THE LICORICE PLANT. 7 



being of a sandy, loamy character, though from all I could hear in this 

 particular, a rich black soil would answer equally as well, the only 

 requisite being considerable depth, to allow cf the downward growth 

 of the roots. 



The beds are prepared by being well trenched, the width of trench and 

 bed averaging 3 feet, having the appearance, when finished, of wide 

 celery beds. Commencing early in April or late in March, a top dress- 

 ing of good stable manure is applied, and then lightly covered over, 

 leaving the trench, perhaps, 6 inches below the level of the raised bed. 

 Buds and suckers, slips or runners, specimens of which (^os. 1 and 

 2) are herewith forwarded to the Department, are then lightly stuck 

 into the soil by one person in the field I saw a girl was employed in 

 this task while another follows along with a small spud or (local) dib- 

 ber with which holes are made at a distance of some few inches apart, 

 and the buds and suckers inserted therein, say 4 inches below the stir- 

 face that is, the tops covered-by about 4 inches of soil. 



This forms the double crop, that is, the buds growing downwards 

 producing licorice roots (specimen Ro. 3), the suckers forming buds for 

 future planting, width of bed permitting of cross rows of plants. The 

 buds and suckers are left in the ground for three years and a half, no 

 crop being obtained until the September following the fourth spring. 

 The first manuring is sufficient, the plants being weeded as required 

 during each summer. They do better in a hot, dry summer after the 

 first season, the last five or six wet years before that of 1884 not hav- 

 ing proved good ones for the crop. 



Frost, it seems, does not harm the plant, though in this matter I judge 

 that our very severe few England winters might prove harmful 

 the coldest season in Yorkshire seldom showing a greater degree of 

 frost than several degrees above zero, though the ground is often frozen 

 solid to some depth. I was assured that the plant is very hardy, had 

 no worm or parasite, and gave little trouble in its cultivation. Having 

 the trenches virtually idle for the first two years, since the tops of the 

 plants do not until the third years show any luxuriance of growth, the 

 universal custom is to plant the trenches for the first year with "ash" 

 potatoes, described as being a potato with a very small top, since the 

 ordinary potato vine would overshadow the staple, which, of course, is 

 the grower's prime care. For the second year, cabbages are grown 

 between the beds ; but for the third and fourth (that is, six mouths) the 

 trenches must lie fallow, as the licorice plant is then luxuriant, and 

 presents in the summer months the appearance of a plantation of young 

 ash trees, for instance. 



The grower plants a fresh crop in the spring of each year, and in the 

 fall of the same year harvests the one of three years and a half's growth. 

 The only labor required beyond this is that the beds in all their stages 

 must be kept free from weeds, and in November or December, when the 

 sap is out of the plants, they must be cut down. If a winter proves un- 

 usually severe the tops of the plants may be protected by a light cover- 

 ing of earth. !No irrigation is required even in the driest summer. 



GATHERING AND PREPARING THE ROOT. 



The mode of gathering the root is as follows, namely : The trench, 

 not the bed, must be dug down to a great depth, thus exposing, without 

 injuring, the roots, and the whole plant carefully taken out of the ground. 

 The earth from the second trench is thrown "into the first, and so on, 

 to the other side of the field. 



