874 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



Sect. V. Of Plants which are or may be grown in the Fields for Medicinal Purposes. 



5510, A number of medical plants were formerly grown in the fields ; but vegetable 

 drugs are now much less the fashion ; a few powerful sorts are retained, which are 

 either collected wild or are natives of other countries, and the rest of the pharmacopoeia is 

 chiefly made up of minerals. It may safely be affirmed that there are no plants belong- 

 ing to this section which deserve the notice of the general farmer; but we have thought it 

 desirable to notice a few sometimes grown by farming gardeners, and which may be con- 

 sidered as belonging almost equally to horticulture and agriculture, or as points of 

 connection between the two arts. These are the saffron, liquorice, rhubarb, lavender, 

 mints, chamomile, and thyme. 



5511. The saffron or autumn crocus (Crocus safwws, L.Jig. 599 a.), is a bulbous-rooted 



599 



perennial, which has been long cultivated in the south of Europe, and since Edward III. 's 

 time in England,, and chiefly at Saffron Walden in Essex. It was abundantly cultivated 

 there, and in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Herefordshire, in the beginning of the seven- 

 teenth century, but the quantity of land under this crop has been gradually lessening for the 

 last century, and especially within the last fifty years, so that its culture is now almost en- 

 tirely confined to a few parishes round Saffron Walden. ( Young's Essex.) This is owing 

 partly to the material being less in use than formerly, and partly to the large importations 

 from the East, often, as Professor Martyn observes, adulterated with bastard saffron 

 (Carthamus tinctorius) and marygolds (Calendula officinalis), 



5512. The bulbs of the saffron are planted on a prepared soil not poor nor a very stiff clay, but if possible 

 a hazel mould on chalk. The bulbs are planted in July, in rows six inches apart across the ridges, and at 

 three inches distance in the rows. 



5513. The flowers, which are purple and appear in September, are gathered, carried home, and the stigmas 

 picked out, together with a portion of the style ; these are dried on a kiln between layers of paper, and 

 under the pressure of a thick board to form the mass into cakes. 



5514. Two pounds of dried cake is the average crop of an acre after first planting, and twenty-four pounds 

 for the two next years. After the third crop the roots are taken up, divided, and re-planted 



5515. Tke uses of saffron in medicine, domestic economy, and the arts, are various. It is detersive, re- 

 solvent, anodyne, cephalic, opthalmic, &c. ; but its use is not without danger : in large doses it promotes 

 drowsiness, lethargy, vomiting, and delirium ; even its smell is injurious, and has been known to produce 

 syncope. It is used in sauces by the Spaniards and Poles ; here and in France it enters into creams, bis- 

 cuits, conserves, liquors, &c. and is used for coloring butter and cheese, and also by painters and dyers. 



5516. The liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra, IL. fg. 599 b.) is a deep-rooting perennial, 

 of the leguminosse, with herbaceous stems rising four or five feet high. It has long 

 been much cultivated in Spain ; and since Elizabeth's time has been grown in different 

 parts of England. 



5517. The soil for the liquorice should be a deep sandy loam, trenched by the spade or plough, or the aid 

 of both, to two and a half or three feet in depth, and manured if necessary. The plants are procured from 

 old plantations, and consist of the side roots, which have eyes or buds. These may be taken off, either in 

 autumn when a crop of liquorice is taken up for use, and laid in earth till spring, or taken from a growing 

 plantation,, as wanted for planting. The planting season may be either October, or February and March. 

 In general the latter is preferred. The plants are dibbled in in rows three feet apart, and from eighteen 

 inches to two feet in the row, according to the richness of the soil. The after-culture consists in horse- 

 hoeing and deep stirring, in weeding, and in cutting over and carrying away the haulm every autumn 

 after it is completely withered. As the plants do not rise above a foot the first season, a crop of onions or 

 beans is sometimes taken in the intervals. The plants must have three summers' growth, at the end of 

 which the roots may be taken up by trenching over the ground. The roots are either immediately sold 

 to the brewers' druggists, or to common druggists, or preserved, like carrots or potatoes, in sand, till 

 wanted for use. They are uS'ed in medicine and porter-brewing. 



5518. The rhubarb (Rheum palmatum, 1.. fg. 599 c.) is a perennial, with thick 

 oval roots, which strike deep into the ground, large palmate leaves, and flower-stems 

 six or eight feet high. The Society of Aits exerted themselves for many years to pro- 

 mote the culture of this plant, as did Dr. Hope, of Edinburgh. It has accordingly 



