YUC 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



YUC 



829 



or yard-manure, with great advantage ; though the general 

 custom even there is to clamp and employ that which is in 

 the short state. Some farmers dislike to see their yard- 

 manure long in the heaps, on account of the loss in turning. 

 It has been found by long and extensive experience, that in 

 dunging for Wheat, long fresh dung is superior to any other, 

 and the crop where it is applied always certain. A slight 

 incipient fermentation is unquestionably useful in the heaps 

 of this kind of manure, for by it the woody fibres are dis- 

 posed to decay and dissolve when it is carried to the land, 

 or ploughed into the soil. These woody fibres are also 

 collected in great proportion among the yard dung; yet too 

 great a degree of fermentation is very injurious to mixed 

 yard-manure when heaped, and it is better that there 

 should be no fermentation at all before the manure is used, 

 than that it should be suffered to proceed too far, because 

 too much fermentation dissipates or destroys the most useful 

 part of the manure. During the violent fermentation which 

 is necessary for reducing farm-yard manure to the state in 

 which it is termed short muck or dung, not only a large 

 quantity of fluid, but likewise of gaseous material, is lost, by 

 which the weight of the manure is reduced by one half, and 

 sometimes two-thirds, and the principal elastic matter dis- 

 engaged, as carbonic acid, with gome ammonia; both of which, 

 if retained by the moisture in the soil, would supply the 

 plants with effectual nourishment. The dissipation of gase- 

 ous matter, when pushed to the extreme, as in the case of 

 short dunpr, has another disadvantage attending it, in the loss 

 of heat, which if excited in the soil, is useful in promoting 

 the germination of the seeds, and assists the plant in those 

 stages when it is most liable to disease ; and the fermentation 

 of the manure in the soil is peculiarly favourable to the Wheat- 

 crop, by preserving a genial temperature beneath the surface 

 late in the autumn, and during winter. It is also a general 

 principle in chemistry, that in all cases of decomposition, sub- 

 stances combine much more readily at the time of their dis- 

 engagement than after they have been perfectly formed : and 

 in fermentation beneath the soil, the fluid matter produced is 

 applied instantly, even while it is warm, to the organs of the 

 plant, and therefore is more likely to be efficient than short 

 dung, which has passed through the process, and all the prin- 

 ciples of which have entered into new combinations. The 

 application of yard-manure in the long state, is highly ad- 

 vantageous with regard to the quantity and extent of the im- 

 provement which may be produced, as nearly four loads of 

 it are generally required to form one of the short manure. 

 But the main objection against slightly fermented yard- 

 manure is, that weeds rise more luxuriantly and in greater 

 numbers where it is had recourse to: though the seeds thus 

 carried out will certainly sprout, it is but seldom that can 

 occur to any extent; and if the land be foul, any kind of 

 manure will accelerate the growth of the weeds. There is 

 another question connected with this subject, which is not 

 of less interest or importance to the farmer to have decided, 

 which is, that of the superior advantage of consuming the 

 straw of the farm by animals, or of having it trodden into 

 manure with the dung in the yards. Some are against the 

 former of these practices ; though probably a majority approve 

 it, and have also recourse to buying oil-cake, very often at 

 a loss, in order that their straw may be trodden into dung or 

 manure by fattening beasts, which nevertheless is excellent 

 yard economy. See Manure. 



Yarrow. See Achillea. 



Yellow Rattle. See Rhinanthus. 



Yellow Root. See Hydrastis. 



Yellow Succory. See Picris. 



Yellow Weed. See Reseda. 



Yew Tree. See Taxus. 



Yucca; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : none. Corolla : bell- 

 shaped, in six deep, ovate, very large, equal, moderately 

 spreading segments, connected by their claws ; nectaries 

 none. Stamina : filamenta six, inserted into the base of the 

 corolla, very short, swelling upwards, reflexed ; antherae 

 minute, roundish. Pistil: germen superior, oblong, bluntly 

 triangular, with six furrows, rather longer than>the stamina ; 

 style none; stigma obtuse, with three furrows, its lobes 

 cloven, the centre pervious. Pericarp: berry oblong, bluntly 

 hexagonal, fleshy, perforated at the summit, of six cells, 

 three of the partitions thicker than the three intermediate 

 ones. Seeds: very numerous, in a single row, separated 

 from each other by transverse membranes, roundish-obovate, 

 flat depressed, attached by their pointed base to the inner 

 angle of the cell. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: in- 

 ferior, bell-shaped, its segments without nectaries. Stamina : 

 club-shaped. Style: none. Berry : hexagonal, of six cells. 

 Seeds : numerous, flat. This is a handsome perennial genus, 

 more or less caulescent, with numerous, long, simple, rigid, 

 or coriaceous, pungent leaves; and copious panicled, white, 

 liliaceous, very elegant, though generally inodorous flowers. 

 Some of the species are tolerably hardy in our gardens, but 

 do not blossom constantly, nor very readily. The spe- 

 cies are, 



1. Yucca Gloriosa; Common Adam's Needle. Caules- 

 cent : leaves lanceolate, straight, furrowed, their edges smooth 

 and entire. The stem in our gardens is seldom two feet in 

 height, somewhat branched, thick, tough, crowned at the 

 summit of each branch, if divided, with a profusion of crowded 

 leaves spreading in every direction, each a foot and half or 

 two feet long, tapering to a hard spinous point, contracted 

 in the lower part, but dilated at the very base, where they 

 half clasp the stem ; their upper surface is of a fine green, 

 smooth, furrowed longitudinally, especially towards the end ; 

 the under pale and more even ; the edges quite even and 

 smooth : panicle terminal, compound, erect, composed of 

 perhaps an hundred drooping flowers, not much inferior in 

 size and beauty to those of the White Water Lily, but more 

 cream-coloured, tinged at the base and points with crimson, 

 destitute of scent; partial stalks about an inch long, round, 

 smooth, with a pair of membranonsibractes at the base; stig- 

 ma in three distinct spreading lobes. Native of Peru and 

 North America: on the sea-shore of Carolina flowering in 

 July and August, and there attaining the height of ten feet. 

 Propagation and Culture. The plants of this genus may all 

 be raised by offsets or suckers, from the roots and heads of 

 the old plants as well as by seed. The offsets and suckers 

 may be taken off any time in spring 1 or summer, being laid 

 in some dry place for a few days till the wounded part caused 

 by the separation is dried and healed over, when they 

 may be planted out separately in pots of light sandy compost, 

 and placed in a shady situation till they have taken root in a 

 perfect manner; but they succeed better when assisted by a 

 hot-bed. To raise them from seed, it should be procured 

 from abroad, and sown in pots of light earth, plunging them 

 into a hot-bed, where they will soon come up. As soon as 

 they are two or three inches high, prick them out separately 

 in small pots of light sandy mould, replunging them in the 

 hot-bed to forward their growth, allowing them moderate 

 waterings and fresh air daily, and gradually hardening them 

 to the full air, so as to be set out in June to remain till Octo- 

 ber, when they should be removed into the green-house for 

 the winter. It will be prudent to preserve a few of each sort 



