WOA 



W0\ 



is the Eleusi7ie Indica,an annual, flow- ' 

 ering in spikes. 



WIRE WORM. Elatcr se^clis. 

 See Insects. The following plan for 

 the destruction of wire-worms is by 

 a practical fanner, Mr. Tarrant : He 

 cleans the infested field of all weeds j 

 and roots, and drills white mustard 

 seed, keeping the land hoed, and by 

 the end of the season finds tlie worms 

 entirely gone. — (^British Farm. Mag., 

 1831.) 



WISP. A small bundle of hay or 

 straw. 



WITHE. A flexible twig or bough. 



WITHERITE. Mmeral carbonate 

 of barvta. 



WITHERS. The high portion of 

 an aniniars back over the shoulders. 

 Horses with high witiiers are said 

 to have the fore hand well up ; they 

 go high above the ground, and are 

 quick and safe. In draught horses 

 the breadth or weight of the fore 

 hand is desirable. 



The word is sometimes applied to 

 the womb of the cow. Casting the 

 withers is inversion and protrusion of 

 the womb. It sliould be returned by 

 the hand and arm, and maintained in ! 

 its place by a roll of linen introduced 

 into the vagina in a wet state. The 

 animal must be kept quiet and free 

 from fever. i 



W A D. Isatis tinctoria. See 

 Fig. " It has been greatly superseded 



by indigo, which gives a stronger 



and finer blue ; but on some soils it 

 might be still cultivated to great ad- 

 vantage, especially as it is said to im- 

 prove the quality and colour of indi- 

 go when mixed with it in a certain 

 proportion. 



"The woad is a plant of the natu- 

 ral order of the Cruafcra. It has a 

 strong tap-root, which lasts two years. 

 The height of the plant, when in per- 

 fection, is from three to four feet. It 

 throws out many branches from the 

 upper part of the stem. The leaves 

 are alternate and smooth. The fiow^- 

 ers are yellow, in panicles at the ex- 

 tremity of the branches. The fruit is 

 a heart-shaped pod, with two valves, 

 containing one seed only. It grows 

 well on the borders of the Baltic, and 

 is very hardy. 



" It is still cultivated to a consid- 

 erable extent in the south of France 

 and Flanders. It requires a good 

 substantial soil of considerable depth 

 and fertdity ; for the larger and more 

 numerous the leaves are, the more 

 profit is derived from the plant. A 

 wet clay soil is not at all suited to 

 its growth, nor a loose sandy one. 



" When it was largely cultivated in 

 England, old pastures ploughed up 

 atTorded the best soil for the woad to 

 grow in. To have good woad. the 

 land should be naturahy very rich, or 

 much manure should be intimately 

 mLxed with it some time before. No- 

 thing but completely decomposed 

 dung should be used, or compost 

 made on purpose a long time before. 



"The land, having been prepared 

 by repeated ploughings, and perfectly 

 clean, is laid into narrow beds with 

 deep intervals. On these beds the 

 seed is sown as early in spring as 

 possible. It is sometimes sown broad- 

 cast, and the plants thinned out ; but 

 sowing it in drills, two rows on a 

 four-feet bed, is much the best prac- 

 tice. The drills are one foot from the 

 edge, with two feet clear between 

 them ; some make ^ve-feet beds, and 

 there is an interval of thirty inches 

 between the rows, which allows of 

 better cleaning, and gives the plants 

 more room to spread. When the 

 plants are come up in the rows, they 



867 



