348 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



galsafy continued. 



qnires an open situation and deep soil, but ^ the latter 

 should not be newly manured for the crop, as this tends 

 to make the roots forked. Seeds may be sown at the 

 end of March, or any time during April, in drills 1ft. 

 apart and the plants thinned, when large enough, to 9in. 



FIG. 409. SALSAFT. 



asunder in the rows. The roots (see Fig. 409) will be 

 ready for use from October through the winter. A 

 supply should be lifted before severe frost sets in, and 

 stored in sand, in a cool shed. Salsafy is not usually 

 required in large quantities. 



SALSOLA (a diminutive from salsus, salted ; alluding 

 to the salty soil in which the plant is found). Alicant 

 Soda; Saltwort. ORD. Chenopodiacece. A genus com- 

 prising about forty species of mostly hardy herbs, shrubs, 

 or sub-shrubs, of variable habit, mainly natives of saline 

 districts in temperate regions. The ashes of 8. Kali the 

 Prickly Saltwort, a British plant, and of flf. Soda, a South 

 European and North American species, were formerly 

 much used in the production of an impure carbonate of 

 soda, known as Barilla (see remarks under Salicornia). 

 The species have no horticultural value. 



SALSOLACEJE. Included under Chenopodiacece. 



SALT. A general term used by chemists to signify 

 compounds formed by the union of an acid with a metal, 

 or with some other substance of similar chemical powers, 

 and known as a base. For example, Sodium Carbonate 

 is made up of Carbonic Acid, and of the metallic base 



Salt continued. 



Sodium. So Ammonium Nitrate consists of Nitric Acid 

 united with the base Ammonium. But the word " Salt " 

 is often used by itself, or in the expression " Common 

 Salt," to denote Sodium Chloride, the substance so 

 familiar to everyone, and so essential as a part of our 

 daily food. As the name Sodium Chloride denotes, it is 

 composed of Sodium and Chlorine, there being in it one 

 equivalent of each, or 23 parts of Sodium to 35i of 

 Chlorine by weight. Both elements have been found 

 to occur in the ashes of all plants, and in special 

 abundance in those of maritime districts. There is great 

 doubt as to the use of each element, since experiments 

 tend to show that neither is absolutely essential to any 

 plant. Yet common Salt has long been used as a manure, 

 and there is a very general belief among agricul- 

 turists that it is valuable in strengthening Cereals, 

 and increasing the yield from them, and also in de- 

 stroying noxious insects and weeds. Experiments on its 

 use have afforded no very definite results. Dr. Voelcker 

 found that it rather lessened the yield of straw, and 

 had no appreciable effect on the grain, and that it 

 restrained any tendency to rank growth. He also found 

 that, when supplied to Mangel- Wurzel, it increased the 

 weight of the crop. It is able to bring nitrogenous sub- 

 stances in the soil, and in farmyard and artificial manures, 

 into a condition suited for being absorbed by plants ; 

 hence, it is probably of use in this way. It has been 

 observed that it produces markedly useful results when 

 supplied along with nitrogenous manures. There is 

 usually no need to supply Salt to soils on the sea-coast, 

 as they are already supplied from the sea by spray. The 

 refuse Salt of the fish or ham-curer is the cheapest 

 and most suitable form in which to employ Salt as 

 manure. 



SALTPETRE (Nitrate of Potassium). A substance 

 found in quantities as a natural product in Hindostan, 

 and also much prepared artificially from heaps of organic 

 remains allowed to decay in contact with Carbonate of 

 Potassium. Its high price renders the use of it as 

 manure impracticable, despite the good results that have 

 attended its employment in experimental farming. Its 

 value is due to its supplying both Potassium and Nitrogen 

 in a form readily available to plants. Its place as a 

 manure, in commerce, is supplied, in so far as yielding 

 nitrogenous food, by Nitrate of Sodium, which is found 

 in very extensive beds in South America, and can be 

 sold, after being freed of excess of earthy substances, 

 at a sufficiently low price to permit of its profitable em- 

 ployment by farmers. Saltpetre increases the yield of 

 Cereals, and of Clover and other leguminous plants, 

 and seems peculiarly to promote the growth of the green 

 parts. 



SALT-TREE. A name applied to several species 

 of Halimodendron, 

 SALTWORT. See Salsola. 



SALTWORT, BLACK. A common name for Glanx 

 (which see). 



' SALVADORA (named after J. Salvador, a Spanish 

 botanist). ORD. Salvadoracece. A small genus (two or 

 three species) of stove, evergreen shrubs or trees, natives 

 of East Africa, Arabia, and India. Flowers small, ra- 

 cemose or spicate, on the branches of terminal or 

 axillary panicles ; calyx lobes four, imbricated ; corolla 

 campanulate, the tube with four small teeth between the 

 bases of the filaments, the lobes four, imbricated ; 

 stamens four. Leaves opposite, entire, rather thick, often 

 pale. S. persica, the only species introduced, is sup- 

 posed, by many authorities, to be the Mustard-tree of 

 Scripture (Matt. xiii. 32). It thrives in well-drained loam, 

 and may be increased by cuttings, inserted in sand, 

 under a glass, in heat. 



