210 SALAD PLANTS. 



White Mus- White Mustard is a hardy annual, intro- 

 SINAPIS ALBA, duced from Europe, and occasionally found 

 growing spontaneously in the vicinity of fields 

 and gardens where it has been once cultivated. The stem 

 is three feet and upwards in height ; the leaves are large, 

 deeply lobed, and of a rich deep-green color ; the flowers are 

 large, yellow, produced in loose, terminal spikes ; the seeds 

 are yellow, much larger than those of the preceding species, 

 and retain their vitality five years. Seventy-five hundred 

 are contained in an ounce. 



Propagation. White Mustard is'always raised from seeds, 

 four quarts of which will be necessary for seeding an acre. 

 When grown for salad, an ounce will sow forty feet of drill. 



Cultivation. When cultivated in the vegetable garden 

 for salad or greens, the first sowing may be made as early 

 in the season as the frost will admit. Sow the seeds thickly, 

 in drills eight or ten inches apart, and cover half an inch 

 deep with fine mould. 



The plants should be cut for use while in the seed-leaf : 

 when much developed, they become strong, rank, and ill- 

 flavored. 



For a succession, a small sowing may be made every week 

 until September. 



In field-culture, the seeds are sometimes sown broadcast ; 

 but the more common method is to sow in drills fifteen or 

 eighteen inches apart. When the crop is ready for harvest- 

 ing, the plants are cut to the ground, and stored and threshed 

 as directed for Black Mustard. 



Use. The plants, before the development of the rough 

 leaves, are used as salad : when more advanced, they are 

 boiled and eaten as Spinach. The flour of the seeds fur- 

 nishes a table mustard of good quality, though the seeds of 

 the Black species possess greater piquancy, and are generally 

 employed for the purpose. The seeds of both species are 

 much used in medicine, and are considered equally efficacious. 



