Popular economic botany; or, Description of the botanical and commercial characters of the principal articles of vetegable origin, used for food, clothing, tanning, dyeing, building, medicine, perfumery, etc

Front matter

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V

Preface

It will appear strange to many when they hear for the first time that no popular work has yet appeared^ devoted exclusively to the commercial products of the Vegetable Kingdom; much however has been written^ and WTitten well^ in various large works^ by several authors upon Botany and Materia Medica^ especially by Sir William Hooker^ Dr. Royle^ Dr. Lindley^, and Dr. Pereira^ and from their writings much of the information contained in this volume is derived. I am more particularly indebted to the last -mentioned gentleman. No one has done so much as Dr. Pereira tow^ards dissipating the cloud of ignorance which envelopes the history of vegetable products ; and it is much to be regretted that, by his melancholy death, the splendid edition of his large work should have been left unfinished ; it is however

VI

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in able hands^ and will, doubtless, be completed in a manner worthy of the author.

Vegetable products constitute nine-twelfths of the whole commerce in raw produce which employs the vast jnercantile marine of this great kingdom. They furnish us with the bulk of our food and clothing, our medicine and our building materials, and with many other necessaries and luxuries. It may be argued, that most of the benefits we derive from the vegetable kingdom have been discovered without the aid of science. True, but is not this a great and powerful argument in favour of the application of scientific investigation in this department ? for if so much has been done without its aid, how much may we not hope will be effected when the principles of scientific research, which have effected such miracles in every other department, are brought to bear upon that of Economic Botany ?

Had not a scientific and practical botanist discovered the Gutta Percha, how many benefits would perhaps have been lost to civilization (unless some other article supplied its place in the submarine telegraphs) ; and, latterly, the inves-

PEEFACE.

Vll tigations of botanists have added hundreds of articles to our hst of commercial products. What is still in store for us we know not^ but we are certain that vast fields for discovery are still untouched, and remain to reward the scientific investigator.

I was jjreparing to enter very fully into the commercial statistics of the articles described, when the glaring discrepancies which met me in the different works professing to give this kind of information, almost led me to abandon the idea of giving any statistical details. The appearance of a work by my friend Mr. Braithwaite Poole, upon the Statistics of British Commerce, has however led to the removal in a great measure of my difficulties in this particular, and it will be seen that I have availed myself largely of his publication; besides this, I am indebted to him for other useful information, which he has obtained for me through his extensive railway connections.

The classification adopted in the following pages is simple, being a mere division into groups, and the botanical information is slight; they are, however, sufficient to show.

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PEErACE.

along with the account of the uses of the articles described^ that quality and price do not constitute the only interesting points in their history.

My experience in matters connected with commercial materials has been somewhat extensive : besides twelve years^ employment in the Import department of the Customs, which has brought me into contact with most of the articles of foreign produce, I also formed the extensive collection of Liverpool Imports which was exhibited at the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851, for which I received the Prze Medal and Certificate. Since then I have been acting for the directors of the New Crystal Palace at Sydenham, as their agent for the collection of raw produce ; and in these occupations I have obtained some information which I trust may be useful, and obtain for me a lenient judgment for the literary defects of the book.

T. C. A.

LIST OF PLATES.

Plate I.

1 Tea plant 118

2 Coffee plant 129

B Cocoa plant 134

4 E^ice plant 11

5 Sugar Cane 135

Plate II.

6 Mai^e 9

7 Buckwheat 16

8 Long Pepper 103

9 Black Pepper 102

10 Clove plant 98

11 Nutmeg plant 95

12 Ginger plant 104

13 Cinnamon plant 88

14 AUspice plant 100

Plate IV.

15 Tamarind plant 42

16 Olive plant 34, 264

17 Guava plant 43

18 Great American Cran-

berry 48

19 Pomegranate 33

Plate Y.

20 Litchi 44

21 Prickly Pear 44

23 PeccanJVTut 64

24 Hickory Nut 64

25 Pistachio Nut 57

Plate VI.

26 Sapucaia Nut 53

27 BrazH Nut 51

28 SurahwaNut 54

29 Cashew Nut 55

30 Almond 67

31 Ground Nut 65, 270

Plate YII. ^

32 Cotton plant 170

LIST OF PLATES.

33 Flax plant 148

36 Sun Hemp 158

37 China (3-rass 163

Plate VIII. ^

38 Carnauba Palm 281

39 Eattan Palm 167

40 Coquilla JN'ut Palm 165

41 Manilla Plantain 158

42 The on Palm 261

V

Plate IX.

43 Sago Pahn 81

45 American Aloe 160

47 Date Palm 30

Plate X.

49 Vegetable Ivory Pahn 296

50 Vegetable Ivory Nut 296

51 Section of ditto 296

52 Coquilla Nut 297

53 The Nut turned 297

U

Plate XI. 53 Arrowroot plant 76

54 Turmeric plant, with

starch tubers 77

54 a Section of rhizome ... .77

55 Section of Starch tuber 77

56 Granules of Wheat

57 Granules of Potato

58 Manihot utilissima 78, 79

Plate XII.

59 Divi Divi 191

60 Valonia 189

61 Camata 189

62 Camatina 189

J

Plate XIII.

64 Persian YeUow-berries 219

65 Turmeric 213

66 White GaU 227

67 Blue GaU 227

68 Myrobalan 198

69 OrcheUa Weed 220

70 Cudbear or Eock Moss 225

y

Plate XIV.

71 Safflower plant 216

LIST OF PLATES.

XI

¥ig. Page

72 A cake of Safflower .... 217

73 Indigo plant 229

74 Block of Indigo 231

75 Gamboge tree 235

Plate XV.

76 Logwood 201

77 Fustic tree 207

78 Munjeet 211

80 Madder 209

Plate XYI. ^

81 Cardamom 322

82 Castor Oil Seed 321

83 Iris or Orrice Hoot .... 300

84 Patchouly 299

85 Camphor tree 314

86 JN^ux Vomica 314

Plate XVII. ^

87 Senna shrub 317, 318

88 Peruvian Bark tree ... . 318

89 Jalap plant 316

90 Scammony plant 310

91 Liquorice plant 313

Plate XVIIL ^

92 Gum Benzoin 301

93 Manna 312

94 India Hubber plant... 253

95 Gutta Percha plant... 255

96 Piece of Haw Gutta

Percha 256

Plate XIX.

97 Turpentine tree 249

98 Canada Balsam tree . 251

99 Piney TaUow tree .... 281

100 Tar and Pitch tree 251, 252

Plate XX.

102 Mahogany tree 335

103 Lignum Vit^ tree .... 336

104 Cedar tree (Pencil) ... 333

105 Gum tree 340

106 Ebony tree 330

ERRATA.

la Plate X., the figures numbered 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, should be numbered 48, 49, 50, 51, 52: they are referred to by the correct numbers in the descriptive portion of the Work.

In Plate XIX., /cr Gum Dammar, read Piney Tallow Tree.

Contents

DIVISION I, SUBSTANCES USED FOR FOOD.

CHAPTEH I.

PAGE

Chapter 1. Substances Used Foe Eood

FARINACEOUS PRODUCTS.

When the fiat went forth, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread/^ Almighty Justice pronounced a deserved sentence ; but^ much as fallen man had offended his Divine Creator, he was not forgotten entirely : labour^ it is true, had become his lot, but the fruitful earth was left, as before the fall, clothed with every necessary for man's wants, and requiring only the full exercise of those powers with which his Maker had gifted him, for their development.

The class of substances which come under this chapter are peculiarly of this character : the staple food of more

B than four-fifths of the human race is formed from the small grains of various grasses^ which^ even if they required no more labour than merely collecting and preparing, would at least enforce industry ; but requiring, as they do, careful cultivation in well- worked soil, it is indeed only with the sweat of the brow that we can eat the bread which is necessary to our existence.

Poremost in the rank of food-products, and especially of those called cereals, stands Wheat, too well known to require any particular description. It is a true grass (belonging to the Natural Order Graminacece) , but has been so changed by cultivation that we are totally ignorant of its natural state Botanists have named it Triticum Jiylernum, or Triticum vulgare, variety ^ liyhernum, Winter Wheat, — this is the commonest kind of wheat; another, which is almost as well known, is called Triticum vulgare, variety a cestivunij or Summer Wheat. The former is biennial in its habits — that is, it is sown one year and flowers and fruits

Unless the experiments of M. Fabre maybe relied upon. He states tbat he found by successive experiments upon the apparently insignificant grass ^gilops ovata, that it first sported (as gardeners call it) jE. triticoides, and from that, by successive changes, extending over several years, it passed to wheat itself, — not so fine as our highly cultivated varieties, but nevertheless wheat it was, unmistakeably.

WHEAT.

the year following ; but the latter is sown and perfected all in one year.

Much discussion has arisen amongst scientific men^ as to the native country of the wheat ; the evidence however appears to be in favour of a district of Eussia in Asia^ inhabited by the Bashkirs^ where it is supposed the wheat-plant has been found growing wild. This district is in the Russian Government of Orenburg, and is inhabited by a warlike race of men^ of Turco-Mongolian origin^ who are admirable cultivators of various kinds of grain, and are particularly celebrated both for their excellent management of bees, and bravery in defending the Kirghiz steppe for the Emperor. If this Tartar province is indeed the original country of the Triticum vtdgare, the culture of which employs millions of our fellow-men, and the produce of which feeds hundreds of millions, it should be to us the most interesting spot on the globe, instead of an almost unknown comer of the Czar^s dominions.

Besides the two varieties mentioned, there are several others which are occasionally grown, viz. variety d, T, tiirgU dum (a name which signifies swollen), the ear is short and irregularly thick ; variety T, turgidum composUim, this is not only short and thick, but several small secondary ears

POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY.

take their rise from the principal ear^ giving the appearance of a small bunch of ears. It is the Mummy Wheat, which has latterly excited so much curiosity^ in consequence of a statement having been circulated^ that it originated from some grains found in the hand of an Egyptian mummy, where it had lain many centuries without germinating, but upon being sown produced plants, from which the seed now termed mummy wheat was raised. This tale is however generally disbelieved; mummy wheat has always been the chief kind cultivated in Egypt and Abyssinia, and much also is grown in Greece; some botanists have thought it a distinct genus, in consequence of the compound structure of its ear, but this character is not found to be permanent.

The other kinds are the Polish Wheat {Triticum Poloni- <yiwi)\ though called Polish wheat, it is more extensively cultivated in Northern Africa than elsewhere; Spelt Wheat (Tritmim Sjoelta), and the One-grained Wheat {T, monocoecum), the ear of which is small, compressed, and only tworowed, like barley, are not much cultivated. Wheat is imported chiefly for the purpose of being ground into flour for making bread ; large quantities are also consumed in the manufacture of fine starch, and as flour in dressing cotton fabrics. It comes to us from almost all parts of the globe :

OATS.

the finest of the European kinds is from Dantzic^ the grain of which is large^ white^ and very thin-skinned; besides almost every port in Europe and North America^ we receive it from Northern Africa, the East Indies, AustraUa, and occasionally from the Brazils. The quantity of wheat grown in the United Kingdom is about 144,000,000 bushels, or 18,000,000 quarters; in addition to this we import nearly 4,000,000 quarters"^. In Great Britain it is estimated that 5,000,000 acres of land are annually covered with this grain.

The next of the cereals in importance is the Oat — Aiiena sativa — the use of which is also very ancient ; it is not however mentioned in the Scriptures, although frequently referred to by Grecian and Roman writers ; Dioscorides and Pliny both mention it. It is a true grass [Graminace^e) , and is one of the most beautiful of its tribe : nothing can exceed the graceful elegance of the oat, with its large panicles of flowers hanging from their hair-Hke pedicels.

Although known to the ancients, there is no reason to believe that this kind of grain was common, for even at an early period of the Christian era the tyrant Caligula is reported to have fed his horses with gilded oats : we can hardly

* Vide Braithwaite Poole's Statistics of British Commerce (Art. Corn).

POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY.

imagine the oats mentioned were literally gilded^ but must presume the expression applied to the golden colour of the grain.

Many varieties of the oat are cultivated^ but the principal ones are the White^ and the Black or Tartarian oat ; both are annual plants. One called the Potato Oat is a great favourite in Scotland. In the admirable synopsis published by Peter Lawson and Son^ the eminent Edinburgh seedsmen, sixty varieties are mentioned. The quantity of oats imported is very inferior to that of wheat : in 1850 we received 1,165,876 quarters, nearly aU of which came from the northern ports of Europe; but the quantity cultivated in Great Britain far exceeds that of all other cereal grains added together ; the total quantity given for England, Ireland, and Scotland, in Poolers Statistics, being 30,500,000 quarters, or 244,000,000 bushels.

In the northern parts of the kingdom the oat forms the staple article of human food ; but its greatest use is in feeding horses. When the bran, or outer integument of the grains, is removed, they are called "Groats,^^ or when skinned and partially crushed, Embden Groats,^^ which are much used in making the light and easily digested invalid diet called gruel.

BARLEY.

Barley. Hordeum distichon. (Nat. Ord. Graminace(B,) Another grass^ the seeds of which are of immense importance to man ; besides this^ the common species^ there are three others more or less cultivated. Barley has long figured as an economic product of the Vegetable Kingdom. Amongst the Egyptians it was well known, and its discovery and first culture was by Diodorus Siculus and others attributed to Osiris. Pliny, in his ' Natural History/ says barley was the most ancient food of mankind. In the Book of Exodus, dating fifteen hundred years before Christ, we find it mentioned as an ordinary crop, thus, in ch. ix., verse 31, ^^And the flax and the harley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled and we find it again mentioned in Euth ii. 17, ^^She gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley .^^ Its native country is unknown, but by some authors is supposed to be Tartary. The common names of the four species are Long-eared or Common Barley (ZT. distichon)^ Spring Barley {H, vulgare). Winter Barley {H. hexastichon), and Sprat or Battledore Barley {H, zeocriton) . The Spring barley is in Scotland usually styled Bere or Bigg ; it is an inferior kind, but valuable from its thriving on poor soil and in exposed localities.

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Barley is not so much used for food now as formerly. Barley-bread^ once tlie common food of the poorer classes, is rarely seen in this country ; its great use is in making beer and spirits. For beer it is first malted, (a process which consists in inducing germination in the grain,) by soaking it in water and applying heat; this causes the barley to shoot, and as soon as vitality is once commenced, the starch which existed abundantly in the grain is converted into sugar, which, if fermented, is easily convertible into the half-vinous beer, or, by a little increased fermentation, into alcohol. The quantity grown in the United Kingdom is very large, amounting to nearly 10,000,000 quarters; but the imports are comparatively small, being only 51,000 quarters in 1851, all from the north of Europe.

Rye. Secale cereale. (Nat. Ord. Graminacea.)

A. native of the Caucaso-Caspian Desert. It is much cultivated in the North of Europe, where it enters largely into the food of the inhabitants; it is highly nutritive, but nevertheless is not much used in this country, where a prejudice exists against it, arising very probably from the serious and fatal accidents which have been occasioned by the vegetable poison called Ergot of Rye. The ergot is a fungous plant which affects the grain, considerably altering its di-

INDIAN COHN.

mensions and appearance ; the diseased grain being usually about an inch in length and of a jet-black colour. "When mixed with the rye in large quantities — which happens some seasons — its effects are very dreadful^ giving rise to ulceration and mortification of the extremities. These injurious effects could hardly happen now that the means of cleaning grain and the methods of cultivating it are so much improved ; nevertheless it is far less cultivated than its otherwise wholesome qualities would seem to demand. The quantity imported into the United Kingdom in 1849 was 241,613 quai-ters, and in 1850 94,078 quarters. {Poole's Statistics,)

Indian Coen — Maize. Zea Mays, (Nat. Ord. Grawinacem,) (Plate II. fig. 6.)

A native of Tropical America. Within the last century this grain has become of immense importance to the human family, furnishing, in countries adapted to its cultivation, enormous quantities of a wholesome and nutritive diet. Its culture has spread over the whole of the American continent^ throughout most parts of Asia and Africa, and the southern parts of Europe ; it is remarkably prolific, and is cultivated with less labour probably than any other grain. Its culture has led to the production of numerous varieties, amongst

POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY.

which the most conspicuous are the Large White^ the Large Yellow^ and the Eed American sorts^ and the Small Yellow of Southern Europe.

Owing to its deficiency in gluten^ maize is not well adapted for making bread ; it is however made into cakes^ which are much esteemed in North America. Throughout the whole of the American continent and islands it enters largely into the common food of the people^ in a great variety of ways. Like oats^ it is reduced to meal^ the pericarp or bran remaining mixed with the flour. In the preparation called Jiomminy, the grain is first soaked^ and then exposed to a drying heat^ which causes the bran to crack and peel off, it is then easily separated : in this state it is much used for puddings and other dishes. Pop-corn is another prepa-j ration, made by slightly baking the unripe grains, whichj makes them turn inside out, giving them the appearance of | tapioca : this is also a favourite method of using the corn, S

Several attempts have been made, but without success, to cultivate maize in England : our summer is too short, and our autumn too humid ; it is however extensively imported from the United States and Italy, and used for feeding cattle, etc., but is not regarded with much favour as human food. The imports in 1847 (the year in which the potato-crop failed) were 3,614,637 quarters; in 1850, 1,286,263 quarters'^. The maize belongs to the Class Moncecia and Order Triandria of Linnaeus, because, like a few others of the GramiriacecBj it has its stamens and pistils in different flowers on the same plant; the staminiferous flowers are borne in a tuft on the summit of the plant, the pistilliferous ones rise from the axils of the leaves, which, as in most grasses, are sessile along an unbranched stem. The perianth, or floral envelope, of the pistil flower, remains until the grain ripens, and in the South of Europe is very extensively used in packing oranges and lemons ; it is also used in South America by the Spaniards in making cigarrettos, for which purpose the very thin Indian corn covers are selected, and small squares are cut from them, in which the tobacco is rolled. These perianths have also been manufactured into very good paper.

Rice. Oryza sativa, (Nat. Ord, Gmminace^B.) (Plate I. fig. 4.)

This useful grain is a native of the East Indies, whence it has spread to all the warm parts of Asia, Africa, and the southern parts of America ; its habit of growth is very much like the oat, the grain hanging gracefully from the very

* Poole's Statistics.

POPULAE ECONOMIC BOTANY.

thin hair-like pedicels of an elegant loose panicle, less however than that of the Oat. Although several ill effects, and even cholera"^ itself, have been attributed to the use of this food, nevertheless these accusations are not well-founded, for, on the contrary, rice appears from its astringency to be admirably adapted to the use of the natives of warm climates, where it nsually constitutes the staple food of the lower classes. Its antiquity is very great : Cast thy bread upon the waters, and it shall return to thee after many days,^^ evidently applies to rice, which, in Egypt, is always sown whilst the waters of the Nile still cover the surface of the land ; the returning floods leave a thick deposit of rich alluvial silt, in which the rice vegetates luxuriantly, being naturally a marsh plant. The rice from the Southern States of North America is decidedly the best, being much sweeter, larger, and better-coloured than that of Asia, where its cultivation is less carefully managed. The States of Carolina produce the best American, and Patna the best East Indian rice.

Like wheat and other grain, the rice is that particular

* In the ^Lancet/ 1833-4, vol. i., Dr. Tytler attributes malignant cholera to the use of rice as food, in consequence of which he named the disease morbus oryzeus.

GUINEA COEN.

IS form of fruit which is called a cari/opsis : its characters are that the pericarp or seed-covering appears to cover the seed so closely as to form a portion of it : thus the seed-vessel of the wheat is the brown covering which constitutes the bran, and cannot be removed without breaking the enclosed white seed; in the rice how^ever the pericarp is not so closely adherent, and can be removed by slight pressure, which causes it to split and come off without injuring the enclosed seed. It often comes to us in the husk, and is then called paddy, an Indian name. In this country immense quantities are consumed, but rather as a luxury, in the form of puddings and confectionery, than as a principal article of food. In India a species of arrack, or strong spirit, is distilled from paddy. The straw has lately been much used in plaiting for ladies^ bonnets. The beautiful Chinese manufacture called rice-paper is erroneously supposed to be manufactured from this grain : its proper history will appear in another chapter.

The quantity of rice imported into Great Britain in 1851, according to Poolers Statistics, was 41,121 tons; but of this enormous quantity a large proportion is again exported to our North American colonies and to the countries of Northern Europe.

POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY.

Guinea Coen^ Darra^ Durra^ or Turkish Millet, called in India Joar, — Tlie seed of Andropogon Sorghum. (Nat, Ord. Graminacecc.)

A roundisli grain, in shape not nnlike the maize, but not of greater bulk than a small grain of wheat ; its colour is a yellowish- white, in some varieties marked with a black spot. It is borne in loose tufts or panicles, several grains being attached to each of the upright pedicels at short distances from each other ; the stalks are about eighteen inches to two feet in height, and when dry are very rigid, — in this state they are much used in the manufacture of carpet-brooms and whisks. The grain itself is chiefly used in this country for feeding poultry ; it is however strongly suspected that wheaten flour is not unfrequently adulterated with it when it is in the market, but this can only occasionally take place, as the importation of Durra is very irregular. It is much used as food for the black population in the West Indies, whence it has been called negro corn : they make of it cakes about an inch thick, which are white, and tolerably palatable. It is also used by the poorer peasants of Italy. All kinds of poultry, pigs, cattle, and even horses eat it with avidity. The quantity imported is very uncertain, some years passing without any arrivals of Durra, while at other

MILLET.

times many hundreds of quarters arrive. It comes chiefly from Northern Africa; it is however cultivated largely in the United States^ "West and East Indies, and in Southern Europe. It is a native of India.

Millet. — There are several distinct species of grain commercially known by this name ; they all belong to the same Natural Order [Graminacece) ,

1. The Italian Millet — Setaria Italica — is a small round grain, much like mustard-seed, but rather more than half its size ; it is sweet and wholesome ; its use in this country is almost wholly confined to confectionery. It is cultivated and used extensively in India, under the name of Koongoonie, Kala-kangnee, and Kora-kang. It is grown chiefly in the neighbourhood of Calcutta.

2. German Millet — Setaria Germanica — which is very little used, except for feeding cage-birds.

3. Millet Proper — Panicim miliaceum — is a native of the East Indies, where it is extensively cultivated, under the names of Warree and Kadi-kane. The principal districts in which it is grown are Madura, Palamcottah, and Tinnevelly.

Several other species are used for food in various parts of the world, but those mentioned are the only ones which are brought to this country, and of them only very small quan-

POPULAE ECONOMIC BOTANY.

titles are imported^ the arrivals of which are very irregular and uncertain.

minace^e,)

Though not used for human food^ this seed is very extensively used in this country in feeding cage-birds^ for which purpose it is both grown and imported. Many acres are annually cultivated with this crop in Kent^ and we sometimes receive several hundred quarters from Germany^ where its culture receives considerable attention. The Isle of Thanet is the chief place of its culture in England^ and here its straw when cut into chaff is highly valued as fodder for horses.

Buckwheat. Fagopynm esculenimn, (Nat. Ord. Poli/- gonacecE.) (Plate II. fig. 7.)

Probably a native of England ; it is much cutivated in Northern Europe and in North America^ where^ in the form of buckwheat cakes^ it is a favourite food. It comes occasionally to this country from Germany^ chiefly for use as seed. It forms excellent food for pheasants^ and for that purpose is sown extensively in the vicinity of game-preserves. The seed is about twice the size of mustard-seed^ rather longer than broad^ and having three sharp angles running

PEAS. BEANS.

longitudinally ; the colour is a dark brown ; it is deprived of its husk in a manner similar to that employed with rice, and the kernel is then ground to a coarse meal. Small quantities of this meal occasionally reach us from the United States, but chiefly as presents; there is no regular commercial demand.

Peas, or Pease (both names are commonly used, commercially). Fismn sativum, (Nat. Ord. Leguminosce.)

This is the common white garden-pea in a ripened state. We annually receive large quantities from Dantzic and other northern ports, which are used as food for man and various domestic animals. The quantity of peas imported into the United Kingdom in 1850 was 181,419 quarters, and about four times that quantity was home-grown.

Beans. Faha vulgaris, (Nat. Ord. Leguminosce,)

The only kind of bean imported in any considerable quantities is the Egyptian or common horse-bean, w^hich is largely consumed for feeding horses. The same species is extensively cultivated in this country, but the consumption is so great, that not less than 443,306 quarters were imported in 1850. Previous to 1845 the average imports of five years was 161,418 quarters, whilst in the succeding five years it increased to 415,655 quarters; the greatest quan-

c

POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY.

tity was in 1848^ when not less than 480,706 quarters w^ere received from Alexandria and Cairo.

Beans (American Haricot) — Phaseolus vulgaris, — There are several varieties of this bean, differing only in colour ; the white is most used, and during the scarcity which resulted from the failure of the potato-crop in 1847 and 1848, about 1200 quarters were sent to England from the United States. These beans were usually boiled and eaten as a vegetable with animal food ; by many persons they were much liked, but w^ere not generally considered easy of digestion. They are the same species as the French bean of the gardens, and the French Haricot, but are an inferior variety.

The tare is a common crop in our own fields, and, being cut when the plant is green as fodder for cattle, the ripened seeds are only used for the purpose of sowing, and are usually raised by our farmers and seedsmen ; a few hundred quarters are however annually imported from Norway and