CLASS XVII. DIADELPHIA. DECANDRIA.

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193. The COMMON BROOM (Spartium scoparium) is a shrub common on sandy pastures and heaths in nearly all the southern parts of England; and is distinguished by having large, yellow, butterfly-shaped flowers, leaves in threes, and single, and the branches angular.

Few of our wild plants are applicable to more numerous purposes of domestic utility than this. Its twigs are tied in bundles, and formed into brooms. Some persons roast the seeds, and make them into a kind of coffee. The fibrous and elastic parts of the bark, after having been separated by soaking in water, may be manufactured into cordage, matting, and even into a coarse kind of cloth. The twigs and young branches have been successfully employed as a substitute for oak bark, in the tanning of leather. They may also be rendered serviceable as thatch for houses, and corn ricks; and some persons mix them with hops in brewing; but it is doubtful whether, in this respect, they are wholesome. The flower buds, when pickled, have occasionally been used as a substitute for capers.

The wood, where the dimensions are sufficient for the purpose, is employed by cabinet-makers for veneering; and it is stated by Dr. Mead, that a decoction of the green tops, in conjunction with mustard, has been found efficacious in the cure of dropsy.

194. SPANISH BROOM, or SPART (Spartium junceum), is a well-known ornamental flowering shrub in our gardens, which has opposite, round branches, that flower at the top, and spear-shaped leaves.

In the province of Valencia, and other parts of Spain, great attention is paid to this manufacture of various articles from the twigs and bark of this shrub. They are plaited into mats, carpets, coverings for plants, baskets, ropes, and even shoes. A great portion of these twigs was formerly exported to different French ports in the Mediterranean, particularly to Marseilles; but, in 1783, on account of the employment of which it deprived the Spanish people in working them, their exportation was prohibited by the government.

195. FURZE, GORZE, or WHIN (Ulex EuropÆus), is a well-known thorny shrub, which is common on heaths and waste ground in almost every part of England.

The chief use to which furze is applied, is for the heating of ovens; and, in this respect, it is valuable, from its burning rapidly, and emitting a great degree of heat. Its ashes are used for a ley, which is of considerable service in the washing of linen.

In some parts of the country, furze is sown on banks, round fields, for the purpose of a fence; and it will flourish even close to the sea side, where the spray of the sea destroys almost every other shrub. But it will not bear severe cold, and it is often destroyed by intense frost. Furze does not often occur in the northern parts of our island.

Horses, sheep, and cattle may be fed on this shrub; and, in several places, the seeds of it are sown, either by themselves, or with barley, oats, or buck-wheat (126). The plants are mown a year afterwards. They will grow for several years, and produce from ten to fifteen tons per acre of food, which is equal, in quality and excellence, to the same quantity of hay. They are bruised before they are eaten, either in a machine, or by heavy mallets on blocks of wood. This operation is requisite, in order to break the prickles, and prevent these from being injurious to the mouths of the animals that eat them.

196. COWHAGE, or COW-ITCH, is a sharp and barbed kind of down or hair, which thickly clothes the pods of a bean-like climbing plant (Dolichos pruriens, Fig. 53), that grows in the West Indies, and other countries of warm climates.

This is an herbaceous plant, which entwines round the adjacent trees or shrubs, and often rises to a considerable height. The leaves grow in threes upon long foot-stalks; and the flowers are large, butter-fly shaped, of purplish colour, and form long and pendant spikes, which have a very beautiful appearance.

It is the property of cowhage, when rubbed upon the skin, immediately to penetrate it, and to cause an intolerable itching. Hence it is sometimes wantonly employed for mischievous purposes; and hence also it is found very troublesome to cattle and domestic animals, in places where the plants grow. Notwithstanding this, it may be swallowed in safety, and, if taken into the stomach and intestines, is said to be an useful remedy for the destruction of worms. As a medicine, it is mixed with syrup or treacle into the form of an electuary.

197. SOY is a dark-coloured sauce, which is prepared from the seeds of a Chinese plant (Dolichos soja), that has an erect and hairy stem, erect branches of flowers, and pendulous bristly pods, each containing about two seeds.

There is a joke amongst seamen, that soy is made from beetles or cockroaches. This probably originates in the seeds of the plant from which the sauce is manufactured having some fancied resemblance, in shape and colour, to a beetle. These seeds are used in China and Japan as food. They are made into a kind of jelly or curd, which is esteemed very nutritious, and which is rendered palatable by seasoning of different kinds.

The liquid which we know by the name of soy is thus prepared:—After the seeds have been boiled until they become soft, they are mixed with an equal weight of wheat or barley meal, coarsely ground. This mixture is fermented; and a certain proportion of salt and water being added, the whole is allowed to stand for two or three months, care being taken to stir it every day; and, by the end of that time, it is ready for use.

Soy is chiefly prepared in China and Japan; but that imported from Japan is considered preferable to any other. The quantity annually vended at the East India Company's sales is from eight hundred to two thousand gallons, at an average price of sixteen or eighteen shillings per gallon.

198. BEANS (Vicia faba) are well-known seeds, originally introduced from Persia, of which there are several kinds or varieties; some of these are cultivated in fields, and others in gardens.

Field, or horse-beans, as they are frequently called, are small and somewhat round. The cultivation of them is pursued to a considerable extent. They are esteemed, in many respects, an advantageous crop to the farmer, and will thrive on any land where the soil is sufficiently stiff. They are usually sown in the month of February; sometimes in the autumn; but, in case of severe frost, all the plants that are not well and deeply covered with snow will perish. There is also much uncertainty in the crop, owing to the state of the weather in the spring and summer; and particularly to the ravages of small black insects, myriads of which are frequently seen to crowd the tender tops of the plants.

The bean-harvest is seldom completed till nearly the end of September, owing to the bulk and succulence of the plants; and the produce is from two and a half to five quarters per acre.

There are several varieties of field-beans; but the fine and very small ones usually bear the highest price. Bean flour is not only thought more nutritive, but is found to be more abundant than that of oats. Beans are chiefly applied to the feeding of horses, hogs, and other domestic animals; and it is supposed that meal-men often grind them amongst wheat, the flour of which is to be made into bread. By some persons they are roasted, and adopted as a substitute for coffee. With the Roman ladies bean-flour was in much repute as a cosmetic.

Garden-beans are almost wholly confined to culinary uses. What are called French-beans, and Kidney-beans, belong to a different tribe from the present.

Bean stalks, if subjected to a certain process, are capable of being converted into paper.

199. VETCHES are a small species of beans (Vicia sativa) which grow wild in dry meadows, pastures, and cornfields, and are also cultivated in most parts of England.

The pods are generally in pairs; and the leaves winged, having each about six pairs of leaflets, with a branched tendril at the extremity. At the bases of each of the leaves there is a small stipule, marked with a dark spot.

The principal use of vetches is as provender for horses and cattle. They are grown so early as to allow of being fed off, or cut for this purpose, in sufficient time for turnips to be sown the same year. When the land is to be prepared for a wheat crop it is sometimes customary to plough in the vetches as manure. The seeds afford a grateful food for pigeons.

200. PEAS (Pisum sativum) are a kind of seeds too well known to need any description.

There are several kinds of peas, some of which are cultivated in gardens, and others in fields. The former are principally used for culinary purposes. In the early part of the year, gardeners in the neighbourhood of London raise them on hot-beds. The kind they select for this purpose are the dwarf peas. These are sown about the middle of October in warm borders; and afterwards, towards the end of January, they are removed into the hot-beds. The inducement, of course, is the enormous prices that are paid for the earliest peas brought into the market. The podding or picking of green peas for the London market is also a valuable branch of the business of some farms within a few miles of the metropolis. Many attempts have been made to preserve green peas for use in winter; one of these is by bottling them, and another by drying them in an oven, and afterwards keeping them in paper bags; but none of the modes have been attended with complete success.

Field peas are sown about March or April, and succeed best in light, rich soils. They are generally considered an uncertain crop; but this is owing, in a great degree, to want of due attention to their culture.

In common with most other seeds of this class, peas yield a nutritive food to persons of strong stomachs. When boiled in a fresh or green state, they are both wholesome and agreeable; and, when ripe and ground into meal, they are peculiarly serviceable for the fattening of swine. The flour of peas is not unfrequently mixed by bakers amongst that of wheat for bread; but bread made of this flour alone is heavy and unwholesome. Three parts of rye-flour and one of ground peas are said to yield a palatable and nourishing bread. Peas that are freed from their husks, and split in mills constructed for the purpose, are used for soup. The haulm or straw of field peas, if saved in favourable seasons, affords not only an excellent fodder for working horses, but is also an useful food for horses, cattle, and sheep.

It has been presumed that the everlasting pea, which is commonly grown as an ornamental flower in our gardens, would be an advantageous green food for horses and cattle.

201. LIQUORICE is the root of a perennial plant (Glycyrrhiza glabra), with winged leaves, and purplish butterfly-shaped flowers, which grows wild in the south of Europe, and is cultivated near Pontefract in Yorkshire, Worksop in Nottinghamshire, and Godalming in Surrey, and by many gardeners in the vicinity of London.

The stalks of the liquorice-plant are usually four or five feet high. The leaves are winged, and the leaflets egg-shaped, with an odd one at the extremity. The flowers grow in long spikes from the junction of the leaves and branches. The roots are long, round, tough, of brown colour externally, and yellow within.

The principal use of liquorice is in medicine. It contains much saccharine matter, joined with some portion of mucilage; and is one of the few sweet substances which tend to allay thirst. Liquorice is an excellent medicine in coughs and hoarsenesses. When boiled in a little water, it gives out nearly all its sweetness; and this, when the moisture is evaporated, produces, by different processes, what are called Spanish liquorice, liquorice cakes, liquorice lozenges, and Pontefract cakes. The former of these is used to great extent in the brewing of porter. It is said that more than two hundred tons' weight of it are annually manufactured in Spain, a considerable portion of which is sold to the London brewers for this purpose. Liquorice powder, which is used in medicine, is often adulterated with flour, and probably also with less wholesome articles. The root itself may be employed as stopples for beer or wine bottles.

The soil in which liquorice is cultivated should be deep, light, and sandy; and the roots, which strike deeply into the ground, should be planted in rows, at the distance of a foot and half or two feet from each other. Three years elapse, after the roots are planted, before the liquorice is in perfection.

202. SAINT-FOIN (Hedysarum onobrychis) is a British perennial plant with winged leaves, somewhat pyramidal bunches of butterfly-shaped flowers, marked with red, white, and purple; and oblong, hairy pods, each containing a single seed.

This plant is cultivated in several of the farming districts of England, as food for horses and cattle; and it succeeds best on dry and chalky lands, in high and exposed situations. The seed should be sown in February or March, and, during the first year, the plants should remain untouched. In the ensuing summer a crop of hay may be obtained from them; and after this the saint-foin may regularly be mown twice every year, for ten or fifteen years. When intended for hay, saint-foin should not be cut before it is in full bloom, about the beginning of July, as otherwise the quality of the hay would be much injured. Some farmers assert that saint-foin, when cows are fed with it, both increases the quantity and improves the quality of their milk; but, in the opinion of others, the quality is rather injured than improved by it. No pasture is considered more excellent for sheep than this. Saint-foin is also sometimes sown with clover, and sometimes with barley.

203. COMMON RED or BROAD CLOVER (Trifolium pratense) is a well-known field plant, much cultivated in this country.

Clover is chiefly grown in firm and good soils, either as green food for horses and cattle, or to be cut for hay. On grass farms it is sometimes sown in conjunction with spring corn, and sometimes with ray-grass (51); and its utility in the fattening of cattle is well known. This species of clover grows wild, in meadows and pastures of most parts of Europe; and, in some countries, during a scarcity of provisions, the flowers have been made into a kind of bread. In Sweden the heads are used as a green dye.

204. LUCERN (Medicago sativa) is a perennial plant with small purple butterfly-shaped flowers, twisted pods, the stem erect and smooth, and the leaves in threes.

Although a wild plant in nearly every country of the temperate parts of Europe, this useful vegetable has only of late years been introduced into cultivation. It flourishes most luxuriantly in deep, rich, and friable loams, and cannot be too strongly recommended as food for cattle. The value of lucern may be considerably increased by sowing it with oats; and, though an expensive crop, it yields great profit.

205. INDIGO is a blue dye prepared from a plant (Indigofera tinctoria) with a shrubby stem, oblong, smooth, and winged leaves, bunches of flowers shorter than the leaves, and cylindrical pods slightly curved, which grows in America and the West Indies.

The culture of indigo is an object of considerable importance in the West Indian islands, and in some parts of America. The grounds appropriated to it are sown about the middle of March, in rows fifteen inches asunder. The plants come into flower about three months afterwards, and are in a state to be cut about the month of August. They are cut with a kind of reaping hook, a few inches above the root. The plants are then laid in strata, in a vat or cistern constructed of strong mason-work, and so much water is poured in as will cover them. In this state they are left to ferment, and the fluid or pulp, which is first green, afterwards becomes of deep blue colour. It is now drawn off into another vat, where it is strongly and incessantly beaten and agitated, until the colouring matter is united into a body. The water is then let off by cocks in the sides of the vat; and the indigo, after undergoing some further preparations, is cast, in boxes or moulds, into small pieces, each about an inch square, and packed up for sale. The vapour which issues from the fermented liquor is extremely injurious to the negroes who attend the process; and as peculiar attention is requisite both to this and the granulating of the pulp, many indigo-planters have failed in the manufacture of this article.

Indigo is employed by dyers, calico-printers, and paper-stainers, to an extent so great that nearly 500,000 pounds' weight of it are annually imported into this kingdom. The stone-blue used by laundresses, and the colours called Saxon-blue, and green, are made from indigo. Painters use it as a water-colour. This article is frequently adulterated with earth, ashes, and pounded slate. The genuine drug ought to be of rich, dark blue colour, approaching to black; and, when broken, should display the lustre of copper. It ought not to sink in water, nor to leave any sediment when dissolved.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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