STEAMING FOOD. 



STRAINS. 



so much success. Latterly, however, a spirit 

 of inquiry has led to an investigation into the 

 application of steam to purposes of husbandry, 

 such as engines for ploughing, draining, &c. ; 

 and, though there are obstacles in the way of 

 their successful operation, there is little doubt 

 that eventually the spirit of research and im- 

 provement will overcome these difficulties, and 

 create a singular revolution in the practical 

 operations of agriculture, whereby a vast 

 amount of animal power will be saved, and an 

 increased impetus be given to production. A 

 series of very able papers on this subject ap- 

 peared a few years ago in the Quart. Journ. of 

 JUgr. vols. v., vi., vii. 



STEAMING FOOD. The advantages to be 

 derived from boiling or preparing the food of 

 live-stock are now very generally understood 

 and appreciated ; although it is still a question 

 whether it always compensates for the extra 

 labour and time consumed. We have already 

 gone into this subject under the head FOOD, and 

 merely revert to it now to call attention to 

 some articles describing apparatuses for steam- 

 ing food, which will be found in the Quart. 

 Journ. of jfgr. in vols. iv vi. Steaming is 

 also popularly treated of and explained in the 

 first volume of Brit. Husb. p. 129, and has been 

 frequently discussed in American periodicals. 



STEARINE (Gr.). That part of oils and 

 fats which is solid at common temperatures. 

 Both in fats and in fixed oils it is associated 

 with a fluid principle, which cannot be ren- 

 dered solid at the lowest known temperatures. 

 Stearine is only found in animal fats; or, at 

 least, is rarely present in those of a vegetable 

 origin. See FAT. 



STEELYARD. A well-known balance, by 

 which the weights of bodies are determined by 

 means of a single standard weight 



STEEN KROUT (Lithospermum arvense). 

 Stone Seed, Wheat Thief. See RED WEED. 



STEEPING. See BRIITINO OF GBAIJT and 

 SMUT. 



STEPPES (Russ). The name given to the 

 vast extent of plains peculiar to Asia; synony- 

 mous with the prairies of North America, and 

 the llanos of South America. The steppes of 

 Russia are not unlike the heaths of Germany; 

 being in part susceptible of cultivation, and 

 affording pasturage for numerous herds belong- 

 ing to nomadic tribes. 



STITCHWORT (Stcllaria, from slella, a 

 star; the flowers are star-like). A genus of 

 herbaceous plants which are mere weeds. 

 Some are annual, the others are perennial. 

 See CHICKWEED. 



STIGMA. In botany, the upper extremity 

 of the style without a cuticle, in consequence 

 of which it has almost uniformly a humid and 

 papillose surface. It is the part upon which 

 the pollen falls, and where it is stimulated into 

 the production of the pollen tubes, which are 

 indispensable to the act of impregnation. 



STILES. A well-known contrivance for the 

 admission of foot-passengers, without permit- 

 ting the stock of the enclosures to escape. 

 Stiles are made in very different forms and 

 manners in different districts, according to the 

 materials, situations, and purposes for which 

 they are intended. 

 1012 



STINGERS and PIERCERS. A class of 

 insects embracing bees, wasps, ants, saw-flies, 

 ichneumon-flies, &c. 



STIPULES. In botany, small scales or ap- 

 pendages situated on each side at the base of 

 the petioles or leaf-stalks, most commonly of a 

 less firm texture than the latter, and having a 

 subulate termination. 



STOCK-NUT. See HAZEL. 



STOLONIFEROU8. Bearing runners 

 wnich root at the joints. 



STOMATA. In botany, orifices through the 

 epidermis of plants, chiefly of the leaves, hav- 

 ing the appearance of an areola, in the centre 

 of which ii> a slit of various form and size, 

 that opens or closes, according to circum- 

 stances, and lies over a cavity in the subjacent 

 tissue. They are universally regarded as spi- 

 racles, or breathing pores. In leaves of trees 

 and plants exposed to the air they usually oc- 

 cupy the under disk; on those that lie upon 

 the surface of water, the upper disk. 



STONE. An English common weight esti- 

 mated at 14 Ibs. 



STONECROP (Sedttm). A genus of herbs, 

 with alternate, very succulent, either flat, cy- 

 lindrical, or tumid leaves. Root mostly peren- 

 nial. Flowers yellow, white, or reddish, usu- 

 ally cymose, rarely axillary. There are, in 

 England, ten indigenous species, which inhabit, 

 for the most part, old walls, roofs, and dry 

 sandy ground. See HOUSE-LEEK and ORPINE. 



STONE-PARSLEY (Athamanta). These 

 are chiefly weeds. 



STONE PINE. See FIRS. 



STONE WEED (Field Lithospermum). See 

 RED-ROOT. 



STOCKING. The Scotch term for setting 

 up sheaves of corn in stocks or shocks. The 

 operation is performed soon after the corn is 

 cut, it being previously tied into bunches or 

 sheaves. 



STOOL. The root of a timber tree, which 

 throws up shoots. Coppice wood consists 

 chiefly of the shoots sent up by the roots of 

 stools, or trees or shrubs which have been cut 

 over by the surface. In general, all dicotyle- 

 donous trees are endowed by nature with the 

 property of sending up shoots from the stumps 

 or stools ; but this is not the case with most of 

 the gymnosperms or coniferous trees. A wood 

 of pines or firs, therefore, when once cut down, 

 can never be renewed, except by seeds. It is 

 a curious fact that the shoot, however large the 

 stool may be, can be traced to the pith, and 

 therefore appears to have been originally a 

 shoot of the first year's growth of the plant. 

 That its growth has been impeded is evident; 

 but when the tree is cut down, and the whole 

 sap is thrown into a small space, the latent, yet 

 vital gum is stimulated, and a twig thence pro- 

 duced. 



STORK'S-BILL (Erodium, from erodios, a 

 heron; the carpels resemble the head and 

 beak of that bird). This is an extensive genus 

 of plants of considerable beauty : they thrive well 

 in any common soil with the usual treatment. 



STRAINS. In farriery, accidental injuries 

 arising from over-distension of the muscles or 

 tendons, in consequence of which the animals 

 suffer great pain, and are generally lamed. 



