1883.] 
AMERICAS' AGRICULTURIST. 
455 
Several inches of forest leaves are placed over 
them, and the frame covered with boards. To¬ 
wards spring the leaves are to be removed and the 
boards replaced by sashes; the heat of the sun 
will start the roots by the time the ground is ready 
for planting out the cuttings. For the quince, 
cuttings of the previous season’s growth have usu¬ 
ally been advised, but Mr. Meech, in the American 
Agriculturist for May, 1883, shows that he gets bet¬ 
ter results from cuttings of old wood, “ from the 
size of the finger to that of a hoe-handle.” Cut¬ 
tings of the currant and gooseberry should be of 
this year’s growth, about six inches long, and 
planted at once, leaving one or two buds above the 
surface. At the approach of cold weather, cover 
the rows with straw or litter. In a warm autumn 
the cuttings will form fine cluster of roots, and 
be ready to grow rapidly when the spring comes. 
Bene, or Sesame, for Oil. 
A friend who has seen in Mexico large fields of 
Ajonjoli (pronounced ah-hon-ho-lee) cultivated for 
its oil, asks why it might not be a profitable crop 
in our Southern States. There is little inducement 
for these States to cultivate a crop especially for 
oil, when they have an abundant source of excel¬ 
lent oil in a hitherto waste product, the cotton 
seed. But the plant referred to by our friend, as 
grown by the Mexicans as a source of oil, was cul¬ 
tivated in the Southern States very early in their 
history, and in Charleston, S. C., the oil was manu¬ 
factured as early as 1735. The plant in question is 
known in this country as Bene, or Benne, and Se¬ 
same, names derived from oriental countries, where 
it has several others. Bene (in two syllables) is 
the more common name in this country ; the seeds 
have long been known in the East as Sesame, and 
it will be recollected by the readers of the “ Ara¬ 
bian Nights,” that the name furnished the coun¬ 
BENE, OR SESAME. 
tersign, “Open Sesame,” which gave entrance to 
the cave of the Forty Thieves. The botanical 
name of the plant is Sesamum Indicum, and it be¬ 
longs to a small family ( Pedalinem ), which also 
contains the Martynia, often cultivated in our gar¬ 
dens for pickles. The stalk grows four or five 
feet high, with lance-shaped leaves, which at the 
lower part are sometimes lobed. The axils of the 
leaves each bear a solitary flower, which is white, 
with a reddish tinge ; this is followed by an oblong 
capsule containing numerous seeds. The engrav¬ 
ing shows the upper part of a plant, with leaves, 
flowers, and pods, much reduced. If one or two 
of the leaves are placed in a tumbler of cold water 
and stirred occasionally, the water will soon be¬ 
come very viscid and ropy, like mucilage of Gum 
Arabic, while remaining perfectly clear. This mu¬ 
cilage is much used in warm countries as a drink 
especially for invalids. It is very nutritious, and 
the plant is often cultivated in Northern gardens for 
use by the sick, and is often supplied by druggists. 
The dried leaves act in the same manner if treated 
with boiling water. The seeds, which are flattish, 
and about a fifth of an inch across, are from white 
to brown or black, in different varieties of theplant. 
The seeds have long been used by the Southern 
negroes as food; they add them to soups and 
stews, and paroh them, and afterwards cook them 
in water. After parching the seeds, they often 
candy them with sugar or molasses. They form a 
common article of food in India and Tropical 
Africa, but the commercial value of the seeds de¬ 
pends upon their oil, of which they yield about 
half their weight. The oil, when of the best 
quality, closely resembles olive oil, but does not 
congeal so readily in cold weather, and is used for 
similar purposes. The seeds are an important ar¬ 
ticle of commerce, the annual importation into 
France, principally Marseilles, being not far from a 
million hundred weight. Those places which ex¬ 
port the most olive oil, import the most cotton¬ 
seed oil, and the same may be said of Bene seed. 
Immense quantities of the seed are annually press¬ 
ed, yet the oil is hardly known as an article of 
commerce. The inference is obvious to any one. 
Preparing for Early Frost in the Garden. 
The season during which garden vegetables may 
be enjoyed can be prolonged at both ends. Many 
are ready to do this by forwarding their various 
vegetables under frames in spring, who neglect to 
provide for the fall supply. It is well to plan at 
once for the other end of the season, especially in 
northern localities, where an early frost may play 
havoc with the tender plants in the garden. Those 
who keep the run of the weather are aware that, in 
northern localities, at least, there are usually two 
or three nights of early frost, followed by a period 
of glorious weather, in which all the plants that 
have escaped the first attacks, seem to luxuriate in 
the growing period which follows. In northern lo¬ 
calities tomatoes are caught by the early frosts, 
just as they show the best prospect for fruit. 
Melons have set with excellent promise of ripen¬ 
ing, which a single frost will blast, and the best of 
all beans, the Limas, will be checked just when 
they are apparently most productive, by the same 
adverse influence. If we can get safely over these 
early frosts, the season of productiveness can be 
greatly prolonged. With tomatoes, if there were 
no other advantage, the ability to shield them 
from early frosts is greatly in favor of training 
them to a trellis of some kind. Whatever will 
keep the vines from the ground, and in a compact 
form, will greatly increase the supply of fruit, and 
will allow of their being sheltered from the first 
frosts. In protecting from frost we have not, as 
many suppose, to ward off an attack of cold; we 
have only to keep the plants themselves from cool¬ 
ing to an undue extent. The least possible shelter 
will answer this purpose, and for garden uses, the 
most available is newspapers, without regard to 
their politics. If on nights when frost is appre¬ 
hended newspapers are spread over the tomato 
plants, all the more conveniently done if they are 
trained to trellises, or over choice melons that have 
not yet ripened, as a rule the crop will be saved. 
The papers should be kept as far above the plants 
as possible. In protecting melons, it is well to 
place stakes a foot or more high among the vines, 
and allow the papers to rest upon the ends of these. 
It will not be very difficult to shield such low 
plants as tomatoes and melons. The first frost 
will kill Lima beans, if unprotected, and it will be 
well to take up the poles, digging the vines at the 
same time, when sure of an approaching frost, and 
place them under a shed. Treated in this manner, 
many of the young pods will fill and be available. 
Ragweed—A Midsummer Pest. 
After the grain crops are off, the stubble, if left 
unoccupied, is taken possession of by a rapid 
growing weed. The same weed appears in the po¬ 
tato fields, after they have their last cultivation, 
and often grows so luxuriantly as to complete^ 
hide the potato tops. Not only in these fields, bu! 
everywhere, in waste places, the same weed springs 
up at midsummer and luxuriates until frost puts 
an end to it. The weed in question is popularly 
known as “Ragweed,” “Roman Wormwood,” 
“Hogweed,” and “ Bitterweed.” Its botanical 
name is Ambrosia artemisicefolia. Why ambrosia , 
“ the food of the gods,” should have been given to 
this genus of miserable plauts, is difficult to un¬ 
derstand, unless it was applied in accordance with 
the doctrine of contraries. 
The plant in question, most generally known as 
Ragweed, grows two or three feet high, is much 
branched, and, having finely divided leaves, is not 
inelegant in its appearance. The branches are ter¬ 
minated by spikes of sterile flowers; the fertile 
flowers are in the axils of the leaves below, as seen 
in the engraving (fig. 1.) A fertile flower is shown 
separate (fig. 2 ;) this is enclosed 
in an involucre, which has blunt 
spines, and bears within a single 
seed. Many suppose the stami- 
nate, somewhat showy flowers, 
to be seed-bearing; fortunate¬ 
ly the seeds are much fewer 
than these would indicate, but 
abundant enough to keep the 
ground well stocked until the 
warm weather calls them into 
life. Fortunately, the weed, in 
its young state, is easily kept in 
check by other plants; it is 
only when it has the land to it¬ 
self that it develops and takes 
possession. Though so abun¬ 
dant, North and South, its prev¬ 
alence need cause little anxiety, 
put an end to it, and its remains 
are turned under, seeds and all, at the next plow¬ 
ing. The plant is often very variable in the shape 
of its leaves, and the slender spikes, which are 
usually of sterile florets, rarely bear fertile ones. 
Though in its midsummer luxuriance the plant 
looks formidable, it is easily subdued. The herb 
is strong-smelling and very bitter, and, like many 
other bitter things, has been sometimes used as a 
substitute for quinine. Another species, the Great 
Ragweed (A. trifida ), much coarser, and eight to 
twelve feet high, but does not appear as a weed. 
Ijp^ 
Fig. 2. 
The frosts soon 
