Introduced into the Southern states by negroes from Africa. They boil a
handful of the seed with their allowance of Indian corn. It yields a
larger proportion than any other plant of an excellent oil. It is
extensively cultivated in Egypt as food for horses, and for culinary
purposes. It is remarkable that this native of a southern clime should
flourish well, as it does, in the Northern states. It should be
cultivated throughout the North as a medicinal herb.
A Virginia gentleman gave Thorburn & Son, seed-dealers of New York, the
following account of its virtues: a few green leaves of the plant,
plunged a few times in a tumbler of cold water, made it like a thin
jelly, without taste or color. Children afflicted with summer-complaint
drink it freely, and it is thought to be the best remedy for that
disease ever discovered; it is believed that three thousand children
were saved by it in Baltimore the first summer after its introduction.
Plant in April, in the middle states, about two feet apart. When half
grown, break off the plants, to increase the quantity of leaves. We
recommend to all families to raise it, and try its virtues, under the
advice of their family physicians.