MUSTARD, FLOUR OF. 



is regu.ar ; it may much rather incline to light j 

 ness than tenacity. If grown for salading, it 

 need not be dug deep; but if for seed, to full ( 

 the depth of the blade of the spade. In early 

 spring, and late in autumn, the situation should 

 be sheltered ; and, during the height of sum- 

 mer, shaded from the meridian sun. For sa- 

 lading, the white may be sown throughout the 

 year. From the beginning of November to 

 the same period in March, in a gentle hotbed 

 appropriated to the purpose, in one already 

 employed for some other plant, or in the corner 

 of a stove. From the close of February to the 



I' April, it may be sown in the open 

 ground, on a warm, sheltered border; and from 

 thence to the middle of September, in a shady 

 one. Both the white and black, for seed, may 

 be sown at the close of March, in an open com- 

 partment. 



For salading, it is sown in flat-bottomed 

 drills, about half an inch deep and six inches 

 apart. The seed cannot well be sown too 

 thick. The mould which covers the drills 

 should be entirely divested of stones. Water 

 must be given occasionally in dry weather, as 

 a due supply of moisture is the chief induce- 

 ment to a quick vegetation. The sowings are 

 to be performed once or twice in a fortnight, 

 according to the demand. Cress (Lepidium 

 sntiri(iit), is the almost constant accompani- 

 ment of this salad herb ; and as the mode of 

 cultivation of each is identical, it is only ne- 

 cessary to remark that, as cress is rather tar- 

 dier in vegetating than mustard, it is neces- 

 sary for the obtaining them both in perfection 

 at the same time, to sow it five or six days 

 earlier. See CRESS. 



It must be cut for use while young, and be- 

 fore the rough leaves appear, otherwise the 

 pungency of the flavour is disagreeably in- 

 creased. If the top is cut off, the plants will 

 in general shoot again, though this second pro- 

 duce is always scanty, and not so mild or ten- 

 der. For the production of seed, whether for 

 manufacture of mustard or future sowing, the 

 insertion must be made broadcast, thin, and 

 regularly raked in. When the seedlings have 

 attained four leaves, they should be hoed, and 

 again after the lapse of a month, during dry wea- 

 ther, being set 8 or 9 inches apart. Through- 

 out their growth they must be kept free from 

 weeds, and, if dry weather occurs at the time 

 of flowering, water may be applied with great 

 advantage to their roots. The plants flower in 

 June, and are fit for cutting when their pods 

 have become devoid of verdure. They must be 

 thoroughly dried before thrashing and storing. 

 For forcing, the seed is most conveniently sown 

 in boxes or pans, even if a hotbed is appro- 

 priated to the purpose. Pans of rotten tan are 

 to be preferred to pots or boxes of mould. But 

 whichever is employed, the seed must be sown 

 thick, and other restrictions attended to as for 

 the open-ground crops. The hotbed need only 

 be moderate. Air may be admitted as abun- 

 dantly as circumstances will allow. (G. W. 

 Jb/msnn s Kitchen Garden.") 



MUSTARD, FLOUR OF. The seeds of both 

 clack and white mustard are employed in mak- 

 ing the ordinary flour of mustard for dietetical 

 use. In the dry state, mustard is inodorous, 



838 



MUTTON. 



and, were it possible to taste without the aid 

 jf moisture in the mouth, it would also be taste- 

 less ; the principle of its odour and taste not 

 existing ready formed in the mustard, but re 

 quiring water for its developement. The prin- 

 ciples which exist in the mustard are two: one 

 an acid, which has been named myronic acid, 

 and is a compound of carbon, sulphur, hydro- 

 gen, nitrogen, and oxygen; the other a sub- 

 stance resembling vegetable albumen, which 

 has been named emulsin, or myrosyne. When 

 the myrosyne and the myrenic acid, which is 

 united with potassa in the form of a myronate 

 of potassa in the mustard, act upon each other 

 by the aid of water, the volatile oil of mustard 

 is formed, and odour and pungency given to 

 the mustard. It is the volatile oil which red- 

 dens and blisters when mustard poultices are 

 used; and it is important to know that vinegar 

 checks the acrimony of the poultice, and should 

 not be used. Tepid water only is required. 



MUTTON (Fr. wiowton). The flesh of the 

 sheep. Although, by recent extensive improve- 

 ments, the breed of sheep have been diminished 

 in size, yet the smallness of bone and symme- 

 try of form which the animals have thus ac- 

 quired, have considerably decreased the quanti 

 ty of offal, and added largely to the dead weight 

 of marketable flesh. Before that time the mut- 

 ton of those coarse sheep rarely amounted to 

 more than one-half of their live-weight; where- 

 as now, the common average is more than two- 

 thirds; and Dishley wethers, when well fatten- 

 ed, are said to be in the proportion of an ounce 

 of bone to a pound of flesh. The best and most 

 nutritive mutton is that of sheep which are at 

 least three, but not more than six years old, 

 and which have been reared on dry, sweet pas- 

 tures. The meat afforded by such as have 

 been fed on salt marshes, or near the sea-coast, 

 is likewise swjpet and wholesome; for they 

 have acquired both firmness and a fine flavour 

 from the saline particles abounding in such 

 situations. 



A sheep, to be in high order for the palate 

 of an epicure, should never be killed earlier 

 than when five years old, at which age the 

 mutton will be found- firm and succulent, of a 

 dark colour, and full of the richest gravy; 

 whereas, if only two years old, it is flabby, 

 pale, and savourless. To ascertain the age of 

 mutton, Mr. Ellman directs: "To observe the 

 colour of the breast-bone when a sheep is 

 dressed, that is, where the breast-bone is sepa- 

 rated: which in a lamb, or before it is one 

 year old, will be quite red ; from one to twc 

 years old, the upper and lower bones will be 

 changing to white, and a small circle of white 

 will appear round the edge of the other bones, 

 and the middle part of the breast-bone will yet 

 continue red ; at three years old, a very small 

 streak of red will be seen in the middle of the 

 four middle bones, and the others will be white ; 

 and at four years old, all the breast-bones will 

 be of a white or gristly colour." South Down 

 wether mutton, in point of delicacy and fla- 

 vour, is thought equal to any that is killed ; 

 and in summer as preferable to some other 

 fine-flavoured breeds, especially Norfolk mut- 

 ton. This circumstance is attributed to the 

 closeness of the grain, or the specific gravity 



