CHI 



cm 



that he strongly recommended it to 

 the notice of British agriculturists ; 

 and in the queries sent to varJDUs 

 parts of tiic country l)y llie Board of 

 Agricuiturp, one was whether chico- 

 ry was cnhivated in the district as 

 green food for cattle. But, notwith- 

 standing its abundant produce, it has 

 not been found so much superior to 

 other green food as to make its culti- 

 vation general. Some accurate ex- 

 perunents on a large scale were made 

 in France, at the national farm of 

 Rambouillet, to ascertain the value 

 of chicory compared with lucern and 

 other green food. The chicory was 

 declared inferior, giving a disagreea- 

 ble taste to milk and butter when 

 cows are kept upon it. For sheep it 

 is very good, and a small portion mix- 

 ed with their other food may probably 

 be a preservative against the rot. 



" Chicory is now chiefly cultivated 

 in Belgium and Germany, for the pur- 

 pose of preparing from tlie root a pow- 

 der which can be substituted for cof- 

 fee. This has become a very consid- 

 erable article of commerce. 



"To have the roots in perfection, 

 the seed should be sown, or, rather, 

 drilled, in April, like that of the car- 

 rot. If sown sooner, they are apt to 

 run to seed. The land should be rich, 

 deep, and light. The plants should be 

 thinned out to six inches in the rows, 

 and most carefully weeded. In Sep- 

 tember the leaves should be finally 

 gathered and the roots taken up, 

 which may be done with a common 

 potato-fork. They are then cleaned 

 by scraping and washing, split where 

 they are thickest, and cut across in 

 pieces about two or three inches long. 

 These pieces are dried by means of 

 a slow oven or a kiln. Some nicety 

 is required in drying, to prevent the 

 root from being scorched, and to keep 

 the proper flavour. In this state it is 

 sold to the merchants, packed in bags. 

 It is afterward cut or chopped into 

 small pieces, roasted exactly as cof- 

 fee, and ground in a mill. Chicory is 

 said to exhaust the soil, and to require 

 fresh ground to prevent its degenera- 

 ting. Unless the soil is rich and light, 

 the roots will not come to a good size 

 156 



in one season, and old roots become 

 tough and stringy. It is only the young 

 roots that are fit to be prepared for 

 conmicrce. They lose; a great por- 

 tion of their weight in drymg The 

 best pre|)aration of the laud for chic- 

 ory is grass or clover, 'i'he numure 

 should be laid on before it is plough- 

 ed up in autumn, which will acceler- 

 ate the decomposition of the roots. 

 The land should be ploughed very 

 deep in spring, and laid light ; the sur- 

 face harrowed fine, and tlie ehit-ory 

 seed drilled in rows twelve inches 

 apart, and rolled. Liquid manure 

 spread over the ground will much 

 accelerate the growth of the plants, 

 which must be thinned out like tur- 

 nips or carrots, to six or eight inclies 

 from plant to plant." 



About thirteen pounds of seed are 

 used to the acre. 



CHIGOE, or CHIGGER. An apter- 

 ous minute insect, which abounds in 

 southern and tropical America. It 

 penetrates the skin of the foot, grow- 

 ing to some size, and producing in- 

 tolerable itching. Unless destroyed 

 by tobacco juice, or picked out with 

 a needle, it finally brings about ulcer- 

 ations. 



CHILIAN CLOVER. The Alfal- 

 fa. It is common lucern. 



CHINE. The back bone. 



CHINQUAPIN. Casfaneapiarula. 

 A small tree and bush seldom found 

 north of Delaware. The fruit is small 

 and like a chestnut. It is seldom 

 wood is obtained from the chinqua- 

 pin : what there is is very durable. 

 In neglected new lands in Virginia it 

 is a great nuisance. 



CHINTZ, or CHINCK BUG. The 

 following is from Mr. Pleasants of 

 Virginia : 



"The chinck bug is a much more 

 formidable enemy with us than the 

 wheat worm, or even the Hessian 

 lly. They (the chinck bugs) attack 

 both corn and wheat crops, the lat- 

 ter in May, the former generally in 

 the month of June. They continue 

 to injure the wheat by extracting the 

 sap as long as there is a particle of 

 it in the stalk. The consequence is, 

 where they are numerous, the grain, 



