FIAR. 



FIG. 



crown of the seeds lobed ; stem diffuse. Flow- 

 ers not quite so broad as those of P. inodorutn. 

 The whole herb is slightly aromatic. 



The common wild chamomile (Matricaria 

 chamonrilla, PI. 10, tr, tt>), was formerly classed 

 as a feverfew. The greenhouse kinds of 

 feverfew grow in any rich light soil, and 

 young cuttings root readily when planted under 

 a glass. Any common soil suits the hardy 

 kinds, which are increased by divisions or 

 seeds. It possesses the properties of the real 

 chamomile in a marked degree, and might be 

 substituted for it as a medicinal agent. (Eng. 

 Flor. vol. iii. p. 451.) 



FIAR. A word of Gothic origin, applied, in 

 the northern parts of Great Britain, to certain 

 averaged returns of the prices of grain for the 

 current year in the different counties, which 

 are fixed by the sheriffs respectively, with the 

 assistance of juries, in the month of February. 

 When the jury has been called, evidence of 

 the prices of the different grains raised in the 

 county must be laid before them : and the 

 averages struck by the jury and sanctioned 

 by the judge are termed ftars of the year in 

 which they are struck, and regulate the prices 

 of all grain stipulated to be sold at the fiar 

 prices. These fiars also regulate (where 

 no price has been otherwise agreed upon) 

 the contract price upon delivery for grain 

 grown in the county. Having the prices of 

 grain, &c., ascertained in each county has 

 greatly facilitated the introduction into Scot- 

 land of the practice of letting land for corn 

 rents, convertible at the prices of the day. 

 In England, where there are no such au- 

 thentic local returns, there is great difficulty in 

 converting corn rents into money rents, as 

 reference can only be made to the prices of 

 some particular market, which would be too 

 limited a criterion, or to the kingdom at large, 

 which, on the other hand, would be too exten- 

 sive. (Bell's Law Diet.) 



FIELD (Sax. peio; Germ, feld; Dutch, veld). 

 A portion of land enclosed by a fence, or ren- 

 dered distinct by some line of separation, and 

 set apart either for tillage or pasture. In for- 

 mer times, and until within the last two cen- 

 turies, almost all the land cultivated with the 

 plough throughout Europe was unenclosed ; 

 and the term "field" was then applied, in Bri- 

 tain at least, to the lands under culture by the 

 plough. Subsequently, when farmers enclosed 

 and subdivided a portion of the lands near the 

 farm-yard, these portions were called fields, 

 and the more distant portion which remained 

 open was called open field, or common field, 

 while grass lands unenclosed were called 

 commons. In the present improved state of 

 agriculture, every farm is divided into fields, 

 either simply by lines of demarcation, which 

 are sufficient when no animals are to be grazed 

 on the farm, or by lines of separation which 

 will act as fences, such as walls, hedges, 

 ditches, &c., where cattle are to be grazed. 

 Each field on a farm is always known by a 

 particular distinguishing name. Without some 

 regular fixed division of arable lands, it would 

 be next to impossible to conduct a rotation or 

 succession of crops. It is interesting to ob- 

 serve thai, as agriculture in a rude state had 

 60 



no fences, so this is also beginning to be the 

 case in agriculture in its most refined form ; 

 because it is found much more advantageous, 

 both for the production of butcher's meat and 

 manure, to consume the grass and herbage 

 grown on farm-lands in farm-yards, with the 

 single exception of that portion which is eaten 

 by sheep ; and these are now often merely con- 

 fined to successive portions of grass and other 

 green crop lands by light netting or hurdles, 

 scarcely visible at a short distance. (See 

 Fotmxo. By thus getting rid, to a more con- 

 siderable extent, of fences of every description, 

 from a tenth to a fifth will be added to the con- 

 tents of the greater number of corn-farms ; and 

 a very considerable first cost and annual ex- 

 pense will be saved in planting hedges or 

 building walls, and in keeping them in repair 

 afterwards. (Fronde's Diet, of Science, $c.) 



FIELDVOLE (Arvicola agrestis). A name 

 of the short-tailed field mouse or meadow 

 mouse; a species which subsists exclusively 

 on vegetable productions; and being, like the 

 rest of the rat tribe, extremely prolific, multi- 

 plies occasionally to such a degree, even in 

 England, as to become the most injurious of 

 wild quadrupeds. "After having followed the 

 labours of the reaper, and taken their share of 

 the harvest," the fieldvoles, says Mr. Bell, "at- 

 tack the newly-sown fields, burrowing beneath 

 the surface, and robbing the husbandman of 

 his next year's crop, and at length, retreating 

 to the woods and plantations, commit such 

 devastations on the young trees as would 

 scarcely be credible, were not the evidence 

 too certain to be doubted. In the years 1813 

 and 1814, these ravages were so great in the 

 New Forest and the Forest of Dean, as to 

 create considerable alarm, lest the whole of 

 the young trees in those extensive woods 

 should be destroyed by them." A timely and 

 assiduous attention to restraining the increase 

 of this pernicious species, by the aid of terriers, 

 ferrets, and traps, is imperative on those who 

 have the charge of young plantations ; but 

 when the numbers of the fieldvole have sur- 

 passed the usual bounds, then it is recom- 

 mended to dig holes about a foot in depth, and 

 the same in diameter, taking care to make 

 them much wider at the bottom than at the 

 top, so that the animal once in cannot easily 

 get out again. In holes of this kind, Mr. Jesse 

 states that at least thirty thousand fieldvoles 

 were caught in the course of three or four 

 months in Dean Forest plantations ; that num- 

 ber having been counted out and paid for by 

 the proper officers of the forest. (Brande's Diet, 

 of Science.) 



FIG (Fiats). The genus to which the com- 

 mon fig tree belongs is of considerable extent; 

 and its species are among the most noble ob- 

 jects belonging to the vegetable kingdom. In 

 tropical countries the trees which yield caout- 

 chouc (India rubber) of the finest quality be- 

 long to this species, particularly F. elastica. 

 The celebrated ban-yan tree (F. religiosa) of 

 India is a kind of fig tree. It is remarkable 

 that the common fig tree (F. carica), although 

 it produces so agreeable a fruit, is in some 

 measure poisonous, particularly the milky 

 juice which exudes from the leaves and the 

 2 K 2 473 



