5 
CULTURE OF THE GENUS RESEDA. 
There are twenty species of Reseda known to botanists^ of which probably half 
are not worth cultivation ; some are ornamental^ and others delightfully fragrant. 
The dyers' weed (^Reseda luteola) is much cultivated for its colouring properties. 
It affords a beautiful yellow dye for cottons^ woollen, silk, and linen. Blue cloths 
are dipped in a decoction of it in order to become green. The yellow colour of the 
paint called Dutch-pink is obtained from this plant. The entire plant when it is 
about flowering is pulled up for the use of the dyers, who employ it both fresh and 
dried. 
" The seeds are usually sown after barley is taken off the ground in autumn, or 
it is very commonly sown with barley in the spring ; but the first mode is the best, 
because the plants make some progress the first year, and in the following season 
they will be twice the size of those sown in the spring. 
^' After the ground has been well ploughed and harrowed, the seeds should be 
sown broadcast, of which one gallon is sufficient for an acre. Unless the ground be 
very poor, it will not require any dung. The best crops, however, will be the result 
of drilling and cultivating the crop alone. The drills may be a foot apart, and the 
plants six inches distance, in the rows. The plants should be kept clear of weeds 
by hoeing. 
" When seeds are required, a small portion should be left standing for the 
purpose, and the plants should be pulled up as the seeds ripen. The whole crop 
may be cleared off before the time of sowing wheat, which is the best crop to follow 
dyers' weed. 
" The crop is taken by pulling the entire plant ; some pull it when in flower^ 
others pull it earlier ; the last appears to be the best. In the execution of the 
work, the plants are drawn up by the roots in small handfuls, and set up to dry, 
after being tied with one of the stalks ; sometimes, however, they become sufficiently 
dry without being set up, by turning. These, after they have been completely 
dried, are tied up into bundles and sold by the name of Weld-cord. 
" The demand for it is sometimes very little, while at others it is so great as to 
raise the price to a high degree. 
" The herb is sometimes gathered green, and treated like woad or indigo ; but 
in general the dried herb is used by the dyers in a state of decoction. The chief 
disease of weld is the mildew, to which it is very liable when young ; and this is 
one reason why it is often sown with other crops 
The Mignonette. — {Reseda odorata). — This sweet-scented flower is a native 
* Doll's Miller's Dictionary, 
