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BASIL (WILD). 
very dark green leaves, and a violet-coloured 
flower; curled-leaved basil, with short spikes of 
flowers ; middle basil, with a citron flavour; 
studded-leaved basil; and basil, with leaves of 
three colours. All the varieties are propagated 
from seeds sown in March on a moderate hot-bed; 
and the young plants are first transplanted into 
another moderate hot-bed, and afterwards, in 
May, are removed, with balls of earth, to the 
open ground.—The greater or clove-scented basil 
is very generally regarded as a variety of the 
common basil; but it is larger in size, and pos- 
sesses some observably different characters. Its 
stem rises to the height of 18 inches; its leaves. 
are large, oval, and smooth; and its flowers are 
produced in whorled spikes of 5 or 6 inches in 
length from the top of the stem, and in smaller 
| whorled spikes from the ends of the branches; 
|| but, in all other respects, it closely resembles 
‘| common basil. 
Its principal varieties are the 
purple fringed-leaved, the green fringed-leaved, 
|| the large-leaved, and the green studded-leaved. 
—The least basil, or bush basil, Ocymum mini- 
mum, is a low bushy annual of from 6 to 12 inches 
in height. Its branches spread out from the 
| lower as well as the upper parts of the stem; its 
head has an orbicular outline; its leaves are 
| small, oval, and smooth, and stand opposite to 
one another on short footstalks; and its flowers 
are produced in whorls toward the top of the 
branches.—The hoary and the pilose species are 
annuals of similar habits to the common species, 
but are not cultivated in the kitchen garden. 
Fifteen or sixteen other species, some annual, 
some biennial, some perennial, and all tender, are 
grown in Great Britain; but, excepting three or 
four which rank as ornamental plants, they are 
quite devoid of interest. 
BASIL (WILD),—botanically Clinopodiwm. A 
genus of hardy, perennial, herbaceous plants, of 
the lip-flowered tribe. The common species, 
Clinopodium vulgare, grows wild by the side of 
hedges and in thickets, in most parts of England. 
Its root is fibrous, and sends up several stiff square 
stems to the height of 18 inches; the branches 
are produced laterally near the top of the stems ; 
the leaves are oval, hairy, and in mutually op- 
posite pairs; and the flowers are produced in 
whorls or heads, one at the top of the stem, and 
generally one also at the joint next the top. 
Some of the flowers are purple, others are white, 
most are pink, and all appear from June till 
August. The plant is slightly aromatic, has a 
fragrant and refreshing odour, grows luxuriantly 
under culture, and is well-known in kitchen 
gardens. Two other species are cultivated in 
Britain, the Egyptian and the origanum-leaved, 
the former from Egypt, and the latter from the 
south of Hurope. 
BASIL THYME,—hotanically Acynos vulgaris. 
An indigenous, ornamental, annual plant, of the 
BASSIA. 
369 
It has a height of only 6 or 8 inches; is spread- 
ing and much branched; its leaves are acute, 
serrated, and slightly aromatic; and its flowers 
grow in whorls, and have a bluish colour, tipped 
with white and dark purple. The plant fre- 
quently occurs in cultivated fields, and at the 
foot of dry hedges; and is specially luxuriant on 
sandy, gravelly, and chalky soils. 
BASILICON. An ointment, made of resin, 
bees’ wax, and olive oil. It is a good digestive 
ointment for cattle wounds which will not readily 
heal; and, when a little turpentine and verdigris 
are added to its composition, it acts as a good 
stimulant. 
BASIN, or Bason. A reservoir or artificial 
pond, for the retention of water in a garden, or 
on the home-ground of a farmery, for either use 
or ornament. 
BASKET. A utensil for holding dry goods, 
or a vehicle for their hand-carriage. Baskets are 
made generally of the twigs of willows, but some- 
times of the twigs of birch, hazel, and other elastic 
brushwood, splinters of elastic timber, culms of 
strong grass, and stems of rushes and other soft 
filamentous plants. They are constructed like- 
wise of a great variety of shapes and sizes, and 
for a vast multiplicity and diversity of uses, 
Most of the multitudinous baskets of the regular 
basket-maker, are too ornamental and costly to 
suit the purposes of a farm ; but numerous coarse 
kinds of osier baskets, from the small fruit pot- 
tle to the large potato basket, or the still larger 
pannier, are of eminent service. They are too 
well known, however, to need any description. 
BASS. The material of packing-mats, used in 
stripes for ligatures to growing plants. Any 
gardener who cannot readily obtain a supply of 
bass, may easily prepare it for himself from the 
loppings of lime-trees. Any branches of lime- 
tree, from an inch in diameter to the largest ob- 
tainable size, may be steeped three months in a 
ditch or pond, and afterwards dried; and their 
bark, if it then be peeled off in stripes, and 
washed in clean water, will be found to be very 
strong and tough bass. 
BASSIA. A small genus of tender, evergreen 
trees, of the sapota tribe. Three species, the 
long-leaved, the broad-leaved, and the butter- 
bearing, have been introduced to Great Britain, 
the last from Nepaul, and the other two from 
Hindostan. All grow to the height of about 40 
feet, and have a beautiful appearance. Their 
flowers are sweet, singular-looking, and useful; 
they are collected in great quantities, and used 
for various purposes, in many parts of India; in 
Tranquebar, they are bruised, boiled to a jelly, 
formed into balls, and bartered by the natives 
for rice and fish; in Bahar and some parts of the 
Circars, they are dried in the sun, till they ac- 
quire a flavour like raisins, and are sent over all 
the Mahratta countries, in the same manner as 
raisins are in Europe; and at Chatra, in various 
other parts of Upper India, and in some districts 
2 
| lip-flowered family. It was formerly regarded 
| as a species of thyme, and called Thymus acynos. 
I. 
