VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 255 



dry. White Mustard may be sown any time of the year 

 for a salad, in the same manner as cress, which see. It 

 must be used when the seed-leaf is just expanded, for if 

 it gets into the rough leaf it is fit for nothing but greens. 

 For use, cut them off with a sharp knife. They should be 

 used soon after gathering. Mustard for greens or for seed 

 should be sown broadcast or in drills eighteen inches apart, 

 to be finally thinned to about a foot in the drill. The 

 leaves at the South are gathered the latter part of winter 

 or in early spring. Keep the ground free from weeds. 

 When grown for seed, gather when the pods change color, 

 and thresh when dry. 



Use. — The tender leaves of both species are used for 

 salads, and should be more cultivated for this purpose. 

 They are also much cultivated for greens. The seeds 

 of the white variety, ground, form the Durham or London 

 table mustard, but the flour of the black sort is that from 

 which our American table mustard is, or ought to be, 

 made. The seeds may be ground in a common spice mill 

 or crushed by a roller on a table. In this country the flour 

 is usually sifted after grinding, but the French do not sep- 

 arate the husk, and thus make a brownish flour, more pow- 

 erful and palatable than the other. Mustard is a very 

 agreeable condiment, assisting digestion and promoting ap- 

 petite. The seed used whole is an excellent seasoning to 

 various kinds of pickles. It is also much used in medicine, 

 both by the faculty and in domestic practice. It is an ac- 

 rid stimulant, and in large quantities acts as an emetic. 

 The proper dose for the latter is from a teaspoonful to a 

 tablespoonful in a glass of water. Mustard is a local 

 excitant applied to the skin in a cataplasm, made of the 

 ground meal with vinegar or lukewarm water ; if mixed 

 with boiling water the acrid principle will not be developed. 



