303 



cuius, the only one that I have seen. This undertaking has to con- 

 tend against several others previously in the field, but the specimens 

 possess a great superiority in colour over any that I have seen. 



Cultivation of Ervum hens in Scotland.* 



QuEENSFERRY bids fair to become celebrated in the history of our 

 industrial resources, through the introduction by Monsieur Achille 

 Francois Guillerez of a nevr field-crop into the rotations of Scottish 

 agriculture, founded on the successful acclimatation and culture of the 

 lentil [Ervum Lens) in the open air at Queensferry. The Ervum Lens 

 is a legume of the most ancient cultivation, having formed, as ex- 

 pressly stated in Genesis, the mess of pottage for which Esau sold his 

 birthright. It has always been extensively used as food in the East. 

 The Arabs account it the species of nourishment best adapted for 

 long journeys through the desert. Certain varieties are, however, 

 esteemed so delicate, as to find access to the tables of luxury ; and 

 the food which for twopence will dine six poor persons sumptuously, 

 is, on the Continent, far from being disdained by the rich. Amongst 

 ourselves, the Revalenta Arabica, Ervalenta, &c., offered as regimen 

 for invalids, is, or ought to consist of, the flour of lentils; but these 

 articles are frequently adulterated with the meal of peas, beans, and 

 other legumes. It was when the potato failure began to excite appre- 

 hensions respecting the popular subsistence, that M. Guillerez, recol- 

 lecting the extent to which lentils are rendered available in France, 

 Germany, &c., began to attempt their introduction for food into this 

 country. He found that, although known as a green crop even three 

 hundred years ago in Britain, beyond a small parcel or so grown sci- 

 entifically in a nursery, the seed of the Ervum Lens had never been 

 ripened amongst us. He therefore introduced from France the seeds 

 of two species in general cultivation, and has for several years in suc- 

 cession matured at Queensferry the prolific produce, both of the larger 

 yellow lentil and the small brown. It was a pleasant sight to witness 

 the propress of this interesting crop, although growing upon an un- 

 favourable exposure, in close drills, manured only with sea-weed, 

 after having been acclimatised, when it manifested great luxuriance. 

 Its foliage is a delicate pea-green, its blossom a minute white flower, 



* Extracted from ' Summer Lite on Land and Water at South Queensferry. By 

 W. W. Fyfe. ' 



