Book VI. 



PLANTS FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES. 



943 



6167. In a former section (6055.) we have hinted that no farmer who cultivates the 

 liop need be without a vegetable equal to asparagus, or fibre similar to that of flax to 

 employ his servants in spinning ; and from the foregoing observations it would seem 

 that whoever has a garden may grow his own coffee and tobacco. 



Sect. V. Plants which are or may he grown in the Fields for Medicinal Purposes. 



61 68. A number of medicinal pla7its ivere formerly grown in the fields ; but vegetable 

 drugs are now much less the fashion ; a few powerful sorts are retained, which are 

 either collected wild or are natives of other countries, and the rest of the pharmacopoeia 

 is chiefly made up of minerals. It may safely be affirmed that there are no plants 

 belonging to this section which deserve the notice of the general farmer ; but we have 

 thought it desirable to notice a few somelimes grown by farming gardeners, and which 

 may be considered as belonging almost equally to horticulture and agriculture, or as 

 points of connection between the two arts. These are the saffron, liquorice, rhubarb, 

 lavender, mints, chamomile, and thyme. 



6169. The saffron, or autumn crocus (Crocus sadvus 'L.,fg. 813. a), is a bulbous-rooted 



perennial, which has been long cultivated in the south of Europe, and since Edward III.'s 

 time in England, and chiefly at Saffron Walden in Essex. It was abundantly cultivated 

 there, and in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Herefordshire, in the beginning of the seven- 

 teenth century ; but the quantity of land under this crop has been gradually lessening for 

 the last century, and especially within the last fifty years, so that its culture ss now almost 

 entirely confined to a few parishes round Saffron Walden. [Yoking' s Essex.) This is 

 owing partly to the material being less in use than formerly, and partly to the large im- 

 portations from the East, often, as Professor Martyn observes, adulterated with bastard 

 saffron (Cdrthamus tinctorius) and marigolds (Cal^-ndula officinalis). 



6170. The bulbs of the saffron are planted on a prepared soil, not poor nor a very stiff clay, but, if possible, 

 a hazel mould on chalk. They are planted in July, in rows six inches apart across the ridges, and at three 

 inches' distance in the rows. 



6171. The flowers, which are purple, and appear in September, are gathered, carried home, and the 

 stigmas picked out, together with a portion of the style; these are dried on a kiln between layers of paper, 

 and under the pressure of a thick board, to form the mass into cakes. 



6172. The crop of an acre averages two pounds of dried cake after the first planting, and twenty-four 

 pounds for the next two years. After the third crop the roots are taken up, divided, and replanted. 



6173. The uses of saffron in medicine, domestic economy, and the arts, are various. It is detersive, re- 

 solvent, anodyne, cephalic, ophthalmic, &c. ; but its use is not without danger : in large doses it promotes 

 drowsiness, lethargy, vomiting, and delirium ; even its smell is injurious, and has been known to produce 

 syncope. It is used in sauces by the Spaniards and Poles ; here and in France it enters into creams, bis- 

 cuits, conserves, liquors, &c., and is used for colouring butter and cheese, and also by painters and dyers. 



6174. The liquorice (Glycyrrluza glabra la., fig. 813. b.; Liquoritia officinalis H.B. 

 10493.) is a deep-rooting perennial, of the Leguminosae, with herbaceous stems rising four 

 or five feet high. It has long been much cultivated in Spain ; and since Elizabeth's time 

 has been grown in different parts of England. 



6175. The soil for the liquorice should be a deep sandy loam, trenched by the spade or plough, or the aid 

 of both, to two and a half or three feet in depth, and manured if necessary. The plants are procured from 

 old plantations, and consist of the side roots, which have eyes or buds. In autumn, when a crop of liquorice 

 is taken up for use, these may be taken off and laid in earth till spring, or they may be taken from a 

 growing plantation as wanted for planting. The planting season may be either October or February and 

 March. In general the latter months are preferred. The plants are dibbled in rows three feet apart, and 

 from eighteen inches to two feet in the row, according to the richness of the soil. The after-culture con- 

 sists in horse-hoeing and deep stirring, in weeding, and in cutting over and carrying away the haulm every 

 autumn after it is completely withered. As the plants do not rise above a foot the first season, a crop of 

 onions or beans is sometimes taken in the intervals. The plants must have three summers' growth, at the 

 end of which the roots may be taken up by trenching over the ground. These are either immediately sold 

 to the brewers' druggists, or to common druggists, or preserved in sand, like carrots or potatoes, till 

 wanted for use. They are used in medicine and porter-brewing. 



