236 



AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



and transplanting. Although hardy, there is sometimes an 

 advantage in covering the young plants with straw during 

 the winter, which can be conveniently done only when 

 they are compactly placed in beds. 



Gathering. Those intended for use should be cut with 

 a stem eight inches long below the head, just as it is going 

 out of flower when the awns are the toughest ; and as these 

 mature at different times in the same plant, they should be 

 cut successively as they come forward. Those intended for 

 seed, which should always be the largest, strongest heads, 

 must be suffered to remain till ripe, when they can be 

 gathered and threshed with a flail. Spread the others thinly, 

 and dry under cover where no moisture can reach them. 

 They may then be assorted into three parcels, according to 

 size and quality, and packed in large sacks, when they are 

 ready for market. The crop on good soils well cultivated, 

 may be stated at 150,000 to 200,000 per acre, worth from 

 $1,50 to $2.00 per thousand. 



The use of teasels has been to a considerable extent su- 

 perseded in this country, within a few years, by the intro- 

 duction of metallic nappers. These consist of thin, steel 

 plates, with fine teeth arranged compactly on a shaft, 

 forming a continuous cylinder of slightly projecting teeth, 

 which are almost indestructible by use. 



MUSTARD. 



There are two species of mustard raised in the United 

 States ; the white (Sinapis 

 alba, Fig. 52), which is most 

 usually cultivated as a forage 

 plant ; and the black (S. nigra, 

 Fig. 53), generally raised for 

 the seed. It requires a rich, 

 * loamy soil, deeply plowed and 

 well harrowed. It may be 

 sown either broad-cast, in 

 drills about two feet apart, or 

 in hills. Mr. Parmelee, of 

 Ohio, thus raised on 27 acres, 

 23,850 Ibs., which brought in 

 the Philadelphia market, $2,- 

 908 ; an average of over $100 

 per acre. The ground on which 

 FIO. 62. FIG. 53. it is planted must be frequently 



