SAL 



[ 714 J 



SAL 



loam and peat, with a little old dung, such as that 

 from a spent mushroom-bed. Winter temp., 48 

 to 55 ; summer. 60 to 85. 

 5. cocci'nea (scarlet). 3. Scarlet, rose. September. 

 Jamaica. 1844. 



SALSAFY. Tragopo'gon porrifo'Iius. 



Soil. Light and moderately fertile. 

 At the time of sowing trench it, turning 

 in a little manure with the bottom-spit 

 only. 



Sow in March and April, in an open 

 situation, in shallow drills, nine inches 

 asunder, scatter the seeds thinly, and 

 cover them half an inch deep. When the 

 plants are two or three inches high, thin 

 to ten inches asunder. During very dry 

 weather water occasionally very plenti- 

 fully, and if half an ounce of guano is 

 added to each gallon of water it will he 

 very heneficial. They will have large 

 roots by September or October, when 

 you begin taking them up for use ; and 

 in November, when the leaves begin to 

 decay, a quantity may be preserved in 

 sand for use in time of severe frost ; but 

 those left in the ground will not be in- 

 jured. In spring, when those remaining 

 in the ground begin to vegetate, the 

 shoots, when a few inches high, may he 

 cut for use as asparagus, being excellent 

 when quite young and tender. Suffer a few 

 plants to run up to stalk every spring to 

 produce seed. The best mode of cook- 

 ing the roots is to boil and mash them, 

 form them into cakes, and fry them in 

 butter. The flavour is that ' of oyster 

 patties. 



SALTS. Saline manures are generally 

 beneficial, and often essential. They 

 ought to be put on in very small quanti- 

 ties, and frequently, during the time of 

 the plant's growth. 



Common Salt. Chloride of sodium, ap- 

 plied in the spring at the rate of twenty 

 bushels per acre, has been found very 

 beneficial to asparagus, broad beans, let- 

 tuces, onions, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, 

 and beets. Indeed, its properties are so 

 generally useful, not only as promoting 

 fertility, but as destroying slugs, &c., that 

 it is a good plan to sow the whole garden 

 every March with this manure, at the 

 rate above specified. The flower-garden is 

 included in this recommendation; for 

 some of the best practical gardeners re- 

 commend it for the stock, hyacinth, ama- 

 ryllis, ixia, anemone, colchicum, narcis- 

 sus, ranunculus, &c.; and in the fruit- 

 garden it has been found beneficial to 

 almost every one of its tenants, especially 



the cherry and apple. On lawns and 

 walks it helps to drive away worms, and 

 to destroy moss. 



Ammonia. The salts of ammonia are 

 highly stimulating, and afford, by their 

 ready decomposition, abundant food to 

 plants. The dungs of animals are 

 fertilizing exactly in proportion to the 

 amount of ammonia in them. The only 

 care required is not to apply them too 

 abundantly. Half an ounce to each gal- 

 lon of water, given at the most twice a 

 week, is a good recipe for all the am- 

 moniacal salts. The ammoniacal gas 

 liquor, at the rate of one pint to two gal- 

 lons of water, is highly beneficial to all 

 plants grown for their leaves. 



Chalk (Carbonate of Lime) may be 

 applied in large quantities, twenty or 

 thirty tons per acre, to render a light 

 siliceous soil more retentive, or a heavy 

 soil more open. Its basis, lime, enters 

 into the composition of most plants in 

 some state of combination. If the chalk 

 is to be burnt into lime before it is ap- 

 plied, care should be taken that it does 

 not contain, like some of the Yorkshire 

 chalks, a large proportion of carbonate of 

 magnesia. Magnesia remains long in a 

 caustic state, and has been found inju- 

 rious to the plants to which it has been 

 applied. 



Chloride of Lime gradually gives out a 

 portion of its chlorine, and is converted 

 into muriate of lime, a salt absorbing 

 moisture from the air, which can hardly 

 exist in any soil, however light, without 

 keeping it moist ; and its nauseous odour 

 may be found to keep off" the attacks of 

 the fly and other vermin. A solution 

 containing one ounce in five gallons of 

 water is said to destroy the aphis and 

 the caterpillar, if poured over the trees 

 they infest. 



Gas Lime is a hydro-sulphuret of lime, 

 with a little ammonia. It is an excellent 

 manure, especially to cabbages, turnips, 

 cauliflowers, and brocoli, dug in at the 

 time of planting or sowing. If sown over 

 the surface at the time of inserting the 

 crop, at the rate of twenty bushels per 

 acre, it will effectually drive away the 

 turnip-fly, slug, &c. 



Gypsum, or Plaster of Paris, is sulphate 

 of lime. It has been found very useful 

 as a top-dressing to lawns, and dug in 

 i'or turnips and potatoes. Three hun- 

 dred weight per acre is abundance. 



Nitrates of Potash (Saltpetre), and of 



