AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 265 



of corn. The beans from which the oil has been expressed are 

 said to form a valuable manure. They appear to contain a large 

 amount of nitrogenous matter ; and the stems, roots. &c. can be 

 plowed in again. 



587. LIQUORICE, ( Glycyrrhiza glabra.) This, also, is a med 

 ical plant, with a local agricultural importance, and it might be 

 still further profitably introduced into the United States as one 

 of the minor products of the soil. It is a native of, and cultiva 

 ted in the South of Europe, but prospers in England. Our an 

 nual import of it is said to exceed $250,000, and the demand 

 is constantly increasing. The root, (the only useful part,) has 

 recently been employed in France for the manufacture of paper. 

 It was introduced into Georgia arid the Carolinas at an early 

 day, but the great attention now paid to Cotton has caused it 

 to be neglected. It is a perennial, with long tap-roots extend 

 ing very deep into the ground, and creeping to a considerable 

 distance. 



588. The soil should be a moist, loose, sandy loam; or dilu 

 vial of river-bottoms. If not rich, it must be manured with well 

 rotted dung, ashes &c. It should be subsoiled or trenched 3 

 or 4 feet deep ; and if sufficiently rich, thrown into three and a 

 half foot beds, including the alleys, in the centres of which the 

 sets are planted early in March, 1 8 inches apart. If the ground 

 is not sufficiently rich, trenches must be dug throughout the 

 field, 3^ feet apart, from centre to centre, and 3 or 4 feet deep. 

 When one trench is dug, it must be filled with earth from the 

 next, well incorporated with compost, and alleys made 7 or 8 

 inches wide, mid-way between the trenches, the earth being 

 spread over them, so as to form raised beds throughout the 

 plantation. 



589. The &quot;sets&quot; being procured, and cut into five or six inch 

 pieces, dibble holes along the centres of the beds, 1 8 inches apart, 

 and 8 inches deep, into which thrust a piece of root, and cover 



