"WOO 



woo 



rior ; and if not enough, there is less 

 of it. 'l"he exact quantity can only be 

 decided by practice and experience. 

 "The seed will vegetate wlien two 

 years old, but cannot be depended on 

 after that. 



" W'uad is also occasionally sown 

 as food for cattle ; and as everything, 

 old and new, has been brought for- 

 ward by the late renewed zeal for 

 agriculture, it has been reconnnend- 

 ed for thi« purpose under its French 

 name of ' Paxtr.l.' Its vigorous 

 growth and hardy nature have rec- 

 ommended it ; but it will only grow 

 in very rich soils. There are many 

 other plants as vigorous and hanly, 

 which will thrive well in inferior 

 soils, and therefore are to be pre- 

 ferred. But for its dye, this plant 

 is well worthy of the attention of 

 those who have good rich and deep 

 sods." 



WOLF. On the prairies much loss 

 is sustained by shepherds from the 

 attacks of wolves ; these may be de- 

 stroyed in the same way as the fox, 

 or poisoned by sprinkling twenty 

 grains of arsenic on some otial placed 

 in their way. Some use a quarter of 

 a grain of stryclminc, inserted in a 

 piece of meat. 



WOLF'S BANE. Monk's hood. 

 WOLLASTONITE. A species of 

 prismatic augite. 



W O O D. The substance of the 

 trunk of exogenous trees ; it consists 

 of an internal hard and coloured por- 

 tion, the heart-wood (dwa-mcn), and 

 an external, softer, and more perish- 

 able part, the new wood, sap wood, 

 or alburnum. It consists of woody 

 fibre and ducts. (See Timber, and the 

 different trees.) The composition of 

 oak wood, according to Gay Lussac, 

 is, carbon, 52-5; oxygen, 41 8; hy- 

 drogen, 5 7 per cent. Wood decays 

 slowly, and yields water and carbonic 

 acid when in contact with air. 



WOOD ASHES. The saline bod- 

 ies of trees : they are obtained for 

 their potash. Oak and hickory ashes 

 contain from twenty to twenty-five 

 per cent, of real potash, and yield the 

 best ashes. As a manure, ten bush- 

 els of fresh ashes to the acre in com- 

 4D2 



' post are enough, but if unleached, 

 , twenty or more may be employed. 

 See Ash€s and Potash. 



WOODBINE. The honeysuckle. 



WOOD S O R II E L. The genus 



Oxalix, the leaves of which are sour, 



i and contain oxalate of potash : they 



grow in rich, shady places. Many 



species bear beautilul flowers. 



WOOD WASPS. The saw flies. 



WOOD WAXEN. Gcmsla hnclo- 

 ria. Dyer's broom, a perennial legu- 

 minous plant, with yellow flowers, 

 growing one foot high, leaves lanceo- 

 late, smooth, stem round, uprigti^, 

 without spines. It is exotic, but 

 grows readily in the Northern and 

 Eastern States The plant in flower 

 yields a yellow dye, which is fixed 

 by solution of tin or acetate of alu- 

 mina. It may be readily rai-sed from 

 seed, in drills a foot apart, and the 

 plants kept clean bv the cultivator. 



WO0D\^ FIBRE. Very slender, 

 tapering cellular tissue, containing 

 lignin, and forming, when compacted 

 togetlier, the tough fibre of hemp, fla.x, 

 and vegetables, as well as the bulk 

 of wo.)d. 



WOOL. Hair which is somewhat 

 curled and possesses the quality of 

 felting ; this results from numerous 

 scrratures on the staple. For the 

 qualities of wool, see Sheep. The 

 value of wool depends upon the fine- 

 ness, felting quality, and trueness of 

 the staple, which are explained in the 

 article on Sheep ; but the quality of a 

 fleece is not the same throughout : it 

 is, indeed, divisible into four parcels. 

 In some |)arts of Europe it is the cus- 

 tom for llie farmer to make the sep- 

 aration, but in the United States this 

 is left to the manufacturers. The 

 only preparation necessary is to re- 

 move burs, tags, and the coarse hairs 

 of the legs, which is done before 

 shearing. The sheep is washed a 

 week or fen days before shearing, in 

 a cistern or trough, or, what is prefer- 

 able, a running stream ; the tags are 

 first rem.oved, and the washing made 

 perfect by squeezing the wool. In 

 the case of Merino bucks a little soft 

 soap may be used, for the cleaner 

 the wool the higher the price obtain- 



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