PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 109 



Of Cole. 



Cole or rape is a variety of the cabbage, the seed 

 of which yields an oil very useful to the arts, and 

 renders the plant of great importance in agriculture. 

 Its general management does not differ from that of 

 any other variety of the kind. When the seed is 

 ripe, it must be carefully gathered and separated 

 from its chaff. The plantations of cole in Flanders, 

 and particularly in the neighbourhood of Lisle, Has- 

 brook, and Douay, and on a part of the Escant, are 

 immense. They generally follow a crop of well- 

 dunged, well-laboured potatoes, and are followed by 

 one of wheat. 



Palma Christi, or the castor-oil plant, and the rici- 

 nus of botanists, has been cultivated in this state; 

 but whether profitably or not we do not know. Its 

 seed gives an oil fit for lamps, but principally em- 

 ployed as a medicine. The cultivation of this plant 

 has been tried in the southern parts of France, but 

 not on a large scale, as it was found to require much 

 ground and to give few seeds, which ripen only in 

 succession. In Carolina the stem attains the height 

 of ten or twelve feet, and a diameter of four or five 

 inches. As an ornamental shrub, the palma Christi 

 is much to be recommended. 



Of the Sunflower. 



This plant is a native of Peru, and is cultivated 

 in Europe principally for the seeds, which give a 

 large proportion of oil, of much use for domestic 

 purposes. It requires a good soil, well manured, 

 and thoroughly worked and cleansed. The seeds 

 should be sown one foot apart, and in rows two feet 

 asunder. In France the stems are employed for 

 fuel and peasticks, and the leaves for fodder.* 



Of Flax. 



Flax is of Asiatic origin, and, from its hardiness 

 and usefulness, is generally diffused over the globe. 



* See Crete de Paleuil on the Sunflower. 



