odd shillings can be pounced upon, get some good neighbour, who makes guano purchases, to sell you from fifty to one hundred pounds weight of Messrs. Gibbs and Co.'s Peruvian Guano. Also, collect all the burnt-ashes you can, charcoal dust, &c., and add all these to the old humus, or rotten and mellow manure, on the outhouse floor. Turn the whole, and blend them thoroughly, and you have a material of a highly concentrated character, excelled by no other fertilizer; and this you may sow in the drills with your swedes, mangold, parsnips, carrots, &c.; whilst the coarser manure may be dug in a spade's depth. EARLY CROPS.-The industrious cottager, emulous of making the most of the summer, while the season is young, will begin betimes to see what he can get before his more tardy neighbours, without compromising the rotation of crops he has planned; we will hereupon give him a little advice. Cabbages of a good hearting kind, such as the Matchless, may be introduced between almost any coming crop, provided a judicious forecast is exercised. A clever cottier will use his head as well as his heels. Now, we advised, long ago, in our allotment advice, a good provision of autumn-sown plants; for although the allotment holder, like other folks, may go a-begging sometimes, we would not have him trust to such a course, but rather encourage a habit of self-reliance, which, indeed, is the basis of all true progress and independent feeling, whether in the individual or the community at large. Be this as it may, plenty of dwarf early cabbages should be planted out in the second week in February. Horn carrots, too, should be sown on a rich sloping bank, in a warm situation. These will want a little litter strewn over them; in fact, to be attended to like early radishes. They will come into use in the early part of May, and continue for many weeks. Potatoes, in warm situations, we need hardly remark on everybody looks well after. these. Peas.-Some Blue Imperials, soaked in lukewarm water for two hours, may be sown in the first week, on ground required for a secondary crop in the end of July. Early long-pod beans, soaked as the peas, in the first week-these may go on the drill ground; and parsnips might be sown between the rows in March, or the latest potatoes planted between. Swede Turnips placed close together in drills, in a warm nook, and soiled in just overhead, will produce fine sprouts for boiling in three weeks, or less. These are a very useful thing, when greens are short. Round-leaved spinach may be sown in the first week, in a warm position and on rich soil; this is a useful carly vegetable. Strong rhubarb plants may be covered, at the beginning of February, with a chimney-pot, or any old cask, or other vessel, to ward off the winds. This will make three weeks difference in the produce. BREAKING DOWN RIDGES.-Land that was trenched and ridged in the autumn, as we recommended, will soon require digging down for crops. Be sure not to do so when snow is on the ground, or when frozen. Mind, also, that it is dry when handled, or it will become what practical men call "livered," which means, that the air cannot enter. No crops will thrive on land in this state, albeit they may be good soils. In conclusion for this month, let us advise the cottier to be very earnest in his endeavours. It is no light matter to have a nice garden; and the weal or woe of a family frequently depends on the amount of perseverance displayed by their male protector. THE POULTRY-KEEPER'S CALENDAR. By Martin Doyle, Author of "Hints to Small FOWLS.-The doom of our handsome cock has been sealed. His tyranny and selfishness increased, notwithstanding the coercive discipline he had undergone; and he has therefore been put to death, and hung-by the tail. After three weeks' suspension, his body was stripped of the plumage, which he had disgraced by his want of gallantry and his general misconduct, and converted into cock-a-leekie. Thus the gluttonous creature has been more useful in his death than in his life. The hens, notwithstanding his constant neglect and frequent chastisement of them, seemed so woe-begone at his removal from them (it appeared as if, from the force of habit, they preferred conjugal tyranny to the desolation of widowhood), that the vacancy in their affections was immediately filled up. A promising white cockerel, also of the Dorking breed (with four of his fairest young wives, who accompanied him from his former seraglio), was placed beside them at night. In the morning he was found dead upon the roost: his death is a mystery. No marks of ill-treatment were discovered on his corpse, and he had been in perfect health on the preceding day. The wives, who had followed his fortunes and perched at his side, were alive and in health on the fatal morning. We introduced another cockerel from the same young brood on the succeeding morning, and, after two or three day's amusing shyness of each other, a gradual union of the two cliques took place, and the young cock now seems to be a bond of perfect amity between both. The continued severity of the weather, and the want of artificial means of warming the fowl-house, have prevented any laying of eggs yet. Amateurs, who have to purchase corn for their fowls, will find them unprofitable, as layers, during a hard winter of long continuance. While nature assumes a snowwhite dress instead of her natural green livery, fowls become so mopish and confounded, that they will scarcely leave their roosts for food. The most quarrelsome hens become quiet, the cocks crest-fallen. We gave our fowls a few scraps of meat during the snow, to revive their languid spirits, as they had no chance of picking up insects, which their instinct leads them to seek as condiments with their other food, in the hope that the excitement occasioned by scrambling for the meat might beguile a few moments of their melancholy hours, and give them healthful exercise as a game of "hockey," or of "foot-ball," would exhilarate school-boys. We also, on the suggestion of the Rev. E. S. Dixon—the most delightful and practical of all writers on poultry-have burned some oyster-shells (partly to warm our fingers), in order to supply lime to the hens and pullets in the most agreeable form. The picking of the calcined oyster-shells, which in due time will generate eggshells, has been a great source of pleasure to the fowls. Much mortality in the fowl-yard is not to be expected, since the air, though cold, has been dry. If the roosts and floors have been kept clean, and the wind and snow prevented from entering through the roof of the poultry-house, and blowing on their heads (which are their most tender parts), fowls generally have probably preserved their health. SPANGLED HAMBURGH FOWLS.-The next variety we shall particularise are the spangled Hamburghs, of which there are two kinds, the Golden and the Silver. They are inferior to the Dorking and Spanish, both for the table and as layers, but they are very fine and very handsome. We are indebted, both for the following portraits and descriptions, to Mr. Richardson's work on "The Domestic Fowl." He says:-"The Hamburgh fowls have a large top knot, with neither comb nor wattles, and another pecu THE SPANGLED HAMBURGH COCK. liarity that shall be described in its proper place. I am this moment writing my description of the Hamburgh fowl from two beautiful specimens as they stand before me on the table. These fowl gained the prizes at the last show of the Royal Agricultural Improvement Society of Ireland, from a host of very worthy, but still far inferior competitors; consequently, in my case, no blunder can possibly occur; and my friend and co-laborateur, William Oldham, has presented, in his woodcuts, the portraits that I have endeavoured to describe in letterpress. THE SPANGLED HAMBURGH HEN. "The Golden Spangled Hamburgh Fowl is one of no ordinary beauty; it is well and very neatly made; has a good body, and no very great offal. On the crest, immediately above the beak, are two small, fleshy horns, resembling, to some extent, an abortive comb. Above this crest, and occupying the place of a comb, is a very large brown or yellow tuft, the feathers composing it darkening towards their extremities. Under the insertion of the lower mandible, or that portion of the neck corresponding to the chin in man, is a full, dark-coloured tuft, somewhat resembling a beard. The wattles are very small. In the golden variety, the hackles on the neck are of a brilliant orange, or golden yellow; and the general ground-colour of the body is of the same hue, but somewhat darker. The thighs are of a dark brown, or blackish shade, and the legs and feet are of a bluish grey. "In the Silver Spangled variety, the only perceptible difference is, that the ground-colour is a silvery white. The extremity, and a portion of the extreme margin of each feather, are black, presenting, when in a state of rest, the appearance of regular semicircular marks or spangles." TURKEYS.-These birds, like pea-fowl, will disdain confinement, and prefer the open canopy of heaven as their roof, and the topmost bough of a tall tree, if they be not prevented from thus following their propensity in this respect. It is evident, however, that they ought to be under cover in winter, and under lock and key too, in most places. They should, however, have free ventilation, and a distinct and elevated roost. It is doubtful whether poultry-breeders act prudently in fattening their turkeys at the early age at which they are usually brought to table. The turkey does not arrive at maturity for some years. Excepting in the winter months, farmers may keep them over, at least for the second winter, at very little cost. The birds will procure their own food, if they have a range of fields, and, more especially, the privilege of going into woods where beechmasts and acorns abound. Turkeys are generally killed long before they attain their natural size and weight, as if it were certain that their flesh would be too tough if they were allowed to complete their growth. The fact is, that the flesh of a two-year old turkey, if it be kept long enough in the larder, is sufficiently tender. There is great loss of meat sustained from killing them prematurely. If an old bird requires ten weeks' high feeding, the additional weight of flesh pays for that. After turkeys are thoroughly fat, they should be killed; for every ounce of food afterwards is not only a waste, but an injury to the quality of the flesh, which it tends to inflame and discolour. Sickness, too, will naturally attend a too plethoric state of body, and the flesh of a sick bird cannot be wholesome. THE GOOSE is the bird of all birds for the cottager who adjoins a goose-common. What a shame, then, to take the common from the poor man, without giving him, at least, a patch of garden, in compensation for the privilege of which he is deprived by the enclosure of the commons! How true is the poetic lamentation "It is a crime in man or woman, To steal a goose from off a common; A roast goose, stuffed with potatoes and onions, is a noble dish; and, with apple-sauce added to it, it is still more luxurious; or, if boiled and served up with onion-sauce, what can be better? and what broth can exceed that extracted from the giblets? It is truly the cottager's or the farmer's dish. The fattening process of geese is at its termination now; and the cottager who has had a quiet out-house, plenty of food and of clean straw for fattening a goose or two at least, has been unwise not to have supplied himself with such a luxury for his Christmas dinner. If he kills the goose for his family, he has the goose-grease, which is useful for many purposes; and the feathers have some value. The quills supply his boys and girls with pens; and "the pen of a ready writer" may turn to great profit. A man may keep the same goose for laying and sitting during his whole life. Indeed, an old goose is so tough a bird to eat, that there is no temptation to kill her after she has attained "a certain age," which really may exceed that in woman. Continue the general fattening to poultry as recommended in the preceding months. Ducks are now going out of season. It may not be useless to mention, that ducks intended to be boiled (and served with onion-sauce), should be salted a day or two before they are dressed. BEE-KEEPER'S CALENDAR.-FEB. By J. H. Payne, Esq., Author of "The Bee-Keeper's Guide," &c. VERY little attention will be required during this month beyond looking to the coverings, and seeing that they be all sound, and that no moisture comes upon the tops of the hives. Towards the end of the month, let the floor-board of each hive be again cleaned, and a little food administered should the stock of honey be very good; always remembering to select a mild day for the purpose. Let the food be given, if possible, at the top of the hive; if at the bottom, not till after sunset; carefully stopping up the entrance of the hive, and removing the vessel in which the food was given before sunrise the next morning; for the appearance of the aconite and crocus will not only delight our eyes, and gladden our hearts, but they will also arouse our little favourites to life and activity; and, as the supplies of honey from these flowers, at this early season, will be very small, sufficient only, perhaps, to create a desire for a larger quantity; the feeding-pan, therefore, if allowed to remain at the bottom of a weak hive, will be resorted to by all the bees of the apiary, causing much fighting and loss of life, and very probably the destruction of the stock in which it had been placed. By feeding at the top, all this may be avoided; not only the trouble of removing the feeding-pan every morning, but the danger and loss certain to arise from fighting. In my last paper, I promised my cottage friends an account of the sum, in one year, made by a cottager, living in a village in the northern extremity of the county of Suffolk. The man is a shoemaker, living in a very small cottage, but with ground sufficient to place from 30 to 40 stocks of bees. I should first say, that, some years ago, he had occasion to call at my house, and, finding me in my garden with my bees, and seeing they were managed in a different way to what he had usually seen, he asked me some questions relative to my manner of treating them; and, from the nature of the questions, I felt induced to shew him some glasses then filling with honey (for it was June), and told him, in a few words, my method of management; and, although he had never possessed a hive of bees, he went away fully determined that, as soon as he was able, he would procure a stock or two. I neither saw nor heard of him for seven or eight years; after which time, having some business at Bury, he called on me to thank me for the instruction he had received from me; and, also, to tell me what he had made of his honey that season (this was at the end of October). He told me that the situation in which he lived was an excellent one, having, immediately to the south of him, several hundred acres of heath, covered with ling, thyme, furze, broom, &c.; and on the north, cultivated land, where mustard and large quantities of white clover were grown; that he generally kept thirty stocks through the winter; that he used the improved cottage hive, 9 inches by 12, as figured in page 209 of the first vol. of THE COTTAGE GARDENER, and placed upon each the small hive, 8 inches by 7, figured in page 305 of the same volume. He also told me that each stock filled him one of these small hives, and some stocks two of them; that he was careful to have these hives made very neatly, each one holding from 8 to 10 lbs. of honeycomb; and that, upon finding his stock of honey so large, and of such excellent quality, he resolved at once upon taking it himself to London; for which purpose he hired a light cart, and at the west end of London offered his little hives of honey from door to door, which sold as fast as he could well offer them, for from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per lb., and some even for more money. For a small hive of fine honey of 8 lbs. he would readily obtain a sovereign; so that, in all, he received a little above £40 for his honey, the produce of his bees for one year. Now, is not this account sufficient to induce every cottager who reads it, at once to do his best in obtaining a stock or two of bees? and should he, in the first year, clear only 40s., even that trifling sum would be an agreeable addition to his little income. MY FARM-YARD. THE month that is now approaching is a busy one with the dairy-farmer; and with the holders of small plots of land it is a perplexing one as well. The grass has not yet made any growth. The little hay rick is beginning to look very small. The store of roots has diminished in such a manner that you seem quite to grudge each basketful of "wurtzel " that your cow cats. However, "better times" (I hope, in every sense of the word,) will soon arrive. When once January is passed, we look forward to long days, bright sun, and green fields. There are several methods of managing a dairy by which money can be made: namely-making butter, making cheese, fatting calves, buying cows in calf, and selling them with the calf at their side. Each farmer has his own pet system. The one generally followed by those who have only a few cows is the first one; and, therefore, I will make a few remarks on butter making, which will apply equally to the owners of one or fifteen cows; but we will suppose a dairy to consist of six. It ought to be arranged that one cow calves every two months, by which means you have always highly coloured butter, as the milk from a freshly-calved cow is much more yellow than when it is "older." If possible, in such a sized dairy, have three Alderney cows. The cream which rises from their milk is always rich, and of a good colour; but butter made from the Alderney cow does not keep as long as from any other cow. At this season of the year, cows are under shelter during the night, and are not milked till after six in the morning. The milk should be carried to the house as quickly and quietly as possible; and immediately on its arrival should be strained into pans, from which has just been poured boiling water. By adopting this plan, the cream rises quickly, and in a greater quantity. The Devonshire method of "setting" the cream is certainly the best, especially in winter, provided you have a stove on which you can scald the milk; but it does not increase the cream sufficiently to make an extra fire answer. The way the "west country folk" manage is this:-When the milk has stood 12 hours, in shallow tin pans, it is placed on a stove, with a gentle fire under it. Directly circles are observed forming round the pan, it is put into the dairy; the next morning it is skimmed and beaten up with a wooden spoon till it becomes butter, which is not long in doing. The cream thus scalded is a most excellent addition to fruit, either baked or raw. When a cow has calved, warm bran mashes should be given her for two or three nights, with a little nitre mixed with it. Her udder should be well fomented with hot water, twice in the 24 hours; and, if it feels at all hard, some marsh-mallow-leaves, boiled in water, may be used, instead of the plain water. By watching, and attending to these simple things, and not waiting till the animal is really ill, you will be spared much loss, and much after-trouble. Remember "Prevention is better than cure." A cow should not be turned out to grass till the calf is four or five days old; and not then, if the weather is wet. She should only remain out a couple of hours the first day, gradually increasing the time, till the calf is sold; which, if you do not fatten it, you will do when a week old. I A good cow, and a careful dairy-maid, ought to make 10lbs. of butter a-week, for the first six weeks after calving. I know we read of cows making 16lbs. and 17lbs. a-week; but I know they are very rare. have only met with one that has made more than the 10lbs., and that was a Suffolk cow, and she made 11lbs. for some weeks after calving. I fear, if you strike the average of the quantity of butter each cow makes, you will find 7lbs. nearer the mark, per week, than 10lbs. even. The cows that calve in winter, and early spring, must have plenty of moist food, such as mangoldwurtzel, Belgian carrots, or brewers' grains. I prefer the Belgian carrot to any other root for winter feeding, as it not only increases the milk, but does not impart any unpleasant flavour to the butter, as turnips and swedes are apt to do. For spring feeding, and in the summer, when your meadows are put up for hay, there is nothing equal to lucerne; you can, with that crop, in truth, "cut and come again;" for, if sown in March, on sandy loam, it will be ready to cut in May, and two or three times afterwards during the summer. Great care should be taken in milking the cowsnot a drop should be left in the udder; the "drippings" are the richest part of the milking; besides, if you do not milk a cow clean, she will every day give less and less until she becomes dry. The great secret of obtaining a good supply of milk, during many months in the year, is to give your cows a frequent change of food. In the summer this is easily done, but it must also be managed in the winter. By having a little forethought, during the sowing season, a variety of roots can be stored in the autumn for the winter's keep. And now, if some of your cows have calved, may I enquire what becomes of the "skim milk?" I fear, from many gentlemen's houses, the answer would be-"Oh! it goes into the hog-tub." So far, that is a better place for it than to have it heedlessly wasted; but are there not many of the cottagers around you, who "breakfast and sup" without a drop of milk? I know it to be the case in many parishes; and would they not be most thankful for a small portion of what you have usually given to the pigs? If you cannot afford to give it, sell it them, at 1d. a quart. I assure you the boon will be received with great gratitude. It is, certainly, rather a troublesome job; but what good can be done without trouble? If you were to sell, or give, it twice a-week, at a certain hour, you would soon become accustomed to it. Habit, you know, is second nature." Farmers very often make skim-milk cheese; the whey which runs from them is of no use, except for the pigs. In this case, of course, much milk could not be given away, or, indeed, sold; but still something can be done. Have you not heard this sentence read?" Be merciful after thy power; if thou hast much, give plenteously; if thou hast little, do thy diligence gladly to give of that little.” C. M. A. THE PHYSIC-GARDEN. By a Physician. No. 4.-CRUCIFERÆ. THIS eminently European order contains, at the same time, some of the most abundant, and the most useful, of our English herbs. One of the commonest weeds that we have, and which is to be met with on every road-side, even within the boundaries of the most populous cities-I allude to the Shepherd's Purse-belongs to this order; as also do the Wallflower, Honesty, Rocket, and common Stocks, all wellknown ornaments of our flower-borders. In the kitchen-garden, we find some of its most valuable tenants belong to this order, viz., cabbage, brocoli, cauliflower, turnip, mustard, horseradish, and seakale. To this list we must add rape-a very valuable herb to the agriculturist; and, also, the following common English wild plants :-the water-cress, and other cresses, the scurvy-grass, and Jack-by-the-hedge, each of which possesses some esculent or curative property. The Dyer's Wood, which formerly afforded a favourite blue dye in this country, likewise belongs to this group of plants. The universal character of the Cruciferæ is to possess anti-scorbutic and stimulant qualities, combined with an acrid flavour. The plants which compose it, are, however, on the whole, of more value for their esculent than for their medicinal properties. WATER-CRESS (Nasturtium officinale, R.Br.).—Some of my readers may fancy that I am digressing, in introducing to them a wild water-plant, but let me tell them, if they have never made a garden-plant of the water-cress, they should lose no time in doing so-if they have a little stream running through their pieces of ground. Its agreeable warmth and flavour, as a salad, are too well known to require comment; but it is for its anti-scorbutic, and slightly stimulant qualities, that I would particularly recommend it, being firmly convinced of its efficacy. Our rural Flora does not furnish a more wholesome, or a more useful salad than the water-cress; nor does it afford any other salad-herb which is such an effectual purifier of the blood. To adopt the forcible though quaint style of recommendation of an old writer, "Those that would live in health, may use it, if they please; if they will not, I cannot help it." The juice was formerly used, mixed with that of scurvy-grass and Seville oranges, when it constituted a popular remedy, known as "Spring juices." CUCKOO-FLOWER (Cardamine pratensis, L.).—The Cuckoo-flowers (which are also known as Lady's Smocks,") derive their English name from their blossom appearing about the same time of the year that the cuckoo's note is first heard; a circumstance which Shakspere has recorded in these words: "When daisies pied, and violets blue, The leaves of this plant are but little inferior to the water-cress, as a wholesome green food; and the flowers have long been used for certain diseases, particularly those of a nervous character, such as epilepsy, hysteria, and asthma. It may be given in doses of from 1 to 3 drachms of the powder of the dried flowers, two or three times a-day; but its use is chiefly confined to children, and even on them its operation is not very sensible: on this account it has, therefore, almost fallen into disuse. Our grandfathers attributed to the plant the virtue of removing freckles, spots, and blemishes, from the face, if it was applied at night, and removed in the morning; but, be this as it may, they would have done posterity a much greater service if they had endeavoured to impress on those who would succeed them, the benefit that they would experience, in after life, from abstaining from those courses of indulgence in youth which are the main cause of such physionomical defects. HORSERADISH (Cochlearia armoracia).-Everybody who knows roast beef, knows horseradish; but it is not so generally known that it is a useful remedy in cases of scurvy, and, also, in some other chronic disorders; while it has been likewise recommended in certain cases of dropsy, especially those which follow intermittent fevers. If taken in considerable quantities it acts as an emetic; and, with this intent, it is serviceable in cases of poisoning by narcotic substances. As a syrup, it is a useful remedy in hoarseness; and it is also said to excite an appetite in weakened and debilitated constitutions. For the latter purpose a piece of the root is to be chewed. SCURVY-GRASS (Cochlearia officinalis, L.). Nor have I much to say with reference to this species; its English name tells almost its whole history, as far as it has any curative interest. In sea-scurvy, it has been found very beneficial; and its juice is reckoned serviceable, as a gargle, in scorbutic affections of the gums and mouth. Like the water-cress, its leaves are sometimes eaten with bread-and-butter; and it somewhat resembles them in possessing gently stimulating and aperient properties. With these trifling excep tions, it possesses no claim to general attention. was once, however, in much greater repute than it is now. It FLUXWEED (Sisymbrium Sophia, L.).-This plant is commonly found growing on road-sides, and in places where old buildings have stood; and though its medicinal virtues and qualities are not thoroughly ascertained, yet it will be interesting to know how and for what diseases it was formerly employed. Its use was chiefly confined to the checking of dysentery, from which circumstance it derives its English name, as well as its other cognomen-" The Wisdom of Surgeons;" and to effect this end, "the seede is dronken with wine, or water of the smithes forge, wherein gads of steel have been often quenched." In hysterical cases it was also used, and likewise externally applied for the cure of old sores aud wounds. It had the credit, besides, of "consolidating and uniting bones broken or out of joint;" but I merely mention this to give some idea of the rude state in which the science of surgery must have been 100 years ago. CABBAGE (Brassica oleracea, L.).-I fancy I see surprise in the face of my reader, when he comes to the word "cabbage;" and I think it requires no powers of Clairvoyance to read his unuttered interrogatory thought, "What can a cabbage have to do with a physic garden?" It is true, that neither the homely cabbage--which is the cottager's main realization of vegetables-nor the red cabbage, white cabbage, Savoy greens, Brussels' sprouts, cauliflower, or brocoli (all of which are mere varieties of the common cabbage), are now used medicinally; nevertheless they do possess certain virtues and qualities, of which, though not very important, it is as well to be aware. Taken in moderation, they are exceedingly wholesome, being very slightly aperient; but when eaten plentifully they are apt to produce flatulence. As a cure for drunkenness, cabbage broth had a great renown; for old writers aflirm that there is such an antipathy or enmity between the vine and the coleworts (or cabbage tribe), that they will not grow well near each other. Cato, it is said, used no other physic; and Chrysippus quite idolised them-writing a whole volume upon their virtues. "He appropriates them," says Culpepper, "to every part of the body, and to every disease in every part." The decoction, or broth, was, however, strongly recommended by other primitive practitioners as of very general use; particularly as an external application for pain in any part, whether gout, bruises, swellings, or sores. Asthmatic people were also advised to drink it; and I might mention many other diseases in which it was, in olden times, prescribed, when, if the patient got better afterwards, it appears that the cabbage had all the credit of it; it being well known that no prejudicial effect was at all likely to accrue from its employment. MUSTARD, BLACK AND WHITE (Sinapis nigra, L., Sinapis alba, L.).-These two plants are so similar in their medicinal qualities, that I shall treat of them as if they were but one plant; though I may remark that they are called black and white from the colour of their seeds, and that the latter are rather milder in their action than the former. The well-known condiment which we call mustard, is the flour of the mustard-seed, moistened; which, particularly if vinegar be used, causes the essential oil to be evolved, upon which its pungency depends. Again, the favourite salad herb (commonly sold with another plant, and then called mustard and cress,) is the young seed-leaves of the mustard; and a very wholesome kind of green food it is. In this young state the leaves are mild, tender, and slightly stimulating; but the old leaves become rank and disagreeable, partaking of the acrid principle which is found developed, to the greatest extent, in the seeds. To the medical man, the flour of the ground seed is the only part of note; and whether it be employed externally or internally, its action is the same, viz., that of an acrid stimulant, probably intermediate, in its effect, between horseradish and pepper. As a condiment, when taken in small quantities, it is a most excellent adjunct to heavy and indigestible food of any kind, exciting the energies of the digestive organs, and promoting the appetite. If taken in somewhat larger doses-as one or two teaspoonsfulit acts as an emetic, and is a useful and handy thing for such a purpose, in cases of poisoning. But its most important use is that of an external stimulater, or rubefacient. It acts as a prompt and powerful irritant, producing inflammation; and if kept applied too long, will raise a blister. The best form of "mustard-poultice" is to spread, on a piece of linen or calico, a paste, made of equal parts of common wheat flour, or linseed-meal, and black mustard-seed flour, mixed with boiling vinegar, or with lukewarm water, of not higher temperature than 100°. To most persons, its application is somewhat painful; but with those who do not feel its operation after about twenty minutes, care should be had not to keep |