Book VI. PLANTS OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 879 



It is sown on any sort of soil, but strong loam is the most productive. After being well 

 pulverised on the surface, the seed is sown broad-cast and lightly harrowed in. The 

 season of sowing for the largest produce is March, but it will ripen if sown the first 

 week in May. The quantity of seed to an acre varies from two to four pecks, according 

 to the richness of the land ; the seed will not grow the second year. No after-culture is 

 required but weeding. The crop is reaped and left in handfuls to dry for a few days, 

 and then threshed out like rapeseed or mustard in the field. 



5502. The tcse of the cress seed is chiefly for sowing to cut for young turkeys ; and for forcing salads by 

 the London cooks on hot moist flannels and porous earthenware vessels. A very considerable quantity iV 

 also used in horticulture, it being one of the chief early salads, and cut when in tne seed leaf. The haulta 

 is of very little use as litter, and on the whole, the crop is exhausting, 



5503. The culture of the chiccory as an herbage plant has already been given (5074. ) ; 

 when grown for the root to be used as a substitute for coflTee, it may be sown on the same 

 soil as the carrot, and thinned out to the same distance as that plant. These roots are taken 

 up in the first autumn after sowing in the same manner as those of the carrot. When they 

 are to be manufactured on a large scale, they are partially dried, and in that state sold to 

 the manufacturers of the article, who wash them, cut them in pieces, roast them on a 

 kiln, and grind them between fluted rollers into a powder, which is packed up in papers, 

 containing from two ounces to three or four pounds. In that state it is sold either as 

 a substitute for coffee, or for mixing with it. But when a private family cultivate this 

 plant for home manufacture, the roots are laid in a cellar among sand, and a few taken 

 out as wanted, washed, cut into slices, roasted in the coffee roaster till they become of a 

 brown color, and then passed as wanted through the coffee mill. 



5504. The value of the chiccory as a cojfee plant. Von Thaer observes in 1810, is proved by its having been 

 cultivated for that purpose for thirty years. Dr. Howison has written some curious papers on the subject 

 in The Caledonian Horticultural Memoirs, (vol iv.), and both that gentleman and Dr. Duncan approve of 

 its dietetic qualities. The former indeed says, he thinks it preferable to cOfFee, which may be a matter of 

 taste, as some prefer the flavor of the powdered roots of dandelion to that of either coffee or chiccory. 

 Dr. Duncan is of opinion that chiccory might be cultivated with great national advantages as a substitute 

 for the exotic berry. {Disco, to Caled. Hort. Sac. 1820.) 



5505. Of the tobacco, there are two species which may be cultivated in this country : 

 the Nicotiana tabaccum, or Virginia tobacco, which is almost the only sort imported, 

 and the N. rustica, common tobacco, the Bauern tabac of Germany, and cultivated 

 in that country, Sweden, and many parts of France, Switzerland, Holland, &c., both for 

 private use and manufacture for public sale. Almost every one who occupies a cottage 

 and garden in these countries grows as much as supplies their pipes ; but it is rarely 

 made into snuff or chewing tobacco by private families. The culture of tobacco is pro- 

 hibited in Britain for political reasons ; but before that law was given, it was grown and 

 cured in a very sufficient manner by farmers both in England and Scotland. At present 

 every family may grow a sufficient quantity for their own use. 



5506. The soil for tobacco must be deep, loamy, and rich ; well pulverised before planting,'and frequently 

 stirred and kept free from weeds during the growth of the plants. The plants in this country should be 

 raised in a warm part of the garden : the seed is very small, and should be sown and lightly covered, and 

 then the surface pressed down with the back of the spade in the middle of March. In May they will be 

 fit to transplant, and should be placed in lines three feet apart every way. If no rain fall, they should be 

 watered two or three times. Every morning and evening the plants must be looked over, in order to 

 destroy a worm which sometimes invades the bud. When they are about four or five inches high, 

 they are to be cleared from weeds and moulded up. As soon as they have eight or nine leaves ; and are 

 ready to put forth a stalk, the top is nipped off, in order to make the leaves longer and thicker. After this 

 the buds which sprout at the joirtts of the leaves are all plucked, and not a day is suflTered to pass without 

 examinitig the leaves, to destroy a large caterpillar, which is sometimes very destructive to them. 



5507. The following is the inode of taking and fermenting the leaves \n America. When they are fit 

 for cutting, whicli is known by the brittleness of the leaves, they are cut with a knife close to the ground ; 

 and after lying some time, are' carried to the drying shed or house, where the plants are hung up by pairs, 

 upon lines, leaving a space between, that they may not touch one another. In this state they remain to 

 sweat and dry. When perfectly dry, the leaves are stripped from the stalks, and made into small bundles, 

 tied with one of the leaves. These bundles are laid in heaps, and covered with blankets. Care is taken 

 not to overheat them, for which reason the heaps are laid open to the air from time to time, and spread 

 abroad. This operation is repeated till no more heat is perceived in the heaps, and the tobacco is then 

 stowed in casks for exportation. 



5508. To save seed allow one or two of the best plants to run, thej will flower and be very ornamental in 

 June, Julv, and August, and ripen their seeds in September and October. 



5509. In the tnanufacture of tobacco, the leaves are first cleaned of any earth, dirt, or decayed parts ; next 

 they are gently moistened with salt and water, or water in which some other salt, and sometimes other 

 ingredients have been dissolved, according to the taste of the fabricator. This liquor is called tobacco 

 sauce. The next operation is to remove the midrib of the leaf, then the leaves are mixed together to render 

 the quality of whatever may be the final manufacture or api)Iication equal ; next they are cut into pieces 

 with a fixed knife, and crisped or curled before a fire ; the succeeding operation is to spin them into cords, 

 or twist them into rolls by winding them with a kind of mill round a stick. These operations are per- 

 formed by the grower, and in this state (of rolls) the article is sent from America to other countries, where 

 the tobacconists cut it into chaff like shreds by a machine like a straw-cutter, for smoking ; form it into 

 small cords for chewing ; or dry and grind it for snuff. In manufacturing snuff various matters are added 

 to give it an agreeable scent ; and hence the numerous varieties of snuff The three principal kinds are 

 called rappees, Scotch or Spanish, and thirds. The first is only granulated ; tlie second is reduced to a very 

 fine powder, and the third is thfe siftings of the second sort. In a former section (5439.) we have hinted 

 that no farmer who cultivates the hop need be without a vegetable equal to asparagus, or fibre similar to 

 that of flax to employ his servants in spinning ; and from the foregoing observations it would seem that 

 Whoever has a garden may grow his own cofiec and tobacco. 



