BRF 



BRO 



common coarse or refuse salt to wa- 

 ter until it is strong enough to float 

 an egg. The brined seed is afterward 

 dusted with newly-slacked lime, and 

 sown. The great benefit is the de- 

 struction of the seeds of smut, rust, 

 mildew, and other blights : when heat 

 is added, the eggs of many insects 

 are also killed. Stale urine is also 

 used with great effect in the same 

 way, as well as strong wood-ash lye. 

 The plan of brining is extensively 

 resorted to throughout England and 

 Scotland with great success ; indeed, 

 so beneficial does small doses of salt 

 appear, that on the seashore, and on 

 farms where refuse salt is used, smut 

 is almost unknown. A solution of one 

 pound of salt to one gallon of water is 

 recommended as a wash or sprinkling 

 for plants infested by mildew and oth- 

 er fungi by the late Mr. Cartwright. It 

 is, however, injurious to some vege- 

 tables. Brining has been often found 

 to save a field from rust and smut 

 when all other grain was infested. 



BRISTLES. The stiff hair of hogs. 

 Independently of their economical val- 

 ue, they constitute a manure as good 

 as old woollen rags, containing, in- 

 deed, the same substances, and yield- 

 ing ammonia by decay. Where they 

 can be had in sufficient quantities, 

 one half to three fourths of a ton is a 

 heavy manuring for five years for hops, 

 turnips, cabbages, tobacco, hemp, flax, 

 wheat, corn, and rich plants gener- 

 ally. The same applies to £dl kinds 

 of waste hair or wool. 



BRITISH GUM. Starch heated to 

 600^ Fahrenheit, by which it becomes 

 brown and soluble in cold water. 



BRITTLE HOOF. An affection 

 of the horse's hoof, very common, es- 

 pecially in summer, in England, from 

 bad stable management. A mixture 

 of one part of oil of tar and two of 

 common fish oil, well rubbed into the 

 crust and the hoof, will restore the 

 natural pliancy and toughness of the 

 horn, and very much contribute to the 

 quickness of its growth. — {Youatl on 

 the Horse.) 



BRIZA. The generic name of 

 the quaking grass {B. media). It is a 

 poor perennial grass. 

 114 



BROAD-CAST SOWING. The 

 distribution of seed or manures over 

 land by casting with the hand or by 

 a machine. The sower carries a bas- 

 ket on the left arm, and throws with 

 his right hand as he walkes along be- 

 tween the lands or ridges of the field, 

 sowing one half its width in going, 

 and the other half in returning on the 

 otlier side. Small seeds are usually 

 cast with some earth. It requires ex- 

 perience and good ploughing to seed 

 well, for unless the ridges between 

 each furrow are well marked, so as 

 to present grooves to receive seed, 

 they will not grow in rovi's ; but when 

 the furrows are nicely laid the plants 

 appear as regularly as if drilled. Of 

 late it has been customary to dispar- 

 age sowing by broad-cast, in conse- 

 quence of the waste of seed, the ten- 

 dency to weeds in the ground, and 

 the difficulty of exterminating them. 

 To avoid these evils, drills are intro- 

 duced. The broad-cast method is cer- 

 tainly altogether inapplicable to tur- 

 nips or any other crop requiring hoe- 

 ing, or liable to destruction from 

 weeds, and is now seldom practised in 

 such cases ; but wheat, grains, grass- 

 es, fallow crops, &c., are thus sown 

 most readily and very effectively. 

 Machines for broad-casting are of lit- 

 tle utility where the farmer has a lit- 

 tle experience. 



BROCCOLI. An improved variety 

 of cabbage, the flower buds of which 

 are eaten. It differs from the cauli- 

 flower only in the looseness of the in- 

 florescence. The varieties are nu- 

 merous, the early white and white 

 cape being best ; but the purple cape 

 is the only kind much cultivated. The 

 seeds of the last are sown towards 

 the end of May in the Middle States, 

 and later in the South ; for winter 

 supplies later sowing will be neces- 

 sary. An ounce of seed produces 

 3000 to 4000 plants. Transplant in 

 July, or when the plants are large 

 enough, into very rich, dunged, and 

 mellow earth ; plant 18 to 24 inches 

 apart each way ; moisten the earth 

 frequently with fluid manure ; hoe 

 and keep clean during their growth. 

 They will be in season in September 



