94 LIQUORICE. 



month of February or March, is preferred for planting. The plants 

 are dibbled in the rows three feet apart, and from eighteen inches to 

 two feet in the row, according to the richness or poverty of the soil. 

 The after-culture consists of horse-hoeing and deep-stirring — in weeding, 

 and removing the haulm every autumn, after it is completely withered."* 

 At the end of three years, the plants are dug up for use. The whole roots 

 are then washed, the fibres cut off, and the smaller roots separated from 

 the larger ones ; the former, termed the offal, are dried and ground to 

 powder, the latter are packed up and sold to the druggist. The Liquorice- 

 plant was formerly extensively cultivated near Pontefract, Yorkshire, and 

 at Godalming, in Surrey, but the London market is now chiefly supplied 

 from Mitcham. 



The extract of Liquorice is imported in large quantities from the south 

 of Europe, under the name of Spanish liquorice, or Spanish juice. They first 

 cut the root in pieces, then moisten and crush it in a mill; it thus forms a 

 mass similar to dough, which is boiled for eight hours, and occasionally 

 supplied with water. It is then twice pressed, to extract the mucilage, 

 which is slowly evaporated to a proper consistence. When cool, it is cut 

 into square cakes or cylindrical pieces, and packed in chests with bay- 

 leaves. The refined Liquorice sold in the shops, in small cylindrical 

 pieces about the size of a small quill, is a composition with mucilage of 

 glue. 



Qualities and general Uses. — " In domestic economy, the 

 sound roots of the liquorice may be employed as stopples for wine or 

 beer bottles, being more wholesome and durable than those made 

 of cork." On account] of the saccharine matter contained in the 

 root, it is extensively employed in ale and porter brewing ; and being 

 not easily fermentable, unlike most other substances, it does not 

 prevent their keeping. Bohmer even asserts, that sour ale or beer 

 may be completely restored by suspending in the cask a linen bag 

 containing Liquorice powder, with a small portion of chalk and 

 potash. 



The odour of the fresh root resembles that of the kidney- bean 

 (Phaseolus vulgaris), and the taste is very sweet, and somewhat 

 mucilaginous : the dried root is inodorous, with a similar flavour, 

 leaving a slight degree of bitterness in the mouth when it is chewed 

 without being peeled. f Its virtues are obtained by slight coction 



* Don's Syst. Gard. and Bot. vol. ii. p. 226. 



t The powder of Liquorice is said to be often adulterated with flour, and 

 with other substances not so wholesome. This sophistication may be de- 

 tected by the pale-yellow colour and reduced taste, as the genuine pow- 

 der has a brownish-yellow colour, and a rich sweet taste. 



