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Planting Mustard

Mustard is a weedy annual herb belonging to the Cruciferae family, mustard is related to a number of vegetables, such aas cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. The plant has large, thick, jagged leaves of a dark green color and is found in most temeperate regions of the world.

There are many species of mustard plants, three best known for their commercial black (B. nigra), grown for the proof table mustard, white (B. hirta), Dr its pungent seed, and brown (B. juncea), grown for use as a potherb.

The plant has been used in condiments for centuries. It is mentioned in the New Testament scriptures. The ancient Greeks and Romans employed it for many of the purposes for which it is still used. The oldest known recipe for preparing mustard was written by Columella, a native of Gades in the first century A.D. The English herbalist Parkinson described the grinding of mustard seed using a quern "with some good vinegar to make it liquid and running."

Mustard is an easy crop to grow. All the common varieties are annuals and will grow from seed. White mustard (also referred to as yellow mustard) is best adapted to a rather heavy type of sandy loam and light adobe soil. The darker variety requires an even lighter, more sandy loam. The crop needs only limited rainfall, preferably distributed so that the seed can mature during a period of dry weather.

Seed should be sown two weeks before the last spring frost. Seed for a fall crop should be sown at least six weeks before the first autumn frost. An alfalfa or grain seeder can be used for planting larger crops once the ground is harrowed. About three pounds of the darker seed or four pounds of the lighter seed are required per acre.

In most areas, the first planting will be ready for harvesting about August. The crop must be harvested while the seedpods are fully grown, yet closed, because the pod will shatter when it is fully ripe. The crop may be cut with mowers and dried in the sun. It can then be threshed with a pickup harvester when dry; or it can be cut and bound with a grain binder, cured in the field and then threshed with a modified grain thresher.

The taller, black mustard plant seeds are smaller than those of the white mustard plant. Average yields per acre range from 115 to 548 pounds. Individual growers, however, have reported yields as high as 1,500 pounds. Mustard is grown most successfully for commercial purposes in the western United States, since it is an annual crop that yields early returns and can be easily handled by equipment available on larger farms. In other localities, it is advisable to grow a small trial acreage.

For home gardeners, it would be inadvisable to plant mustard in the garden or flower border. It self-sows very easily and might become a pest.

Besides the commercial value of mustard seed, the plant's leaves, which are an excellent source of A and C vitamins, can be used as salad greens. In addition, their bulk and fiber tend to produce a mild laxative effect.

Powder made from the seed is used as a salad dressing, for flavoring meat a preparing pickles and certain kinds The darker seeds are known for their the lighter for pungency. In makinz mustard, tumeric can be added to color and add aroma.

Medicinally, mustard has been many ways as an oil, a tincture, a pou, a plaster. It has been used as a relief fa- aches, fevers, whooping cough, asthma. also for liver, stomach and throat p. Mustard liniment consists of camphor. oil and a volatile mustard-seed oil in B.. tion of alcohol.

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