LATHYRUS. 



317 



anil make an agrceaUe fermented liquor witli 

 them. They have a sweet taste, somewhat like 

 the roots of liquorice, and when boiled are well 

 flavoured and nutritive; and in times of scarcity 

 have served as a substitute for better food. 

 Boiled well a fork will pass through thera, and 

 dried slightly and roa-sted, they are served up in 

 Holland and Flanders in the manner of chestnuts, 

 which they resemble in flavour. Dickson re- 

 commends cultivating them in a bed or border 

 of liglit, rich soil, paved at the depth of twenty 

 inches, to prevent their roots from running down. 

 Plant the tubers six inches apart, and tlirce inches 

 below the surface. The second year some will 

 be fit to gather, and by taking only the largest, 

 the bed will continue productive for several years, 

 adding some fresh compost every year. 



Lathyrus. Of this genus the chickling 

 vetch, the sweet pea, everlasting pea, &c., are well 

 known species. 



The Chickling Vetch, (I. saiimis,) is fre- 

 quently cultivated on the continent. The straw 

 Is used for the stable, and a white, light, and 

 pleasant-flavoured bread was made from the 

 flower of the seed; but it produced such dreadful 

 effects in the last century, that the use of it was 

 forbid by the governments of the countries in 

 which it was raised. Mixed with one half of 

 wheaten flour, a perfectly harmless and good 

 bread is produced; but when employed alone, 

 and eaten for some time, the most singular rigid- 

 ity of the muscles and paralysis of the Umbs are 

 brought on. 



These symptoms usually appear on a sudden, 

 and without any previous pain; but sometimes 

 they were preceded by a weakness and disagree- 

 able sensation about the knees. The cold and 

 hot bath fomentations and stimulating ointments, 

 were tried without effect by the people; the af- 

 fection was regarded as incurable, and not being 

 very painful or fatal, was endured by them with 

 patience and unconcern. 



Swine fed with this meal lost the use of their 

 limbs, but grew very fat lying on the ground. 

 A horse fed some months on the dry herb was 

 said to have his legs perfectly rigid : cattle are 

 reported to grow lean on it, but sheep are not 

 affected. Pigeons, especiidly young ones, loose 

 the power of walking by feeding on the seed. 

 Poultry will not readily touch it, but geese eat 

 it without any apparent damage. In some 

 parts of Switzerland cattle feed on the herb 

 without any hai-m. It becomes a question of 

 some interest, then, whether the nature of the 

 soil may not contribute to the deleterious quali- 

 ties of tlie plant. It is remarked that the seed 

 from a strong rich soil is much more deleterious 

 than that from a light dry one. 



Fabbroni, who wrote at Florence in 1786, says 

 that the government there has cautioned the pea- 

 sants against tlie use of this vetch, swine having 



lost the use of their limbs by being fed on it ex- 

 clusively. The peasants, however, eat it boiled 

 or mixed with wheat flour, in the quantity of 

 one-fourth, without any harm. 



The Sweet Pea, (lathyrus odoratits,) is one 

 of the most esteemed of garden annuals. Its 

 sweet scent, and the beauty of the flowere, ren- 

 dering it a general favourite. 



Saint-foin, (hj/desarum onobrychis.) This is 

 a deep rooting perennial, with brandling, spread- 

 ing stems, compound leaves, and showy red 

 flowers. It is indigenous to many parts of 

 Europe, and found exclusively on dry chalky 

 soUs, where it is of great duration. 1 1 has been 

 long cultivated in France and in other parts of 

 the continent, and as an agricultural plant a good 

 deal in England in the chalky districts; and its 

 peculiar value is, that it may be grown on soils 

 unfit for being constantly under tillage, and 

 which would yield little under-grass. This is 

 owing to the long and descending roots of the 

 saint-foin, which wiU penetrate and thrive in 

 the fissures of rocky and chalky under-strata. 

 Its herbage is said to be equally suited for pas- 

 turage or for hay; and eaten green it is not so 

 apt to swell or hove cattle as the clovers or 

 lucem. 



Arthur Young says, that upon soils proper 

 for this grass, no farmer can sow too much of it; 

 for it is one of the most valuable herbage plants 

 we owe to the bounty of Providence. The deeper 

 the soil is stirred, previously to sowing, the 

 better. The seed is generally put in broad-cast, 

 at the rate of three or four bushels tlie acre; and 

 sometimes a little red clover is sown afterwards 

 to produce a crop the second season, when the 

 saint-foin plants are but small. When saint- 

 foin is annually mown, it should be top-dressed 

 with manure; but if only occasionally mown, 

 the benefits derived from the grazing of sheep or 

 cattle will, to a considerable extent, answer for 

 surface dressings in a plant that derives a part 

 of its nutriment from the subsoil. Saint-foin 

 is highly nutritive, either cut gi-een or made 

 into hay. The produce on a medium of soils 

 and cultivation, may probably be estimated at 

 from about one and a half to two tons the acre; 

 and on the poorer and thinner staple sorts of 

 land, it will perhaps seldom afford less than from 

 a ton to a ton and a half on tlie acre. One 

 thousand parts of saint-foin afforded Sir 11. 

 Davy thirty-nine of nutritive matter, which is 

 the same as that afforded by the red and white 

 clover. The usual duration of saint-foin in a 

 profitable state, is from eight to ten years. It 

 usually attains its perfect growth in about three 

 years, and begins to decline towards the eiglitli 

 or tenth on calcareous soils, and about the seventh 

 and eighth on gravels. There are instances, 

 however, of fields of this plant whicli had been 

 neglected and loft to run into piisturc, in whicli 



