844 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



III. 



and It ripens sooner. The lentil, Young observes, is a crop not uncommon about Chesterford in Essex 

 where they sow a bushel an acre on one ploughing in the beginning or middle of March. It is there 

 the custom to make hay of them, or seed them for cutting into chaflf for trough-meat for sheep and 

 horses, and they sow them on both heavy and dry soils. It is, however, added, that the whole country 

 IS of a calcareous nature. It is likewise stated, that attention should be paid not to water liorses soon 

 after eating this sort of food, as they are apt to hove them. They are asserted to be cultivated for the 

 same purpose in Oxfordshire, and probably in other districts. 



5284.. The produce of tf e lentil in grain is about a fourth less than that of the tare ; and in straw it is not 

 a third as much, the plants seldom growing above one foot and a half high. The straw is, however, very 

 dehcate and nourishing, and preferred for lambs and calves ; and the grain on the Continent sells at nearly 



double the price of peas. Ein- "" 



hoff' obtained from 3840 parts 



of lentils, 1260 parts of starch, 



and 1433 of a matter analogous 



to animal matter, 



5285. The use of the lentil on 

 the Continent is very general, 

 both in soups and dressed with 

 a butter sauce as haricot. They 

 are imported from Hamburgh, 

 and sold in London for the 

 same purpose. 



5286. The chick pea {Pais, 

 chiche Gauance, Fr. ; Cicer 

 arietlnum, fig. 52.), grows 

 naturally in the south of 

 Europe, and is cultivated there 

 for the same purposes as the 

 lentil, but it is too delicate 

 for field culture in this coun- 

 try. 



5287. The fcidneybean (Phasfeolus vulgaris L. ; Haricot, Fr. ; Schminlcbohne, Ger. ; and Fagiuolo, Ital.) 

 IS a native of India, but ripens readily in dry summers in most parts of Britain. Its culture has been 

 hitherto confined to gardens; but it might be grown equally well in dry, warm, rich, and sheltered soils, 

 being grown in the fields of Germany, Switzerland, and in similar climates. The sort generally used for 

 this purpose is the small dwarf white ; the ground is prepared by several 

 stirrings, and the seed is dibbled in rows eighteen inches or two feet 

 asunder in the beginning of May. The ground is hoed and weeded 

 during the sumH|er, and the crop is ripe in August. It is usually 

 harvested by pirling up the plants, which, being dried, are stacked or 

 threshed. The haulm is of little bulk or use, but the seed is used in 

 making the esteemed French dish called haricot, which it is desirable 

 the cottagers of this country should be made acquainted with. There 

 is, perhaps, no other vegetable dish so cheap and easily cooked, and at 

 the same time so agreeable and nourishing. The beans are boiled and 

 then mixed with a little salt butter or other fat, and a little milk or 

 water and flour. From 3840 parts of kidneybean, EinhofF obtained 1805 

 parts of matter analogous to starch, 851 of vegeto-animal matter, and 

 799 parts of mucilage. Haricots and lentils are much used in all 

 Catholic countries during Lent and maigre days, as they, from their 

 peculiar constituents, form so excellent a substitute for animal food. 

 During the prevalence of the Roman religion in this country, they were 

 probably much more generally used than at present ; as reformations 

 are often carried farther than is necessary, possibly lentils may have 

 been left off by Protestants, lest the use of them should be considered 

 a symptom of popery. 



5288. The white lupine {Lvpin blanc, Fr. ; Zuplnus albus L.,fig. 746.) 

 was cultivated by the Romans as a legume, and is still occasionally 

 grown in Italy and France. The seeds were formerly, and are sometimes 

 now, used as food ; but more generally the whole plant is mown and 

 given as herbage to cattle, and sometimes the crop is ploughed down i.s 

 manure. 



Chap. IV. 



Plants cultivated for their Boots or Leaves in a recent State as Food for Man or Cattle. 



5289. Plants cultivated for their roots or leaves are various, and most of them are 

 adapted both for human food and that of domestic animals ; but some are chiefly or 

 entirely grown for the nurture of live stock. The plants which we include under this 

 head, are the potato, turnip, carrot, parsnep, beet, cabbage tribe, lettuce, and chiccory. 

 The culture of roots may be considered a branch of farming almost entirely of modern 

 origin, and more peculiarly British than any other department. Turnips were culti- 

 vated by the Romans, and in modern times brought into notice as objects of field cul- 

 ture in the last century ; but they were most imperfectly managed, and of very little 

 utility in agriculture till their culture was undertaken by the British farmer. The 

 potato, carrot, and pajrsnep were also first cultivated in the fields of this country. Fri- 

 able or light soil, suptn-ior pulverisation and manuring, the row-method, and careful 

 after-culture, are essential to the maturation of the plants to be treated of in this 

 Chapter; and hence the importance of such crops as preparations for those of the 

 bread corns. 



