BAKING OF LAND. 



BALSAM. 



BAKING OF LAND. A term applied to 

 such kinds of land as are liable, from the large 

 proportions of clayey or other matter Avhich 

 they contain, to become hard and crusty on the 

 surface. In order to prevent this, the best 

 practice is to lessen the tenacity of such soils 

 by the application of substances capable of 

 rendering them more open and friable, as 

 lime, and other calcareous materials, rich 

 earthy composts, sand, &c. 



BALL. Whatever was round was called by 

 the ancients either bal, or b>l, and likewise bol 

 and bill. In farriery, a well-known form of 

 medicine, for horses or other animals, which 

 may be passed at once into the stomach. They 

 should be made of a long oval shape, and 

 about the size of a small egg, being best con- 

 veyed over the root of the tongue by the hand. 

 This method of administering medicines is 

 preferable in most cases to that of drenches. 

 I subjoin the recipes for a few of those balls 

 most commonly used by the farmer. 



Mild Physic Ball. 



Barbadoes aloes - 6 drachms. 



Powdered ginger - - - -2 



Castile soap - 2 



Oil of cloves ... -20 drops. 



Syrup of buckthorn sufficient to form a ball. 



Strong Physic Ball. 



Barbadoes aloes - - - - 8 drachms. 



Ginger, powdered - - - - 2 



Castile soap - 2 



Oil of cloves ... - 20 drops. 



Syrup of buckthorn sufficient to form a ball. 



Calomel Ball for a Riding Horse. 



- 1 drachm. 



Calomel 



Aloes, powdered 



Ginger, powdered - 



Castile soap 



Oil of cloves 



- 2 



- 2 



- 20 drops. 

 Syrup of buckthorn sufficient to make into a ball. 



Calomel Ball for a Cart Horse. 



Aloes, powdered - 8 drachms. 



Otherwise same as the last. 



Diuretic Ball. 



- 4 ounces. 



- 2 



Castile soap 



Nitre, powdered . 



Rosin, powdered - - 

 Oil of juniper - i -- 



Aniseed powder and treacle sufficient to make into 

 eight balls. 



Cordial Ball. 



Cummin seed, powdered - - 4 ounces. 



Aniseed, powdered - - 4 -- 



Caraway seed, powdered - - 4 -- 



Liquorice powder - - - 4 - 



Ginger, powdered - - - 2 - 



Honey sufficient to make into balls the size of a 

 hen's egg. 



BALM, or BAUM (Melissa afficinalis. From 

 Gr. pt\t, honey, on account of the bee being 

 supposed to collect it abundantly from their 

 flowers). Balm is used both as a medicinal 

 and culinary herb. The leaves are employed 

 green, or dried. 



%he soil best suited to its growth is any poor 



friable one, but rather inclining to clayey than 



silicious. Manure is never required. An 



eastern aspect is best for it. It is propagated 



by offsets of the roots, and by slips of the 



oung shoots. The first mode may be prac- 



132 



; tised any time during the spring and autumn, 

 I but the latter only during May or June. If 

 ' offsets are employed, they may be planted at 

 once where they are to remain, at ten or twelve 

 inches ; but if by slips, they must be inserted 

 in a shady border, to be thence removed, in 

 September or October, to where they are to 

 remain. At every removal, water must be 

 given, if dry weather, and until they are esta- 

 blished. During the summer they require only 

 to be kept clear of weeds. In October the old 

 beds require to be dressed, their decayed leaves 

 and stalks cleared away, and the soil loosened 

 by the hoe or slight, digging. 



Old beds may be gathered from in July, for 

 drying, but their green leaves, from March to 

 September ; and those planted in the spring 

 will even afford a gathering in the autumn of 

 the same year. For drying, the stalks are cut 

 with their full clothing of leaves to the very 

 bottom, and the process completed gradually 

 in the shade. (G. W. Johnson's Kitchen Gar- 

 den.') 



This very common and well-known plant in 

 our kitchen gardens is fragrant in smell, and 

 its root creeps and spreads rapidly and abund- 

 antly. It flowers in July, and is best taken as 

 an infusion when fresh, as it loses considerable 

 power when dried. Its medicinal qualities are 

 derived principally from the proportion of vola- 

 tile oil, resin, and bitter extractive, which it 

 contains. It is occasionally used in conse- 

 quence of its moderately stimulant powers, in 

 conjunction with more potent drugs, to produce 

 profuse perspiration. Mixed with honey and 

 vinegar, it forms a good gargle for an inflamed 

 sore throat. 



BALSAM (Impatiens Balsamma}. This fa- 

 vourite flower is a native of the East Indies 

 and Japan, where the natives, according to 

 Thunberg, use the juice prepared with alum 

 for dyeing their nails red. It is a tender an- 

 nual, rising from one to two feet high, with a 

 succulent branchy stem, serrated leaves, and 

 various coloured flowers. It blows from July 

 to October, and its flowers are single and 

 double, red, pink, white, or variegated. It 

 loves a good soil, and shelter from a hot sun. 

 It blooms very handsomely in a window. Sow 

 the seed early in March in a hot bed. Put the 

 plants singly, and accustom them by degrees 

 to the open air. Place them in larger pots, or 

 put them out in the garden in May. They will 

 require no watering, after being well rooted. 

 Stir the earth round each plant frequently, and 

 do it gently, with a small trowel. 



The varieties are infinite, but not so marked 

 or permanent as to have acquired names. 

 The seed from one plant will hardly produce two 

 alike. 



This plant, which has been introduced 

 into almost every flower-garden in the coun- 

 try, is commonly called Lady's Slipper. Seve- 

 ral species of the genus are found in the 

 United States, and have been described by 

 Pursh, Nuttall, Darlington, and other botanists. 

 One of these, the Pale Imprttiens, known by the 

 popular names of Yellow Balsam, Snap-weed, 

 and Touch-me-not, is frequent in Pennsylva- 

 nia, and other states, in moist, shaded grounds, 

 and along streams, where its gamboge yellow 



