6 THE LICORICE PLANT. 



From information of a reliable character obtained at Pontefract, I 

 gather that the plant is cultivated only at Mitcham as regards the 

 county of Surrey, and, as appears from the above account, in but a 

 small way for near consumption. 



Eeferring to the Pontefract industry, the only important one in the 

 British Isles, Murray in his Handbook for Yorkshire, third and last 

 edition, 1882 (p. 359), gives the following account: 



Licorice was first cultivated in England in the reign of Elizabeth (Stowe). * * 

 The plant, very graceful, with feathery leaves, is planted in ridges, and does not 

 come to perfection until the fourth year. 



The sandy soil suits it, and the fibrous rools are sometimes ten or twelve feet deep. 

 These are dug in autumn, and pounded in the following winter; the juice thus ex- 

 tracted is boiled down and mixed with gum arabic and other ingredients, and mixed 

 into large cakes. * * * The trade is slowly decaying since Spanish licorice is 

 now imported free of duty. 



As showing how widely diffused the. growth of this plant seems to 

 have been I find in an account of its introduction into England, given 

 by McKenzie's Cyclopaedia (unfortunately I cannot quote the article, 

 not having the volume in the town), that it originally came from Ger- 

 many. If true, the plant must indeed be a hardy one, since the Ger- 

 man winters often rival those of the United States in severity. Further 

 on, I shall again refer to the question of climate, naturally a very im- 

 portant one to growers in the United States. 



Messrs. Chambers give an excellent account of the plant in their 

 popular Encyclopaedia, revised edition 1874 (vol. 6, p. 147), from which I 

 may pertinently furnish a few extracts: 



The roots of licorice * * * are a well-known article of materia medica, and 

 were used by the ancients, as in modern times, being emollient, demulcent, very use- 

 ful in catarrh and irritation of the mucus membrane. 



The roots of the common licorice are chiefly in use in Europe. * * * It is culti- 

 vated in many countries of Europe, chiefly in Spain. * * * The roots are exten- 

 sively employed by porter brewers. They are not imported into Great Britain in con- 

 siderable quantities, but the black inspissated extract of them (black sugar or stick 

 licorice) is largely imported from the south of Europe, in rolls or sticks packed iu 

 bay leaves or in boxes of about 2 cwt., into which it has been run. 



Licorice is propagated by slips, and after a plantation has been made, almost three 

 years must elapse before the roots can be taken up for use. The whole of the roots 

 are then taken up. 



Licorice requires a deep, rich, loose soil, well trenched and manured ; the roots 

 penetrating to the depth of more than a yard, and straight tap-roots being most es- 

 teemed. 



The old stems are cleared off at the end of each season, and the root-stalks so cut 

 away as to prevent overgrowth above ground next year. 



The plant is propagated by cuttings of the root-stalks. 



The root of the prickly licorice (Glycyrrhiza echinata) are used in the same way, 

 chiefly in Italy and Sicily, Russia, and the East. The only American species is 

 Glycyrrhiza lepidota, which grows in the plains of the Missouri. 



CULTIVATION OF LICOKICE IN ENGLAND. 



Thinking that something might be learned from persons in the busi- 

 ness residing at Pontefract, I visited this place armed with letters of 

 introduction to several of the largest manufacturers there. Before en- 

 tering on the method pursued for making the so-called "Pontefract 

 cakes" from the licorice juice, I, perhaps, cannot do better than describe 

 the system of cultivation, soil, &c., as obtained on the spot from three 

 practical men, two out of the three being growers of the plant, which 

 I was then told had been introduced into Pontefract by the monks, 

 whose simple pharmacopeia embraced licorice root among the large 

 number of herbs prepared by them for medicinal purposes. 



The soil about Pontefract is well suited for the growth of the plant, 



