POT-HERBS 37 



it may contain. For smaller quantities the charge 

 for collecting is is. per gallon. The samphire is 

 considered in perfection when just about to flower, 

 or towards the end of May." The gathering of 

 samphire on the precipitous chalk cliffs being a very 

 difficult and dangerous occupation, it is not surprising 

 to learn that some little fraud was occasionally prac- 

 tised by the fishermen in substituting other plants 

 of a similar appearance for the true article. For this 

 purpose the sea-aster, marsh-samphire, and golden- 

 samphire were usually employed, but they are said 

 to form for " medicinal and culinary purposes " a very 

 poor substitute. 



Another native plant, once extensively used in the 

 manufacture of food, is the well-known Arum macu- 

 latum, " Cuckoo-pint " or " Lords-and-ladies." It was 

 from the corms of this plant that the famous Portland 

 arrowroot or Portland sago was made. The mode of 

 manufacture is said to have been as follows: "The 

 corms, which are dug up in June, are well washed, 

 then bruised, and well stirred in a vessel of water. 

 The coarser particles are then strained off, and the 

 fecula, after repeated subsidence and washings, is 

 finally dried in the sun, and the result is a starch 

 well known as being one of the smaller varieties, 

 yielding a jelly which, although inferior to Bermuda, 

 is superior or equal to ordinary arrowroots." The 

 manufacture of arrowroot in the IsleJ of Portland was 

 continued up to the year 1855, or a little later, after 

 which time it seems to have entirely ceased. A writer 

 in The Phytologist for November 1858, attributes the 

 cessation of this trade to improved methods of agri- 

 culture. Formerly, it appears, the fields were only 

 cropped once in two years, being left fallow the 



