WINTER CHICKWEED. 



! hy hand. This implement is more, 

 perhaps, adapted for millers; and its cost pre- 

 sent- --sent form, a bar to its general 

 introduction. It' it could be reduced to the 

 power of being worked by hand, it would be a 

 very valuable assistant to the proper prepara- 



M tor market. 



The American machines for cleaning grain 

 are < **, Grain Fans, 



and in th 9MIM, \\\nmne Milk. Their 



construct!" 1 1 dinars materially t'rota such as 

 are \\ ialar purposes in Europe, being 



M pie, and not having more than 

 hall the ; Dutch Fan," 



used, and which had no ihnking screen, 

 is now superseded by highly improved fans, 

 principal modern improvement in these 

 in the application of a screen attached 

 to th- s'l.tU-r, which nmre effectually rids the 

 grain from cockle and dirt that cannot be 

 blown out. The ordinary size of an American 

 *an is about 5 feet in the frame or boarding, 3$ 

 uid about 2 feet 4 or 6 inches in 

 width. The blower or fan is about 2$ feet in 

 diameter. Screens and r m 18 to 20 



from 3 to 6 riddles accompany- 

 The most simple amrangement 

 ng a shaker is a small crank attached 

 to a rod I- a the side of the fan to the 



ame or shaker. 



ae dimensions described will clean 



> of wheat per h 



h>h farmers who have come to the United *> 

 say that ihee simple winnowing-machines do 

 : ch last are 



complicated u ith much machinery, for cleaning 



smut, A . (See SMUT-MILL.) The En 



winn-'U i n ^-machines cost from >4<) to $60, 



whtlxt th a are made for $16 to $24, 



ling to the size and number of screens ; at 



whu-ti pncs they are furnished, among other 



plac> \ . 196 Market street, Philadelphia, 



: .agricultural implement maker. 



K UEED. See CHICKWBED, 



CRESS (Hurbarea, on account 

 of its being formerly called the herb of St. 

 Barbara). There a land, two indi- 



genous species; 1. The bitter winter-cress, or 

 yellow rocket (H. ru/garu), a perennial, which 



union in rather moist waste ground, about 

 in marshy meadows. The root is 

 tapering, somewhat woody ; stem about 2 feet 

 high, simple or branched, leafy, stout, angular, 

 and furrowed. Lower leaves lyrate, the termi- 

 nal lobe roundish ; upper obovate, toothed, 

 strongly ribbed, of a fine texture, quite smooth. 

 Flow. (> bright yellow, in round-headed corym- 

 bose clusters. Pod quadrangular, about an 

 inch long. The whole herb is nauseously bit- 

 ter, and in some degree mucilaginous. A dou- 

 ble-flowered variety, with innumerable petals 

 produced in long succession, and turning white 

 as they fade, is frequent in gardens. 2. Early 

 winter-cress (B. pracox). This biennial spe- 

 cies is found in watery, grassy places, or on the 

 banks of ditches. Stems, one or more, erect, 

 1$ or 2 feet high, >m >th, a little branched, 



I at the bottom with a violet hue. Lower 



rate: upper deeply pinnatifid, with 



linear, oblong, entire segments; flowers fewer, 



WIRE-WORM. 



smaller, and paler than those of B. vulgaris. 

 Pods thrice as long as in that species, exactly 

 square, smooth. This species propagates 

 itself abundantly by seed, but the root is not 

 perennial. It may be eaten like water-cresses, 

 with which it agrees in flavour, except being 

 rather more pungent. 



WINTER-GREE^(Py,o/rt, from the leaves 

 being similar to those of the pear tree). A 

 genus of very pretty plants, rather difficult to 

 cultivate. A shaded peat border appears to 

 suit them best, and they are readily increased 

 by divisions or seeds. The whole genus is 

 astringent and tonic. There are, in England, 

 five native species, all perennials, as follows: 

 1. Hound-leaved winter-green (Pyrola rotundi- 

 foltn). 2. Intermediate winter-green (P. media"). 

 3. Lesser winter-green (P. minor"). 4. Serrated 

 winter-green (P. secunda') ; and, 5. Single-flow- 

 ered winter-green (P. mtijlora). They all in- 

 habit alpine wooded localities ; the flowers are 

 white or reddish, often highly fragrant. P. < tni- 

 one of the most curious and elegant of 

 British flowers. 



WiTKii-(iiiKKv, AMERICAN (Pyrola umbel- 

 , Pipsissiwa. The Chimaphila umbellata 

 ill. This plant is very abundant in 

 cool MI nations in the United States. It has a 

 long creeping root, and ascending stem 3 to 6 

 inches long, leafy at the top. The leaves are 

 of a deep green and very glossy, possessing a 

 peculiar flavour, some bitterness, and a mode- 

 rate degree of astringency. Under the Indian 

 name of Pipgisriwu, this plant has been long 

 noted as a popular medicine. It has doubtless 

 some virtues, but its properties are very often 

 misapplied in its empirical use. 



The Spotted Winter-Grten (Pyrola maculata") 

 is also a common plant in the United States 

 erroneously called Pipsissiwa by Pursh. Its 

 properties are similar to those of the first- 

 named species, though weaker. Five or six 

 additional species of the Pyrola genus are 

 found in the United States. 



WINTER-PROUD. A term provincially 

 applied to wheat which in winter puts on a 

 more green and luxuriant appearance than it 

 is able to support in the following summer; or 

 in which the ramifications become too nume- 

 rous to be kept up, or brought to maturity, from 

 the previous over-exertion of the soil. In 

 these cases the crops decline during the spring 

 and summer, and at harvest yield imperfectly, 

 falling much below other crops which had a 

 more backward appearance in the winter. 



WINTER-WEED. A name given, in Nor- 

 folk and other parts, to the ivy-leaved speed- 

 well (Veronica herhrifolin). See SPKEIIWELL. 



WIRE-WORM (Elaler segeiis). These are 

 larvze of that tribe of insects named Elateridte, 

 or click-beetles, which are readily known by 

 having the sternum produced behind into a 

 strong spine fitted to enter a groove in the ab- 

 domen situated between the intermediate pair 

 of legs. By bringing these parts suddenly into 

 contact, the insects are enabled to spring to 

 some height into the air, and thus recover 

 their natural position, when they happen 

 to fall on their backs, which they frequently 

 do, when dropping from plants to the grov.nd. 

 A special provision of this kind is rendered 



1163 



