108 AGRICULTURE. 



employed in dyeing and in gauche painting. It suc- 

 ceeds best in a rich, friable, black earth, or in one 

 of a dark red or chocolate colour. Some writers 

 have remarked that the roots, which are bulbous, 

 grow to the greatest size in the former of these 

 soils, and that the flowers attain the highest perfec- 

 tion in the latter. The manure best adapted to it is 

 old and thorougly-rotted dung. 



After being well ploughed, rolled, and harrowed, 

 the ground intended for this crop is trenched, and 

 the roots placed in the trenches nine or ten inches 

 apart. So soon as the flowers appear, which al- 

 ways precede the leaves, the soil about them must 

 be lightly hoed. When fully blown, and while wet 

 with dew, they are taken off carefully with the hand 

 and spread upon boards to dry. The stigmata are 

 then separated from the styles, after which they are 

 ready for market. 



Of the Poppy. 



The poppy is among the most important of the 

 oil-giving plants, as well for the value as for the 

 abundance of its produce. The oil is altogether 

 found in the seeds, and does not partake of any som- 

 niferous or other deleterious quality, as some per- 

 sons have supposed. It is often mixed with olive 

 oil, and, so long as it is fresh, it is equally pleasant 

 and wholesome. It is much used in France, Hol- 

 land, and Germany, in salads. Its only fault is, 

 that, if long kept, it becomes thick and viscous. The 

 plant is annual, and requires a good and well- labour- 

 ed soil. The seeds should be taken from the ripest 

 and largest capsules of the preceding year; should 

 be sown early and thin, and in broadcast ; because, 

 if thickly sown, the plants rot, and, if sown late, 

 they are injured by a too rapid vegetation. The 

 fall of the leaf, the dying of the stalk, and the brown 

 colour of the capsules, indicate the time for harvest- 

 ing the crop. These last are carefully gathered 

 and dried, and the seed separated from them. 



