174: Our Experimental Farm — Amdic Seeds. [April, 



fried in olive oil, and constitutes a great reliance in times of the 

 oft-recurring, and I may almost say the never-ending fasts of the Greeks 

 and Greek-Catliolic Churches. 



No. 12. Cucumber Seed: — I send this because it differs from the 

 kinds I used to see in America, in having an exterior as smooth as an 

 apple. It is not quite so hard as the American kind, and not quite so 

 good for pickling — its taste about the same. Cucumbers quartered, 

 unpceled, are here regarded as a greater delicacy than apples, peaches, 

 or pears, to set before company. Truly, tastes differ — and why, who 

 can tell? 



No. 13. Wild Tour 0' Clock Seed: — This lives from the root; 

 and, in its line, is really a gigantic affair. Any spare garden corner 

 will answer for it ; and every night and morning, for months, its flowers 

 are legion ! 



No. 14. SiMPSOOx: — This is quite an article of commerce in Syria. 

 I do not know all its uses ; hut the most common of them is. to sprinkle 

 it upon the dough of bread, just before going into the oven. Let the 

 loaves be made quite thin, with this baked upon them, and when the 

 bread is piping hot I assure you it is not bard to take ! Many Franks 

 are extremely fond of it. 



No. 15. Adis, or Lentils : — These are sown like peas in field culture, 

 and are a solid, nutritious sort of bean, and not unpalatable. Esau's 

 pottage f 



No. 16. Lettuce: — This seed is from Homs, where the plant is found 

 superior to any I recollect of having seen elsewhere. It grows much 

 higher than the kinds I was accustomed to see in America ; and the 

 inside leaves are very tender, juicy, and sweet. 



No. 17. Eadish : — I know of no peculiarity in the products of this 

 seed, except that it grows larger than anything of the kind I ever saw 

 in the United States. The turnip-shaped radish I have never seen 



here. 



No. 18. Ma-ate: — This is a species of cucumber, growing much 

 longer than the common kind, and generally crooked. They are very 

 solid, and I think must be excellent for pickling. They are more com- 

 mon here than the other species, since they will grow on poorer ground 

 and without watering. The vine is a rough one, and the fruit has a 

 fuzz like the peach. In all probability this is the cucumber alluded 

 to in Isaiah, 1 : 8. — Nothing can be more appropriate or intelligible than 

 the allusion in that verse. 



No. 19. The Pumpkin: — I can not recommend the Syrian pumpkin, 



