  183. SEA KALE (Crambe maritima) is a well-known plant in our kitchen-gardens, the early shoots of which are blanched, and eaten in the same manner as asparagus. This plant grows wild on sandy sea-coasts in various parts of England; and has been transplanted thence into the gardens. The mode of management is, in the autumn, to place large inverted garden-pots over the plants, and to cover the whole bed and the pots with dung and litter. The heat of the fermenting dung causes the plants to shoot early in the spring; and the pots protect them and keep them clear of the litter. By this means also, as they have no access to the light, they become blanched, tender, and of extremely sweet and delicate flavour. Sea kale is ready for use some time before asparagus appears; and, for the table, it is preferred by most persons to that favourite vegetable. If the leaves of sea kale be eaten when full grown, they are said to occasion giddiness; but horses, cows, swine, and other animals, feed upon them without injury. 184. WOAD is a dyeing drug, produced by a British plant (Isatis tinctoria), with arrow-shaped leaves on the stem, yellow cruciform flowers, and oblong seed-vessels, each containing one seed. This plant is believed to have been the same that was adopted by the ancient Britons for staining, or painting their bodies a blue colour, to render them, in appearance, at least, more terrible to their enemies. It grows wild on the borders of corn-fields, in some parts of Cambridgeshire, Somersetshire, and Durham: and As soon as the plants are in a sufficient state of maturity, they are gathered. The leaves are picked off, and submitted to the action of mills, somewhat similar to the mills that are used for the grinding of oak-bark. In these they are reduced to a pulp. The woad is then laid in small heaps, which are closely and smoothly pressed down. After continuing about a fortnight in this state, the heaps are broken up, and their substance is formed into balls, which are exposed to the sun to be dried. When the balls are perfectly dry, they are ready for use; and are employed, not only in dyeing blue, but also as the basis of several other colours. 185. HORSE-RADISH (Cochlearia armoracia) is a well-known kitchen-garden plant, which grows wild by the sides of ditches and the banks of rivers, in several parts of the north of England. The root of horse-radish is much used for culinary purposes. It is remarkable for great pungency both of smell and taste. When scraped, it is mixed with pickles to heighten their flavour, and is eaten with roast beef, fish, and several other kinds of food. Whenever more of the roots are dug out of the earth at once than are immediately wanted, they may be preserved for some time, in a juicy state, by putting them into dry sand. Horse-radish is also in considerable repute as a medicine, and is a powerful stimulant, whether externally or internally applied. Notwithstanding this, we are informed by Dr. Withering, that an infusion of horseradish in cold milk is one of the best and safest cosmetics that are known. SILIQUOSA.186. COMMON MUSTARD is made from the powdered seeds of a plant (Sinapis nigra), which grows wild in corn-fields and by road sides, in most parts of England, and is known by its yellow cruciform flowers, with expanding calyx, and its pods being smooth, square, and close to the stem. In light and otherwise barren lands mustard is cultivated to great advantage. That which is produced in the county of Durham has much celebrity; though the powdered seeds of charlock have, in many instances, been substituted, and sold in place of it. Mustard is in daily use at our tables, and the seeds, whole or bruised, are employed in pickles, and for numerous other culinary purposes. These seeds yield, on pressure, a considerable quantity of oil, which is soft and insipid to the taste, and partakes but little of the acrimony of the plant. Different preparations of mustard are sometimes used in medicine. The seeds, taken internally, are serviceable in asthma, rheumatism, and palsy. Cataplasms of mustard are employed, on account of its stimulating properties, on benumbed or paralytic limbs. An infusion of the powdered seeds, taken in considerable quantity, operates as an emetic, and, in smaller quantity, is an useful aperient and diuretic. 187. RAPE and COLE SEED (Brassica napus) are different varieties of a plant with yellow cruciform flowers and, spindle-shaped root, which grows wild upon ditch banks, and amongst corn. This plant is distinguished from others of the same tribe by its roots being a regular continuation of the stem. In several parts of England rape and cole seed are sown intermixed, the plants being distinguishable in their growth by the cole exceeding the rape in height, being more soft and tender, and less branched and bushy. When sown separately the cole is usually, though not always, consumed as food for sheep and cattle; and the rape is allowed to stand for seed. For the cultivation of rape the soil ought to be rich and deep. The harvest commences about the month of August; and as the seed, when in a state of maturity, is easily shed, it is customary, in some places, to thresh the plants on a large cloth in the field. Rape-cloths are sometimes so large as to measure twenty yards square, and to weigh more than half a ton. The threshing is Oil is obtained from rape-seed by pressure. This is used, in large quantities, by clothiers and others. It is also used in medicine; and for making the soap called green soap. It is likewise useful for various purposes in domestic life, and particularly for burning in lamps; but it is apt to become rancid, though there are means of purifying it. After the oil has been extracted, the refuse is called oil-cake, and is employed for the fattening of oxen; and, in Norfolk, is sometimes broken to pieces, and strewed upon the land as manure. The roots of rape plants may be eaten like turnips, but they have a stronger taste. The stalks, or haulm, if strong, may be advantageously employed in the formation of the enclosing fences of farm-yards. They are, however, generally burnt; and in some parts of the country, the ashes, which are equal in quality to the best pot-ashes, are collected together and sold. 188. The TURNIP (Brassica rapa) is a well-known edible root, which is cultivated to great extent in almost every part of England. To the farmer turnips are, in various particulars, a most valuable crop. They afford a profitable intervening crop with corn. Both the tops and roots are eaten by sheep. Horses and cattle may be advantageously fed upon the roots during winter; but the milk of cows receives an unpleasant flavour from them. This flavour is also communicated to the butter; but it may be taken off by dissolving a little nitre in spring water, and putting a small tea-cupful of it into about eight gallons of milk, when warm from the cow. Turnips also serve as food for mankind, either boiled or roasted. In the years 1629, 1636, and 1693, during the pressure These roots have been much recommended as sea store, from the possibility, with care, of preserving them for a great length of time uninjured, and from their furnishing an agreeable and wholesome food for sailors, on long voyages. The young and tender tops of turnips, when boiled, afford an agreeable substitute for greens. For the cultivation of turnips a light soil, particularly such as consists of a mixture of sand and loam, is found preferable to rich and heavy land. Turnips are raised from seed, which it has long been the established custom to sow in the month of June. As soon as the young plants have attained a tolerable size, they are hoed, for the purpose of thinning them. In their growth they suffer much by the attacks of slugs, caterpillars, and insects of different kinds, particularly of a small, dark beetle with two longitudinal yellowish stripes (Chrysomela nemorum), which is called by farmers the turnip-fly. For the destruction of this insect many plans have, at different times, been devised. Turnips are either eaten on the land by cattle, or are drawn out and stacked, or preserved under ground for winter use; and, in this state, they may be kept sound till April. There are several kinds of turnips; but of these the common white, or Norfolk turnips, and the Ruta-baga, or Swedish turnips, are the principal. The latter, which indeed constitute a distinct species, are generally of a yellowish colour, and are so hardy as to suffer no injury even from the most intense cold; but their 189. The COMMON CABBAGE (Brassica oleracea) is a well-known plant, the original stock of which grows on cliffs by the seaside, in Kent, Cornwall, Yorkshire, and Wales. This wild plant is likewise the original of the various kinds of colewort, borecole, cauliflower, and brocoli. The effects of cultivation on the cabbage are very remarkable. In the wild plants the leaves are extended: but in the common garden cabbage they are set so close together as to lie upon each other, almost like the scales of a bulb, and, increasing in compactness as they increase in size: those in the interior being excluded from the effects of the light, do not assume a green, but are of yellow colour. Other plants of this species form their stalks into a head, as the cauliflower and brocoli; and others grow, in a natural way, without forming either their leaves or stalks into heads, as the coleworts, or Dorsetshire kale, the borcoles, turnip-rooted cabbage, and others. In some parts of England, cabbages of different kinds are much cultivated as food for cattle, and they succeed well in rich and finely prepared land. The seed is sown in February or March. In April or May the young plants are taken out, and set in rows, at a little distance from each other; and, in the ensuing autumn and winter, the cabbages afford a valuable stock of food. All the kinds of cabbage are useful for domestic purposes; and some of them afford a peculiarly sweet and delicate food. An agreeable pickle is made of them, and the Germans, and people of other northern countries of the Continent, prepare from them a favourite food called sour-crout. These plants were known to, and much used by, the ancient Greeks and Romans. Cabbages are biennial plants, or are sown one year, produce seed in the ensuing year, and then die. |
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