538 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



the land for the crop. This manure may be applied in the 

 autumn or spring but in either case it must be ploughed or 

 harrowed, and thoroughly mixed with the soil. There is danger 

 of sowing the seed too thickly, and therefore it is advised to mix 

 the seed before sowing with one portion of earth and two por 

 tions of sawdust. As soon as the plants appear, they are to be 

 weeded and cleaned with great care j and when a foot in height, 

 to be hoed and slightly earthed up. 



The gathering of the seed of the poppy is to be done by 

 hand, and at different times. As soon as the heads have acquired 

 a degree of ripeness, they are to be carefully shaken over a 

 basket or bag, so as to save the first loose seeds. This is after 

 wards to be repeated before the general harvest, when the whole 

 is to be gathered by cutting off the heads. The shelling of the 

 seed is afterwards done by hand ; for if done by a flail, the seed 

 is cleaned with difficulty; and the pieces of the stalk, which 

 then become intermixed with the seed, give an offensive taste to 

 the oil . The seed may be preserved a long time, but requires to 

 be aired. The oil of the poppy is used both for food and light, 

 and is considered a fifth more valuable than that of the colza. The 

 cakes, remaining after the expression of the oil, are valuable for 

 the fatting of swine j and the stalks for fuel. The ashes, which 

 remain after burning it, are of the best kind for manure. If the 

 seed be pressed in a mill used for the colza or other oil, the 

 greatest attention must be paid to cleaning it. The oil expressed 

 in cold weather is much superior in quality to that obtained in 

 warm weather, and the two must not be mixed. The great 

 enemies of the poppy are the field-mice, which eat off the stalks 

 while in a green state, and then destroy the heads. The birds 

 likewise plunder a great deal of the seed. 



4. CAMELINE. Another plant, called Cameline,* is culti 

 vated, when, for example, the colza fails ; as it ripens its seed in 

 three months. The oil is not so valuable as the colza, as it has 

 a bad smell. The plant is not extensively cultivated ; but it 

 succeeds well in sandy and inferior land. The stalks of the 

 plant are used for brooms, and some persons cultivate it for this 

 object. 



* Myagrum Sativum, 



