WHEEL-PLOUGH. 



WHORTLEBERRY. 



use. At the same time the proprietors and 

 drivers of carriages seem to be convinced, by 

 experience, that a narrow-wheeled carl is more 

 easily and speedily drawn by the same number j 

 of horses than a broad-wheeled one of the same | 

 burden: probably because they are much 

 lighter, and have less friction on the axle. 



WHEEL-PLOUGH. See PLOUGH. 



WHEY. A provincial term applied to the 

 serous part of the milk, from which the curd 

 has been separated. 



Whey, when new and of a pale green colour, 

 forms an agreeable beverage, and with oatmeal 

 makes an excellent gruel or porridge. Left till 

 it gets sour, it undergoes the vinous fermenta- 

 tion as readily as buttermilk. Among the Tar- 

 tars and Scythians a spirituous liquor is pre- 

 pared from milk which has undergone fer- 

 mentation. 



Whey is divided into two sorts, green and 

 white; the former escaping readily from the 

 curd, while the latter is freed from it by means 

 of pressure. There are different methods of 

 extracting the whey. In some dairies the whole 

 whey, when taken from the cheese-tub, is put 

 into pails or other vessels, where it remains 

 for about 24 hours; when it is creamed, and 

 the whey is applied to the use of calves and 

 pigs, which are said to thrive as well on it 

 after the cream has been taken from it as be- 

 fore. The cream, when skimmed off the whey, 

 is put into a brass pan and boiled, and after- 

 wards set in pans or jars, where it remains till 

 a sufficient quantity for churning is procured, 

 which in large dairies happens generally once, 

 but sometimes twice, in the week. In Ayr- 

 shire whey is given to horses. See DAIRY and 

 MILK. 



WHEY BUTTER, as its name implies, is 

 butter made from the whey which is taken from 

 the curd, after the milk is coagulated for the 

 manufacture of cheese. It is chiefly made in 

 those counties where cheese is manufactured, 

 and where it forms no inconsiderable part of 

 the profits of the dairy. In the county of Derby, 

 more butter is said to be made from whey than 

 from the cream of milk, or from milk churned 

 altogether. A similar preparation in the United 

 States goes under the names of cottage cheese, 

 schmeer case, &c. 



WHIN, or GORSE. See FURZE. 



WHISKY. A spirit obtained by distilla- 

 tion from corn, sugar, or molasses, though 

 generally from the former. Whisky is the 

 "national spirit," if we may so term it, of 

 Scotland and Ireland; but that distilled in the 

 former is generally reckoned superior to that 

 of the latter. 



WHITE CROPS. A term used in England 

 to designate crops of grain, such as wheat, 

 barley, oats, &c. 



WHITE-ROT (Hydrocotyk ; from hydor, wa- 

 ter, and cotyle, a cavity; in reference to the 

 plants growing in moist situations, and the 

 leaves being hollowed like cups). One spe- 

 cies only is indigenous, the common white-rot 

 or marsh penny-wort (H. tm/gans), which grows 

 very frequent on moist heaths, boggy com- 

 mons, and the margins of little clear rivulets. 

 It is perennial in habit, flowering in May or 

 June. The roots are fibrous ; stems creeping 

 1140 



to the extent of 2 or 3 feet, slender, smooth, 

 often subdivided, quite prostrate. Leaves soli- 

 tary or aggregate, on upright, simple foot-stalks, 

 2 or 3 inches high; orbicular, peltate, smooth, 

 cloven at the base. Umbels very small, of di- 

 minutive white or reddish, nearly sessile flow- 

 ers. Fruit somewhat wrinkled, compressed. 

 This herb is acrid, and, probably, like others 

 of the umbelliferous tribe growing in wet 

 places, poisonous. But whether it causes the 

 rot in sheep, and, indeed, whether these ani- 

 mals ever touch it, is doubtful. Too moist a 

 pasture is known to produce that disease, and 

 there the Hydrocotyle is generally to be found. 

 See ROT. 



WHITE-THORN. See HAWTHORN 



WHITE-TOP (Jgrostis alba). See HERD'S 

 and YKLLOW-TOP. 



WHITLOW- GRASS (Draba, from drabe, 

 acrid, biting; alluding to the taste of the 

 leaves). Some of the species of this genus 

 are very pretty, being well adapted for orna- 

 menting rock-work or growing in pots among 

 other alpine plants. A mixture of loam and 

 peat suits them best; and they increase with 

 facility, either by dividing at the root or by 

 seeds. There are in England five native spe- 

 cies : the common whitlow-grass (D. verna) ; 

 the yellow alpine whitlow-grass (D. aizoides) ; 

 the simple-haired whitlow-grass (D. hirta) ; the 

 twisted-podded whitlow-grass (D. incana} ; and 

 the speedwell-leaved whitlow-grass (D. mura- 

 Zis). The leaves are undivided; the flowers 

 either white or yellow. 



WHORTLEBERRY (Vaccinium). A genus 

 of shrubs mostly of very humble growth, with 

 simple, alternate, evergreen, or deciduous 

 leaves. Flowers stalked, solitary or aggre- 

 gate, reddish or white, very elegant. Berries 

 blue, black, or red, acid and eatable. The ge- 

 nus is chiefly American, and the foliage turns 

 red in decay. All the species are well worth 

 cultivating, some of them for the sake of their 

 fruit, some for curiosity, and others for orna- 

 ment The different kinds of whortleberry and 

 bilberry succeed well in peat soil or very 

 sandy loam. Some of them grow best in moist 

 situations, and others in dry. They may be 

 raised from root suckers, creeping roots, trail- 

 ing rooting stems, or from seeds. There are 

 four indigenous species, namely: 



1. In England the black whortleberry or bil- 

 berry ( V. mirtyllus'), is a shrub growing on stony 

 heaths, and in woods where the soil is turfy, 

 chiefly in mountainous countries, abundantly 

 flowering in May. The stem is bushy, from 1 to 

 2 feet high, with irregular, smooth, green, leafy, 

 angular branches. Leaves stalked, ovate, ser- 

 rated, about an inch long, bright green, smooth, 

 thin, delicate, and veiny; deciduous. Flowers 

 on simple, axillary, solitary, drooping stalks. 

 Corolla ovate, bright red, with a waxy trans- 

 parency. Berries bluish-black, of 5 cells, acid, 

 but not agreeable nor wholesome except when, 

 dressed. They are, nevertheless, eaten raw in 

 some countries with boiled cream and sugar. 

 The leaves contain a good deal of tannic acid, 

 and have been substituted for those of Uva ursi, 

 as an astringent medicine, but are very inferior 

 to them. 



1. Bog whortleberry or great bilberry (V. 



