Chap. 34.] THE EAPE. 47 



CHAP. 33. THE KIDNEY-BEAT?-. 



The pod of the chick-pea is rounded, while in other legu- 

 minous plants it is long and broad, like the seed which it 

 contains ; in the pea, again, it is of a cylindrical form. In 

 the case of the kidney-bean^^ it is usual to eat the pod together 

 with the seed. This last may be sown in all kinds of soils 

 indifferently, between the ides of October^^ and the calends of 

 November."'' As soon as ever the leguminous plants begin to 

 ripen, they ought to be plucked, for the pods will very soon 

 open and the seed fall out, in which case it is very difficult to 

 find : the same is the case, too, with the lupine. But before 

 we pass on to the lupine, it will be as well to make some men- 

 tion of the rape.'^ 



CHAP. 34. (13.) — THE EAPE. 



The Latin writers have only treated of this plant in a cur- 

 sory manner, while those of Greece have considered it a little 

 nore attentively ; though even they have ranked it among the 

 garden plants. If, however, a methodical arrangement is to 

 DC strictly observed, it should be spoken of immediately after 

 3om, or the bean, at all events ; for next to these two produc- 

 tions, there is no plant that is of more extensive use. For, in 

 he first place, all animals will feed upon it as it grows ; and 

 t is far from being the least nutritious plant in the fields for 

 'arious kinds of birds, when boiled in water more particularly. 

 )attle, too, are remarkably fond of the leaves of rape ; and 

 he stalks and leaves, when in season, are no less esteemed 

 is a food for man than the sprouts of the cabbage f^ these, 

 00, when turned yellow and left to die in the barn, are even 

 lore highly esteemed than"- when green. As to the rape 

 tself, it will keep all the better if left in its mould, after which 

 s should be dried in the open air till the next crop is nearly 

 ipe, as a resource in case of scarcity. jS'ext to those of the 



^ A variety of the Phaseolus vulgaris of Linnaeus : the " haricot " of 

 le French. The French bean and the scarlet-runner are cooked in a 

 milar manner among us. 



«9 loth of October. 7o 1st of ^"overaber. 



'^ The JS'apo-brassica of Linnaeus. The turnip cabbage, or rape- 

 )lewort. 



" This taste, it is most probable, is nowhere in existence at the present 



