446 GARDENING FOB THE SOUTH. 



spring. Plant ten inches apart, giving water if dry 

 weather. 



Bene (Sesamum orientate) is an annual plant, and a 

 native of Africa and India. Introduced into this coun- 

 try by the negroes. It grows from three to six feet high, 

 bearing numerous pods, filled with smallish seed. These 

 are used for food in many parts of the world, and are also 

 cultivated for the oil with which they abound. The oil 

 resembles that of olives, and is nearly as good. The leaves 

 abound in mucilage; one or two stirred in a half pint of 

 water will form a bland mucilaginous drink very useful 

 in cholera infantum, dysentery, and summer complaints 

 generally. The leaves should be freshly gathered, and 

 enough may be added to make the water ropy without 

 affecting its color or taste. 



Sow a row in spring, on the edge of a plot or border, 

 and thin out as the plants require room. A few plants 

 will furnish all the leaves desired. 



Boneset, or Thoroughwort (Eupatorium perfoliatum), 

 is a Composite-flowered perennial, a native of most of the 

 United States, which, if not found growing wild in the 

 vicinity, should be cultivated, as it is one of the best 

 herbs in family practice. It has a faint odor, an intensely 

 bitter taste, and is slightly astringent. Its medicinal 

 virtues are diaphoretic, tonic, and in larger doses, emetic 

 and aperient. It is principally used as a diaphoretic in 

 colds, catarrhs, and rheumatism, in intermittent, remit- 

 tent and inflammatory diseases, or given cold as a tonic 

 in dyspepsia. 



Boneset can be raised by transplanting the roots or 

 sowing the seed in spring. 



Borage (Borago officinalis) is an annual European 

 plant. The tender tops, young leaves, and flowers are 

 sometimes used as a salad by the French, and boiled by 

 the Italians. 



