vinegar, however, the essentia oil is evolved, and 

 the powder becomes extremely pungent. In moistening mustard-powder for the table, it may be re- 

 marked that it makes the best appearance when rich milk is used; but the mixture m this case does not 

 keep good for more than two days. The seeds of both the black and white mustard are often used in an 



en i»7 & (Mtm-e ftTtlJinill " To raise seed for flower of mustard, and other officinal occasions sow, 

 either "in March or April, generally the black sort, or occasionally the white, in any open compartment: 

 or make large sowings in fields, where designed for public supply. Sow moderately thick, either in drills 

 from six to twelve inches asunder, or broad-cast, and rake or harrow in the seed When the plants are 

 two or three inches in the growth, hoe, or thin them moderately, where too thick, and clear them from 

 weeds. They will soon run up in stalks ; and in July or August return a crop of seed, ripe for gather- 

 ing." (Altercrombie.) 



Subsect. 7. Bape. — Brassica Kapus, L. var. oleifera, Dec. {Eng. Bot. t. 2146.) 

 Tetrad. Silvj. L. and Cruciferce, J. Navetle, Fr. ; Bepskohl, Ger. ; and Napo sal- 

 vatico, Ital. 



4028. The rape is a biennial plant, a native of Britain, and distinguished by its glau- 

 cous root-leaves, and yellow flowers, which appear in April. 



4029. Use. Rape is cultivated in gardens as a small salad herb, to be gathered 

 voun* in the seed-leaves, and used in cresses and mustard. Like these, it has a warm 

 flavor* and is recommended as a stomachic. The plant is also much used in agriculture. 



4030. Culture for small salading. Sow at the same time with cresses, mustard &c in winter and 

 spring ; or at any season when small salading is required. Sow in drills or beds, and follow the culture 



di 403i ed r° r 5 "?Si /M T?Insplant two or three plants any time during the summer, and they will flower 

 and seed the second year abundantly. 



Subsect. 8. Corn-Salad, or Lamb-Lettuce. — Valeriana Locusta, L. ; Fedia olitoria, 

 Willd. (Eng. Bot. 811.) Triandria Monogyn. L. and Dipsacecc, J. Mdche, Fr. ; 

 Ackersalat, Ger. ; and Valerkmello, Ital. 



403^ The corn-salad is a diminutive annual plant, common in corn-fields or sandy 

 soils "The leaves are long and narrow, of a pale glaucous hue, the lower ones rather 

 succulent The flowers are very small, pale-bluish, and collected into a close little 

 corvmb ■ thev appear in the open fields in April. When cultivated, it rises a foot high, 



