FUNGUS. 



Agarics, of an orange or rose-red colour, and 

 boleti, which are coriaceous or corky in tex- 

 ture, or which have a membranous collar 

 round the stem, are also unsafe. These rules 

 for knowing deleterious fungi seem to rest on 

 fact and experience ; but they will not enable 

 the collector to recognise every poisonous spe- 

 cies." The general rules laid down for dis- 

 tinguishing wholesome fungi are not so well 

 founded, but the most simple and easy mode 

 of testing the quality of field fungi is to intro- 

 duce a silver spoon or piece of coin of that 

 metal, or an onion, into the vessel in which 

 mushrooms are seething : if on taking either 

 of them out, they assume a bluish black, or 

 dark discoloured appearance, there are cer- 

 tainly some dangerous fungi among them ; if, 

 on the other hand, the metal or onion, on being 

 withdrawn from the liquor, wears its natural 

 appearance, the fungi may be considered 

 wholesome and innoxious. The symptoms in- 

 dicating poisoning by fungi are nausea, vomit- 

 ing, purging, and colic, in general accompa- 

 nied with great depression of the pulse, cold 

 extremities, clammy sweats, stupor, delirium, 

 convulsions, sometimes paralysis. In such 

 cases immediate means should be taken to 

 clear the stomach, and a medical practitioner 

 sent for, as the subsequent treatment must vary 

 according to the symptoms in each individual 

 instance. (Christison on Poisons; Branded Diet, 

 of Science.') 



FUNGUS. In farriery, a spongy excres- 

 cence which arises in wounds and ulcers, 

 commonly known by the name of proud flesh. 

 It may be destroyed and removed by caustic 

 applications, such as nitrate of silver, or sul- 

 phate of copper, blue vitriol, and the use of 

 tight bandages. 



FURLONG (Sax. r-upianj). An English 

 measure of length containing forty poles, the 

 eighth part of a mile. 



FURMENTY, or FRUMENTY (from fru- 

 mentum, corn). A kind of country pottage pre- 

 pared of wheat, which is first wetted, and 

 beaten to deprive it of its husks, and after- 

 wards boiled. When boiled up with milk, 

 sugar, and a little spice, it forms a wholesome 

 and agreeable food. This preparation was 

 well known to the Roman farmers. Cato, the 

 earliest of the agricultural writers whose 

 works have escaped to us, gives (lib. Ixxxvi.) 

 the modern mode of making it under the name 

 of wheat frumenty. 



FURRIER'S REFUSE, or CLIPPINGS; 

 are sometimes applied as a fertilizer tonight 

 chalks and gravelly soils, either ploughed in 

 or laid upon the surface, in the proportion of 

 twenty-four to thirty bushels to the acre. They 

 are usually sold by the quarter, which com- 

 monly contains as much as two five-bushel 

 sacks will hold when closely pressed. The 

 price is said to be about 14s. to 16s. per quar- 

 ter. (Brit. Husb. vol. i. p. 426.) 



FURROW (Sax. puph; Dan. fur; Lat. fo- 

 n;s). In agriculture, a term not very properly 

 defined, as it has three or four distinct signifi- 

 cations ; viz. 1. The soil turned up by the 

 plough; 2. The trench left by this operation; 

 3. The interval between two ridges ; and 4. 

 The cross drain which receives the rain water 

 512 



FURZE. 



collected by these intervals. Dr. Johnson adds 

 SL fifth; but he obviously mistakes furrow for 

 drill. According to Mr. Marshall there are 

 three ideas which lay claim to the word fur- 

 row. 1. The trench made by the plough, which 

 may be called n plough furrow ; 2. The collate- 

 ral drains, or an inter-furrow; and 3. The 

 transverse drains, or the cross-furrow. See 

 PLOUGHING and FURROW, WATER. 



FURROW-SLICE. The narrow slice or 

 slip of earth turned up by the plough. By the 

 Scotch writers on husbandry, it is mostly 

 termed fur-slice. 



FURROW, WATER-. That kind of deep, 

 open furrow which is made by the plough in 

 tillage-lands, for the purpose of drawing off and 

 draining them, in order to favour the healthy 

 growth of the crops. Furrows of this kind 

 should always be drawn in such directions as 

 will the most readily take off the water, and be 

 kept open during the winter months, especially 

 on the wheat-grounds. The making of these 

 furrow-drains should be performed immediate- 

 ly after the ploughing and sowing have been 

 finished; and this is particularly necessary on 

 all the more stiff and retentive kinds of soil. 



FURZE, COMMON; GORSE, or WHIN 

 (Ulex Europceus). PI. 9, c. This hardy ever- 

 green shrub is indigenous to most parts of 

 Great Britain, and grows abundantly on sandy 

 or gravelly heaths and commons ; and when 

 viewed in the light of a weed it is one of the 

 most determined growers, and most difficult to 

 get rid of that the agriculturist can meet with. 

 The stem of the furze varies from 2 to 5 feet 

 high; but in Cornwall and Durham it some- 

 times grows to the height of 8 or 9 feet. It bears 

 innumerable dense, roughish, green, furrowed 

 or ribbed branches, spinous at the ends, and 

 beset with large, compound, striated, permanent 

 thorns. The leaves are few, scattered, small, 

 awl-shaped, deciduous. Flowers large, soli- 

 tary or in pairs, of a bright golden yellow, with 

 a very peculiar oppressive scent. One of our 

 poets has well described the beautiful appear- 

 ance of this shrub in blossom 



"And what more noble than the vernal furze, 

 With L'old.Mi baskets hung? Approach it not, 

 For every blossom has a troop of swords 

 Drawn to defend it." 



The legumes are downy, bursting elastically 

 in dry, hot weather, with a crackling noise, and 

 scattering their seeds extensively. The wood 

 of furze is very hard. Furze is chiefly used for 

 fences, as food for cattle, and for 'fuel. Its 

 preference for sterile soil has caused it to be 

 extensively employed for fences in such land, 

 and as a cover for game, and shelter for young 

 plantations. With common care furze fences 

 last for a very long period, but they require 

 peculiar management to prevent the roots be- 

 coming exposed. Sowing in three tiers on a 

 bank is perhaps the best mode, as it allows of 

 one tier to be kept low by the shears or bill, 

 the second of higher growth, and the last to at- 

 tain its natural stature. 



There are generally two objections advanced 



against the adoption of whin-fences. The first 



! is, that the wall or mound required for raising 



the whin is of such dimensions as to occasion 



a great waste of ground; and the second is, 



