260 



The World's Commercial Products 



By permission of Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading 



MUSHROOMS 



Gram or Chick Pea 

 (Cicer arietinum), an 

 annual herb, cultivated 

 from an early period- in 

 warm countries, especi- 

 ally in India, where it 

 is used in cakes, curries, 

 etc. Gram was known 

 to the ancient Egyp- 

 tians, Hebrews, and 

 Greeks. The Persian 

 weight, Nukhud, T ±± 

 oz. Avoird., is that of 

 a seed of Cicer arieti- 

 num. Gram is exported 

 in considerable and 

 increasing quantities 

 from India ; the aver- 

 age for the last five 

 years being 422,436 

 cwt. In 1904-05 India 

 Of this no less than £98,954 worth went 



exported 777,297 cwt. of gram valued at £178,993. 

 to France. 



Lentils (Ervum Lens), a slender plant supposed to be native of Western Asia, Greece, 

 and Italy. The Lentil was introduced into Egypt as a cultivated plant at an early date, and 

 from this centre spread east and west. Large quantities of lentils are introduced into this 

 country and used for soups, etc. 



The Soya Bean (Glycine hispida), a dwarf, bushy, almost erect plant, with every part 

 covered with fine brownish hairs. The Soya Bean is widely cultivated in India, and 

 more especially in China and Japan, where it is probably native. In the Far East " Soya " 

 constitutes the most important pulse. 



Pigeon Pea or Dhol of commerce (Cajanus indicus) is an erect sub-shrubby plant, often 

 about six feet in height, widely cultivated in the- tropics and sub-tropics of both hemispheres. 

 The pea-like seeds are of two kinds — yellow and veined with purple. Considerable quantities 

 are imported into Britain for use as cattle foods. 



Cow Pea (Vigna Catiang). This is a very curious plant, with long, almost cylindrical, pods 

 one to two feet long. These pods are often gathered when green, cut into lengths, cooked 

 and eaten like o'rdinary " kidney beans." The seeds are also largely used as food in 

 the tropics. 



Lablab (Dolichos Labial), a tall climber, native of India, very similar to the common 

 "kidney bean," but with the flowers dark purple and clustered at the ends of long stalks. 



Green Gram or Mung (Phaseolus Mungo), a native of India; where it has been cultivated 

 for some 3,000 years. It is grown all over the Indian peninsula in immense quantities. The 

 green. pods are eaten as a vegetable ; the ripe pulse is used boiled whole or split like Dhol. 

 Parched and ground into flour it is used in a variety of ways. Green Gram is valued as a 

 horse and cattle food, being considered fattening. The stems are crushed and used as fodder. 

 Phaseolus Mungo, var. radiatus, is the most esteemed of all pulses in India, and fetches the 

 highest price in the market. A native of India, it has been cultivated from time immemorial.. 

 It differs from the type (P. Mungo) in its longer trailing habit, greater hairiness, and in the seeds 

 being fewer, larger, longer, and usually of a dark-brown colour. 



Scarlet Runner (Phaseolus inultiflorus) , a native of South America, and said to have been 



