THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



37 



and are eatea by the inhabitants of Egypt anJ some 

 parts of India as potatoes, forming the principal food 

 of the inhabitants; their flavour is like that of pota- 

 toes. The roots of C. hinutlcnsis form the principal 

 part of the food of the hill people of the Himalayas. 

 The very large roots of Caladiuni arborcscens, a Bra- 

 zilian shrub, yield a great quantity of starch. The 

 bay-root, which grows about the out-islands of the 

 Bahamas group, was found of great use as a food-plant 

 to the inhabitants of Long Island during a scarcity of 

 food occasioned by the drought of 1843. The root 

 grows in the form of a large beet, and is from twelve 

 to sixteen inches in length. It is entirely farinaceous, 

 and when properly ground and prepared makes good 

 bread. The bulbous roots of Ornithogalum umbellatian 

 have been commonly eaten in Italy, in Syria, and the 

 neighbouring countries. Dioscondes says that it was 

 sometimes dried, pulverized, and mixed with corn- 

 flour ; and that it was also eaten both raw and washed. 

 Lamerteus, in his " Essay on Bulbous and Tuberous 

 Roots," states that in his time the peasants of Italy and 

 the neighbouring countries often roasted the roots of 

 the Ornithogalum, and eat them like chesnuts, or 

 lightly boiled them, and peeled and used them as salad, 

 with oil, vinegar, and pepper. 



The French have been much more zealous than we 

 have in this inquiry for new edible roots. Among 

 others brought under the notice of the Academy of 

 Sciences have been the bulbous-rooted cicely (Chcero- 

 phyllum bulbosum), a European plant of the most 

 easy culture, which will grow in any soil. It yields an 

 abundance of tubers about an ounce each, very whole- 

 some, containing 21 per cent, of starch. The turnip- 

 formed tubers, when taken up early in the spring, are 

 eaten in France and Germany, boiled with oil and 

 vinegar. The roots only contain 63 per cent, of water, 

 while the potato consists of 74 per cent, and more. We 

 are not told, however, whether the root can be pre- 

 sented at table in its native form, like the potato, or 

 without any other cooking than simple boiling. 



Another plant brought under notice of the Academy 

 was introduced from New Granada, under its native 

 name of Shicarra only, which has white, juicy, and 

 sweet tubers, that can be eaten raw. It is an annual 

 shrub, growing to the height of about three feet, and 

 as it stands cold well, it was thought it might prove a 

 rival to the beet-root in Europe, being richer in sugar. 



The roots of Apios tuherosa are eatable, and are 

 sold in some of the German markets. Professor Eaton, 

 in his " Manual of Botany for North America," remarks 

 that this nutritive root ought to be generally cultivated. 

 The tubers are, however, not larger than cherries, but 

 very farinaceous, with a large per centoge of starch. 

 The roots of Claytonea fuberosa are eaten in Eastern 

 Siberia ; and an American species, C. acutiflora, has 

 been recommended for experimental culture. The tu- 

 brous roots of Bunium bulbocastanum in Europe, 

 like those of our British species B. denudatuni, con- 

 tain well-known nutritious qualities. When boiled 

 they are very sweet and delicious. In Holland, the 

 Alps, and in some parts of England, they arc used in I 



soup, and also roasted under tiic embers, when they 

 eat like roasted chesnuts. The tubers of B. ferulaceum 

 are used the same way as gum. The Apios (Arracacha 

 esculenta), a perennial, is extensively cultiuated for 

 culinary purposes in the temperate mountain regions 

 about Santa Fe de Bogota. The large roots are cooked 

 and eaten in the same way as parsnips, but considered 

 better and easier of digestion. It has been introduced 

 into the South of Europe. A very promising tuber 

 seemed to be the Ocas of South America, various spe- 

 cies of Oxalis, but they have not been persevered in 

 long enough to ascertain whether the roots might not 

 be enlarged by continued culture. O. crenata was in- 

 troduced a few years ago fi-om Peru, as an object of cul- 

 tivation in this country for its tubers. These, however, 

 are rarely more than two ounces in weight, and although 

 they are of a mealy consistency, and by some consi- 

 dered if not equal, at least a good substitute for the 

 potato, it has not been found profitable to devote any 

 attention to their culture as an esculent, since the 

 average produce of a plant did not exceed half a pound, 

 hence the experiment was dropped. O. tuber osa is 

 extensively cultivated in Bolivia for its numerous 

 tubers, which are like small potatoes, and about an 

 inch in diameter. They have a slightly acid flavour, 

 which is disagreeable to most persons; this is lost by 

 exposing them to the sun, the acidity being thus con- 

 verted into saccharine matter, and the tubers become 

 as floury as the best varieties of potatoes. The tubers 

 are exposed in Bolivia for ten days in woollen bags, 

 which appear to facilitate the conversion of the acid. 

 If the action of the sun is continued for several months, 

 the Ocas becomes of the sweetness and consistency of 

 dried figs ; they are then called Carri. 



Bryant describes a root, which he met with on the 

 great prairies of California, and which he called the 

 prairie potato. He considers it in many respects su- 

 perior to the common potato, and that it might be 

 useful to introduce into cultivation. As no scientific 

 description of the plant is given, it is difl5cult to deter- 

 mine what it is, for prairie turnip and prairie potato 

 are terms for a very large number of esculent roots in 

 North America, and include some species of Psoralea. 

 A little town called Stowe, in Vermont, uses some 

 20,000 bushels of a peculiar kind of coarse potato 

 called the California potato, which yields eight pounds 

 of starch to the bushel. Whetlier there is any rela- 

 tionship between these potatoes we cannot state. At 

 least this subject of new esculent tubers is well worth 

 looking into and testing practically, systematically, and 

 perseveringly. 



BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY,— The 

 monthly meeting of the council of this society was held at 

 Waghorn's Railway Hotel, Taunton, in the last week of Novem- 

 ber, J, W. Buller, Esq., M,P., president of the society, in the 

 chair, and the following members were also present : The 

 Earl of Devon, and Messrs. E. S. Drewe, J. Widchcombe, 

 J. Hussey, J. T. Davy, T. Newman, E. May, W. Wipple, 

 E. N. Grenville, Jonathan Gray, G. Poole, J. H. Cotterell, 

 C. Bush, J. Bailward, E. Vidal, D. Adair, S. Pitman, H. G. 



