46 



WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



heavy, becomes light and spongy. Frequently the stems or stumps, from 

 which the heads have been removed, are set out in gardens for the pur- 

 pose of procuring a crop of sprouts or " greens." These are lateral 

 branches, developed from axillary buds, and they will be found to 

 start from just above the scars left by the fallen outer leaves. In the 

 Kohl Rabi, the stem is the principal place of deposit of nutriment, and 

 becomes consequently the eatable portion, In the cauliflower we eat the 

 fleshy flower stalks and undeveloped buds, which are crowded together 

 in a compact mass ; it is the same also in the Broccoli, where the parts 

 are more developed. * 



2. B. campes'tris, L. Leaves slightly fleshy, glaucous ; the young lower 

 leaves lyrate, dentate, somewhat hispid or ciliate ; those above amplexi- 

 caul and acuminate. 



Field Beassica. Turnip. Rutabaga, &c. 



Biennial or annual. Moot thick, turnip-shaped, depressed or orbicular, fleshy. Stem 1 

 -4 feet high, branched above. Racemes loose. Petals yellow. 

 Gardens and lots : cultivated. Fl. June. jFr. July -August. 



The following are the principal varieties found in cultivation : 



Sub-species Napo-bras'sica. Root tumid, turnip- shaped. 

 Var. a. commu'nis. Root white or purplish, with the summit and peti- 

 oles greenish or purplish. 

 Turnip-rooted Cabbage. 



Var. b. Rutaba'ga. Root yellowish, subglobose. 

 Rutabaga. Swedish Turnip. 



Sub-species Ra'pa. Root depressed-globose abruptly contracted beneath. 

 Common Turnip. 



Obs. The Turnip has, like the Cabbage, by long cultivation, produced 

 a number of marked varieties ; these were formerly considered to belong 

 to difierent species, but the best authorities regard them all as forms of 

 B. CAMPESTRis, L., which is found growing spontaneously from the Bal- 

 tic to the Caucasus. Besides those above enumerated as valuable for 

 their roots, another variety (var. oleifera) is largely cultivated in 

 France and other parts of Europe, for the sake of the oil, which its 

 seeds afford ; this, under the name of Colza oil, is used for burning in 

 lamps, the manufacture of soaps and other purposes. As this oil is im- 

 ported into this country to a considerable extent, it might be advisable 

 for farmers to ascertain if it cannot be profitably produced on our own 

 soil. The various kinds of Turnips are largely cultivated in the tem- 

 perate portions of Europe as food for stock, but the farmers of the 

 United States having the advantage of the Indian Corn crop, do not 

 much incline to the Root culture; perhaps not so much as might be 

 beneficial to Stock during our long winters. * 



