KNOT-GRASS. 



LABOUR. 



out like a large orange-coloured ball, which 

 makes it very difficult for them to move about. 

 I have found these insects on the knot-grass in 

 every month from April to September inclu- 

 sive. The larvae eat the leaves of the same 

 plant. (Harris.) 



KNOT-GRASS, COMMON (Polygonum avi- 

 atlare; from now, many, and y.n, a knee; re- 

 ferring to the numerous joints of the stem). 

 This common annual grass is in England 

 found almost everywhere, in waste as well as 

 cultivated ground, streets, paths, and barren 

 sandy places. The root is fibrous, long, very 

 tough, and somewhat woody, branched below, 

 simple at the crown. Stems several, spread- 

 ing in every direction, generally prostrate, 

 much branched, round, striated, leafy at the 

 numerous knots or joints. Leaves alternate, 

 stalked, hardly an inch long, elliptic or lanceo- 

 late, entire, obtuse, single ribbed, smooth ex- 

 cept at the margin; tapering at the base, very 

 variable in width ; their substance rather co- 

 riaceous; their colour grayish or glaucous, 

 stipules membranous, acute, often red, with a 

 few remote, brownish ribs. The flowers which 

 appear from April to October are axillary, 2 or 

 3 together on simple stalks, small, seeds acute- 

 ly triangular, of a shining black, the food of 

 many small birds. It is common in the United 

 States. 



KNOT-GRASS, VALENTIA. A name by 

 which the powdery sea-heath (Franktnia pul- 

 verulenta), is known in some districts. 



KNOT-GRASS, WHORLED (Illecebrum ver- 

 ticillatum). This is an interesting dwarf pe- 

 rennial plant, which is not uncommon in 

 marshy, boggy ground in Cornwall and Devon- 

 shire, flowering in July. The different species 

 are pretty, may be grown in any soil, and in- 

 crease from seed without difficulty. The root 

 is creeping; herb smooth, branched, procum- 

 bent. Leaves small, ovate, acute, or some- 

 times spatulate, scarcely stalked, rather fleshy. 

 Stipules intra-foliaceous, small, white, jagged. 

 The flowers are small, white, or reddish, 

 whorled, without bractes. (Eng. Flor. vol. i. 

 p. 335.) 



KNOT-WEED. See PERSICAHIA. 



KOHL-RABI. Bulb-stalked cabbage (Bras- 

 sica oleracea, var. caula-rapa). This curious 

 variety of cabbage is a native of Germany, 

 where it is much cultivated, and whence it 

 was first introduced into England by Sir Tho- 

 mas Tyrwhitt. The stem is swollen like a 

 tuber, and, when divested of the leaves, may 

 readily be mistaken for one. The produce is 

 nearly the same as that of Swedish turnips, 

 and the soil that suits the one is equally good 

 for the other. It may either be sown in drills, 

 or raised in beds, and transplanted like cab- 

 bages; in this case the beds require to be 

 made and sown the preceding autumn. Two 

 pounds of the seed will produce a sufficiency 

 of plants for one acre of ground. Hares are 

 so fond of it, that, on farms where these ani- 

 mals abound, the culture of this plant is found 

 to be impracticable. 3840 grains of the tubes 

 of kohl-rabi afford 105 grains of nutritive mat- 

 ter (Sinclair's Hort. Gram. p. 411). See CAB- 

 BAGE, p. 247. 



L. 



LABELLUM (Lat.). In botany, the front 

 segment of an orchidaceous or other flower ; 

 also the lower petal or lip. 



LABOUR (Fr. labeur ; Lat. labor). In a gene- 

 ral sense, labour implies the exertion of human 

 strength in the performance of any kind of 

 work. 



Without entering into an abstruse treatise 

 on the science of political economy, it may not 

 be out of place to examine shortly the subject, 

 for labour is the only source of wealth to the 

 farmer ; and having done this, I shall next in- 

 quire into the means by which labour may be 

 rendered most efficient. Nature spontaneously 

 furnishes the matter of which all commodities 

 are made ; but until labour has been applied to 

 appropriate that matter, or to adapt it to our 

 use, it is wholly destitute of value, and is not, 

 nor ever has been, considered as forming 

 wealth. Were we placed on the banks of a 

 river, or in an orchard, we should infallibly 

 perish of thirst or hunger, unless by an effort 

 of industry we raised the water to our lips, or 

 plucked the fruit from its parent tree. But 

 this illustration is an extreme case; and it is 

 more to our purpose to remark, that the mere 

 appropriation of matter is seldom sufficient. 

 In the vast majority of cases, labour is required 

 not only to appropriate matter, but to convey it 

 from place to place, and to give it that peculiar 

 shape without which it may be totally useless, 

 and incapable of administering either to our 

 necessities or our comforts. The coal used in 

 our fires is buried deep in the bowels of the 

 earth, and is absolutely worthless, until by the 

 labour of the miner it has been extracted from 

 the mine, and brought into a situation where 

 it may be made use of. The stones and mor- 

 tar used in building our houses, and the rugged 

 and shapeless materials that have been fashion- 

 ed into the various articles of convenience and 

 ornament with which they are furnished, were 

 in their original state destitute alike of value 

 and utility. And of the innumerable variety 

 of animal, vegetable, and mineral products 

 which form the materials of our food and 

 clothes, none were originally serviceable, while 

 many were extremely noxious to man. The 

 labour that has subdued their bad qualities, 

 that has given them utility, and fitted them to 

 satisfy our wants, and to minister to our com- 

 forts and enjoyments, is plainly therefore the 

 only source of wealth. " Labour," to use the 

 words of Adam Smith, " was the first price, the 

 original purchase-money, that was paid for all 

 things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by 

 labour, that all the wealth of the world was 

 purchased." (Wealth of Nations, p. 14.) Those 

 who observe the progress and trace the history 

 of the human race in different countries and 

 states of society, will find that their comfort 

 and happiness have in all cases been princi- 

 pally dependent on their ability to appropriate 

 the raw products of nature, and to adapt them 

 to their use. The savage whose labour is con- 

 ! fined, like that of the Australian, to the gather- 

 ing of wild fruits, or of shell-fish on the sea- 



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