WILD FLOWERS. 



and butter; and tradition says that the inhabitants 

 of Minorca once subsisted for weeks on this plant, 

 when their harvest had been entirely destroyed by 

 insects. The leaves are even a favourite and useful 

 article of food in the Vale of Kashmir, where in 

 spite of the pre-conceived prejudices we all have to 

 the contrary dandelions, and other humbler exam- 

 ples of our northern "weeds" do venture to asso- 

 ciate themselves with the rose or the jasmine of its 

 eastern soil ! On the banks of the Rhine the plant 

 is cultivated as a substitute for coffee, and Dr. 

 Harrison pretends that it possesses the fine flavour 

 and substance of the best Mocha coffee without its 

 injurious principle ; and that it promotes sleep when 

 taken at night, instead of banishing it as the coffee 

 does. Mrs. Moodie* gives us her experiences with 

 dandelion-roots, which seem to have been of a most 

 satisfactory nature. She first cut the roots into 

 small pieces and dried them in the oven until they 

 were brown and crisp as coffee, and in this state 

 they appear to have been eaten. But certain 

 it is that she ground a portion of them, and. 

 made a "most superior coffee." She adds that 

 the roots should be dug up in autumn, washed, 

 cut in pieces, and dried in the sun. In this state 

 they will keep for years, and should be roasted 

 when required. In some parts of Canada they make 

 an excellent beer of the leaves; in which the 

 abundant saccharine matter they afford, forms a 

 substitute for malt, and the bitter flavour serves 

 instead of hops. 



* " Roughing it in the Bush." 



