76 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



merce. For medicinal purposes the seeds of this species are prefer- 

 able for sinapisin and especially sinapisms. Through aqueous 

 distillation a volatile oil of extreme pungency is obtained from 

 mustard-seeds. In rich soil this plant is very prolific ; and in 

 forest- valleys it is likely to remain free from the attacks of aphides. 

 Chemical constituents : a peculiar fixed oil, crystalline sinapin, the 

 fatty sinapisin, myronic acid and myrosin. All mustards can be 

 regarded as honey-plants. Brassica-seeds of various kinds retain 

 their vitality for several years. 



Brassica oleracea, Linne.* 



An annual or biennial coast-plant, indigenous to various parts of 

 Europe. Mentioned here also with a view of showing, that it might 

 be naturalised on any rocky and sandy sea-shores. One of the best 

 plants for newly reclaimed lands. From the wild plant of the coast 

 have originated various kinds of cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, 

 Brussels-sprouts, kale, kohl-rabi and others, the last mentioned 

 being a variety with a very turgid stem. Plants of Broccoli have 

 been known to attain 9 feet in circumference [Dr. Masters]. Some 

 regard the fattening qualities of cabbage as superior to those of 

 turnips, particularly for stable-food during the autumnal season. 

 The gluten of cabbages on one acre has been estimated at 1,500 Ibs. 

 against 1,000 Ibs. of gluten obtainable from turnips. Other races 

 of this species are collectively represented by Brassica Rapa, L. 

 (B. campestris, L.), the wild Navew, yielding most of the varieties 

 of turnips, some handed down to us from ancient times with other 

 cultivated forms. Again, other varieties are comprehended within 

 Brassica Napus, L., such as the Swedish and Teltower turnips, 

 while the Raps-seed, so important for its oil (Colza), is also derived 

 from a form of B. Napus. The Raps-plant should be reared exten- 

 sively for agrarian produce, giving a rapid return, wherever it 

 remains free from aphides. Ordinary Raps is a good admixture to 

 summer-fodder. Valuable in rotation of crops. Raps sown on 

 saiidy land in Victoria sustained 20 sheep on an acre during autumn 

 and early winter, and yet the land was available for other crops in 

 the next summer. Important where bees are kept. The hardier 

 turnips can be produced on the highest Alps, as they are grown 

 even within the Arctic Circle, and according to Sir J. Hooker at a 

 height of 15,000 feet in the Himalayan mountains; they succeed also 

 still well in the Faroe-Islands, and yet some varieties of turnips are 

 also a reliable winter-crop in Central Australia. Oil-Raps and 

 Turnips are grown as far north as 70 22 ; in Norway [Schuebeler]. 

 Rhind mentions a very tall variety, introduced from the Vendee, 

 as cattle-provender. Within the tropics grown during the cool 

 season. The annual import of Raps-seeds in Britain during many 

 years was valued at a million pounds ; in 1884 it was one-and-a-half 

 millions. In the cold zone the winter-varieties of cabbage are 

 particularly important. Turnips succeed generally even under the 

 equator. Only the turnip-varieties ripen seeds for resowing in the 



