BEN 



BET 



the Lignum nephriticum, supposed to 

 be useful in certain affections of the 

 kidneys. 



BENE. The Sesasum oricntale. 



An annual plant of the family Big- 

 noniacca. It is successfully cultiva- 

 ted south of Pennsylvania. The seeds 

 abound in oil, which is readily ex- 

 pressed. They are very nutritious, 

 and eaten by the Italians roasted, 

 boiled, and made into flour resem- 

 bling buckwheat. Tlie oil is good, 

 and may be substituted for common 

 olive oil. The seed is sown in drills 

 three or four feet apart, in April. The 

 plant grows like cotton, and attains 

 the height of four or live feet, bearing 

 numerous seed-vessels, full of the 

 small seed, which is not larger than 

 flaxseed. The crop ripens gradually, 

 and is taken in September; 15 to 20 

 bushels are given per acre, from which 

 40 to 50 gallons of oil maybe obtain- 

 ed. The oil may be sold for 81 to 

 $1 25 the gallon. Negroes are fond 

 of the seeds in any form. The ex- 

 pressed oil-cake would be admirable 

 food for fattening hogs and cattle. 



BENOT. A double mould-board 

 plough. 



BENT GRASS. The genus J^ros- 

 tis, the stem of which is much bent, 

 and inclined to become creeping and 

 subterranean. Creeping grasses are 

 best exterminated from arable lands 

 by heavy liming and the introduction 

 of two or three crops of corn, or such 

 other plants as are frequently tilled. 

 93 



BENTS. Withered grass stems 

 remaining in the pasture after the 

 seeds have dropped. 



BENZAMIDE. A compound of 

 benzoyl and amidogene. 



BENZOIC ACID. A vegetable acid 

 found in balsams and some grasses. 



BENZOIN. The concrete exuda- 

 tion of the Styrax benzoin of the East. 

 It is a resin combined with benzoic 

 acid. 



BENZULE, BENZOYL. The hy- 

 pothetical radical of benzoic acid and 

 other compounds, formula Ci4 Hj O. 

 =Bz. 



BERBERRY. See Barberry. 



BERGAMOT. The Citrus berga- 

 mia. Cultivated in the south of Europe 

 for the fragrant oil of the rind of its 

 fruit. The oil is volatile, and consists 

 of IOC 8H. It is a species of lemon, 

 and might be introduced into Flori- 

 da. 



The Mentha citrata, a common spe- 

 cies of mint, easily cultivated, yields 

 an oil nearly as fragrant as the ber- 

 gamot. 



BERMUDA GRASS, DOUB 

 GRASS. Cynodon dactylon. Atall, re- 

 pent grass, flourishing on sandy lands, 

 and an object of cultivation in the 

 South. It affords abundant pasturage 

 for sheep, and binds together the loose 

 soil. The levees of the^Iississippi are 

 planted with it. Many distinguished 

 farmers on the south shores of the 

 Mississippi speak highly of this grass ; 

 it is, however, difficult to eradicate. 

 Mr. Afileck considers it most nutri- 

 tious, and in his latitude (Washmg- 

 ton. Miss.) it yields three cuttings, or 

 from "five to eight tons of hay per 

 acre from a moderately good mead- 

 ow." It is destroyed by frost and 

 propagated by roots, as it does not 

 ripen seeds in his localitv. 



BERRY, or BACCA." In botany, 

 a fruit filled with pulp, in which the 

 seeds are imbedded, as the currant, 

 gooseberry, &c. 



BETEL. The leaf of an acrid nar- 

 cotic pepper, chewed by the natives 

 in the East Indies. 



BETULA. The generic name of 

 the birch family. The populi/uha 

 (white), excelsa (yellow) rubra (red), 



