BLA 



BLA 



ploughing to break up the smaller 

 roots. I'he roots are astringent. 



BLACKBIRD. Notwithstanding 

 his occasional depredations, he is a 

 valuable friend to the farmer, by the 

 destruction he makes among insects. 

 The most common species is the 

 Qiasralis rcrsicolor. 



BLACK CANXER. The decayed 

 blotches on turnips. 



BLACK DOLPHIN. The dark- 

 coloured aphis, which injures beans, 

 pease, cabbages, and numerous garden 

 vegetables. Dusting with lime is a 

 very valuable remedy, as well as cut- 

 ting off the infested stems, when it is 

 practicable, and burning them. 



BLACK DYES. The substances 

 used in dyeing blacks are logwood, 

 weld or woad, fustic, sumach, gall- 

 nuts, and oak apples, with copperas 

 or sulphate of iron ; but any other 

 astringent may be introduced. The 

 finest blacks are first dyed of a deep 

 blue. 



BLACK FLY. The small black 

 beetle {Hallica nemorum) which infests 

 cruciferous plants, and especially the 

 turnip. See Insects. 



BLACK GU.M. Xyssa multijlara. 

 A tree sometimes attainmg fifty to 

 seventy feet, and twenty inches in di- 

 ameter. It grows south of Philadel- 

 pliia. The wood is solid, and httle 

 liable to split ; hence it is used for 

 naves or hubs, and in ship-building for 

 the caps of masts. The berries are 

 dark, and relished by birds. The N. 

 aquatica, or tupelo, is less in size, and 

 grows as far as Xew-Hampsiiire. It 

 is valuable as a dense wood, and used 

 by carriage-builders. 



BLACK LEGS and BLACK MUZ- 

 ZLE. See Sheep, Diseases of. 



BLACK OATS, are more hardy, 

 and ripen earlier than the common 

 grain. Thev are otherwise inferior. 



BLACK THORN. The European 

 sloe {Prunus spinusu). Sometimes the 

 Cratagus flava is called by this name 

 in America. 



BLACK TWITCH, or COUCH. 

 Agroslis alba. Marsh couch grass. 



BLACK WALNUT. See WalmU. 



BLACK WASH. A lotion of cal- 

 omel and limewater. 



■ BLACK WATER. See Sheep. 



BLADE. Ashoot or spire of grass, 

 wheat, &c. 



BLADE BONE. The scapula, or 

 broad bone of the shoulder. 



BLAIN. In famery, inflammation 

 of the tongue, a disease in cattle, 

 which frequently affects them in the 

 spring of the year or beginning of 

 summer. The disease is neither so 

 frequent nor so fatal in the horse 

 as it is in cattle ; but it does some- 

 times occur, and the nature of it is 

 frequently misunderstood. The horse 

 • will refuse his food, hang his head, 

 and a considerable quantity of ropy 

 I fluid will be discharged from the 

 i mouth. On examining the mouth, 

 j the tongue will be found considerably 

 I enlarged, and, running along the side 

 of it, there will be a reddish or dark- 

 ish purple bladder, which sometimes 

 protrudes between the teeth. The 

 j neighbouring salivary glands are en- 

 1 larged, and the discharge of saliva is 

 very great, while the soreness of the 

 swelled and blistered part causes the 

 horse obstinately to resist every mo- 

 tion of the jaws. The cure is very 

 simple : the bladder must be deeply 

 lanced from end to end ; there will 

 not be any great flow of blood This 

 j will relieve or cure the horse in twen- 

 ! ty-four hours. If he can be spared 

 fr(jm his work, a dose of physic will 

 j remove the stomach affection and any 

 slight degree of fever that may have 

 ' existed. If the disease is neglected, 

 the swelling will at length burst, and 

 corroding ulcers will eat deeply into 

 the tongue, and prove very difficult to 

 heal. — {Clalcr's Farriery). 



BLANCHING. In gardening, 

 the whitening of the stems, stalks, or 

 leaves of plants, by tying them togeth- 

 er, or earthing them up so as to ex- 

 clude the light, and tlius to diminish 

 the intensity of their native proper- 

 ties and make them sweet. 



BLAST. A flatulent disease of 

 sheep. 



BLASTEMA. The embryo. 



BL.\STING. The art of removing 



portions of rock by the explosion of 



gunpowder. For this purpose, a cy- 



i lindrical hole is made in the rock in a 



95 



