SWEET POTATO. 



England : viz. the reedy sweet-grass (G. aqua- 

 fica), the floating sweet-grass (G. fluitans), the 

 reflexed sweet-grass (G. distans), the creeping 

 sea sweet-grass (G. maritima'), the procumbent 

 sea sweet-grass (G. procwnbens,') and the hard 

 sweet-grass (G. rigida). The only species 

 which have been thought worthy of trial by 

 Mr. Sinclair and other experimental cultiva- 

 tors of grasses are: 



1. The floating sweet-grass (G. finUans). 

 Marona grass. The panicle is oblong, branched, 

 divaricating. Spikelets close pressed. Florets 

 numerous, obtuse, seven-ribbed, with short in- 

 termediate ribs at the base. Nectary obtuse, 

 tumid. This species appears capable of being 

 cultivated as a permanent pasture grass. The 

 seed will not vegetate unless kept very moist. 

 Il flowers from the first or second week of July 

 till the end of summer. Birds are fond of the 

 seeds, and generally strip the panicle ere the 

 seeds are all perfected. Schreber informs us 

 that it is cultivated in several parts of Ger- 

 many for the sake of the seeds, which are es- 

 teemed a delicacy in soups and gruels. When 

 ground into meal, they make bread, very little 

 inferior to that from wheat. The bran is given 

 to horses that have the worms; but they must 

 be kept from water for some hours afterwards. 

 Fish, particularly trout, are said to be very 

 partial to the seed. 



2. The reedy sweet-grass (G. aquaiica). In 

 this species the panicle is erect, repeatedly 

 branched, spreading. Florets numerous, ob- 

 tuse, with seven ribs. Nectary cloven, acute. 

 This grass is common on the banks of rivers, 

 and frequent on the margins of standing pools. 

 On the banks and little islands of the Thames, 

 where it is generally mown twice in the year 

 for hay, it affords abundant crops of valuable 

 winter fodder. Mr. Curtis informs us that in 

 flat countries, which do not admit of being suf- 

 ficiently drained, it is almost the only grass for 

 hay and pasturage. In the fens of Cambridge, 

 Lincoln, &c., immense tracts which used to be 

 overflowed and produce useless aquatic plants, 

 and still retain much moisture, though drained 

 by mills, are covered with this grass, which 

 not only affords rich pasturage in summer, but 

 forms the chief part of their winter fodder. Its 

 powerful creeping roots make it a dangerous 

 and troublesome weed in ditches, where, with 

 other aquatic plants, it soon chokes them up. 

 In the fens of the Isle of Ely this grass grows 

 to the height of six feet, and proves excellent 

 fodder for milch cows, though horses are not 

 fond of it. The nutcitive matter of this grass 

 contains a greater proportion of sugar than 

 exists in any of the superior pasture grasses. 

 The best manner of propagating it is by plant- 

 ing the roots either in autumn or spring. It 

 flowers about the second and third weeks of 

 July, and the seed is ripe in the second week 

 of August. 



SWEET POTATO (Convolvulus battatus). 

 Carolina potato. The fine, esculent, tuberous 

 root of this species of low-creeping vine or 

 convolvulus, is perennial. It flourishes in the 

 Middle and Southern States to which last it is 

 native wherever the soil is light and sandy, 

 refusing to grovr and perfect itself on clay or 

 stiff loam soils. The plant is propagated by 

 1022 



SWINE. 



' planting the tubers in beds early in the spring, 

 from which the young sprouts are subsequently 

 planted out in hills 5 or 6 feet apart. The 

 trailing vines must not be allowed to strike 

 root. The long roots are of different colours, 

 being rich yellow, red, or white, and attain a 

 large size, from a few ounces to several pounds 

 in weight. When boiled, baked, or roasted, 

 they have a sweet and very agreeable taste, 

 and are very nutritious. 



SWEET SCENTED SHRUB (Calycanthiu 

 7<70rtrfus),Carolina Allspice. An American spicy 

 shrub, the flowers of which are extremely odo- 

 riferous, the perfume resembling that of the 

 strawberry. The wood and especially the 

 root are strongly camphorated, and may, Mr. 

 Nuttall thinks, probably produce this drug as 

 abundantly as the Laurus cumphora. By cutting 

 off the terminal leaf-buds after the usual sea- 

 son, it is said that a succession of flowers may 

 be obtained throughout the summer, every leaf- 

 bud so extracted being constantly succeeded by 

 two flowers. The flowers of the Calycanthut 

 rarely produce seed, even in its native moun- 

 tains of Carolina. 



SWINE (Genus Sits). The hog has been 

 generally described as a creature of gross ha- 

 bits and unclean tastes, as having the senses 

 of touch and taste obtuse, and even as being 

 so insensible that mice may burrow in his skin 

 without his seeming to feel. But these opi- 

 nions are most unjust and incorrect. Far from 

 being unclean,, nature has furnished him with 

 powerful organs of digestion, enabling him to 

 derive sustenance from a variety of substances, 

 and his voracity is only the result of the extent 

 and perfection of his digestive and respiratory 

 organs. Although one of the pachydermatous, 

 or thick-skinned animals, the hog feels blows 

 acutely, and manifests his suffering by loud 

 cries. Indeed, the inference that his sense of 

 touch is dull, because of the thick layer of fat 

 with which his body is enveloped, is most erro- 

 neous, for it is well known that the plexus of 

 nerves which gives sensibility to the body is 

 exterior to this fatty layer. So far from being 

 insensible to pain, the hog even suffers under 

 the irritation arising from the punctures of 

 gnats, musquitoes, and other small insects, and 

 endeavours to protect himself from their per- 

 secution by rolling in moist places and cover- 

 ing himself with mud. 



Natural History of the Hog. "The hog (sayg 

 Prof. Low) is subject to remarkable changes 

 of form and characters, according to the situa- 

 tions in which he is placed. When these 

 characters assume a certain degree of perma- 

 nence, a breed or variety is formed ; and there 

 is none of the domestic animals which more 

 easily receives the characters we desire to im- 

 press upon it. This arises from its rapid pow- 

 ers of increase, and the constancy with which 

 the characters of the parents are reproduced in 

 the progeny. There is no kind of live-stock 

 that can be so easily improved by the breeder, 

 and so quickly rendered suited to the purposes 

 required; and the same characters of external 

 form indicate in the hog a disposition to arrive 

 at early maturity of muscle and fat as in the or 

 and sheep. The body is large in proportion to 

 i the limbs, or, in other words, the limbs arc 



