LEE 



LE.M 



hide of leather is tested by its section, 

 which should be glistening and mar- 

 bled, wit bout any wbite streaks, but 

 uniform and compact. See Tanning. 



LEATHER WOOD. Dirca palus- 

 tris. A small indigenous shrub with 

 very flexible branclies, and a tough, 

 leathery bark. 



LEAVEN. A piece of sour dough 

 of flour or corn meal, used to make 

 other dough light ; it is well kneaded 

 into it, and produces fermentation, 

 but is altogether inferior to yeast. 



LEDGERS. In building," the pie- 

 ces of timber used in scaffolding 

 <vhich lie parallel to the wall, and 

 horizontal. 



LEECH. Sanguisv ga officinalis 

 and niedicinalis. They inhabit shal- 

 low brooks and ponds, and are taken 

 by driving a horse or other animal in ; 

 the leeches attach themselves to the 

 legs. They are invaluable in reliev- 

 ing local inflammations by drawing 

 off an excess of blood. 



LEEK. Allium porrum. This is 

 a biennial of the onion genus, but 

 without heads ; used in stews, broths, 

 &c. The best variety is the large 

 London. Leeks are obtained by seed, 

 which is sown in a bed early in spring 

 for the first supply, and in April for 

 the crop. The seedlings are trans- 

 planted when six or eight inches 

 high, being previously thinned and 

 weeded, and set in rows ten inches 

 apart, the rows being eight inches 

 distant. The leeks are set deep in 

 holes made by a dibble. The soil 

 must be well watered and loosened. 

 The after-treatment consists of hoe- 

 ing and occasionally cutting away 

 the tops of the leaves to increase 

 the size of the root. The plants are 

 used from June to winter. Seed is 

 obtained by leaving some of the leeks 

 in the seed-bed 8 inches apart, cover- 

 ing with straw in winter, and allowing 

 them to flower in May. The seed clus- 

 ter is to be cut when turned brown, 

 and dried before being thrashed. 



LEES. The dregs or refuse of fer- 

 mented liquors : when rotted, they 

 form good manure, and should, there- 

 fore, be put into the farm-yard or pig- 

 geries. 

 454 



LEGHORN STRAW. It it de- 

 rived from the straw of wheat In 

 Tuscany, the long-awned spring 

 wheat, called marzolano, is cultivated 

 on the sandy hills of the Valley of the 

 Arno. The seed is sowa in March 

 very thick, and the plants pulled when 

 the spikes are formed, but before any 

 grain : it is then eighteen inches tall. 

 It IS bleached by exposure to air like 

 flax. The portion of straw between 

 the ear and uppermost knot is all that 

 is employed : this is selected, tied in 

 bundles, and carried home. Before 

 use, the straw is bleached by the va- 

 pour of sulphur, either in barrels or 

 appropriate rooms ; the plait is also 

 bleached, and the bonnets are again 

 bleached. English Leghorn is made 

 from rye similarly managed. Both 

 these plants yield better straw than 

 that from grasses. 



LEGUMEN, LEGUME. A pod 

 like that of the pea, bean, &c. A 

 one-celled, one or many seeded, two 

 valved, superior, and commonly de- 

 hiscent fruit. 



LEGUMIN. The casein of legu- 

 minous plants. 



LEGUMINOS.E. An extensive 

 natural family, very important in ag- 

 riculture, from yielding pease, beans, 

 clovers, indigo, &c. The genera are 

 often immense trees in the tropics, 

 as logwood, mahogany, but are usu- 

 ally small herbs in the North. The 

 most remarkable characters are the 

 presence of legumens with irregular, 

 often papilionaceous flowers. 



LEGUMINOUS CROPS. Crops 

 of clover, beans, tares, lucern, and 

 other leguminosa?. Some writers, 

 however, very improperly allude to 

 root and leaf crops under this term, 

 imagining that all ameliorating crops 

 should be called leguminous, as being 

 distinguished from white or culmif- 

 erous crops, which are also exhaust- 

 ers. 



LEICESTER SHEEP. See Sheep. 



LEMON. CUrvs mcdica. A small 

 tree, native of Asia, but extensively 

 cultivated in tropical America and 

 temperate climates free from heavy 

 frosts. The citron, lemon, and lime 

 are considered only varieties, notwith- 



