18 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



tity was in 1848, when not less than 480,706 quarters were 

 received from Alexandria and Cairo. 



Beans (American Haricot) — Phaseolus vulgaris. — There 

 are several varieties of this bean, differing only in colour ; 

 the white is most used, and during the scarcity which re- 

 sulted from the failure of the potato-crop in 1847 and 

 1848, about 1200 quarters were sent to England from the 

 United States. These beans were usually boiled and eaten 

 as a vegetable with animal food ; by many persons they were 

 much liked, but were not generally considered easy of di- 

 gestion. They are the same species as the French bean of 

 the gardens, and the French Haricot, but are an inferior 

 variety. 



Tares, or Vetches. Vicia sativa. (Nat. Ord. Legu- 

 minosae.) 



The tare is a common crop in our own fields, and, being 

 cut when the plant is green as fodder for cattle, the ripened 

 seeds are only used for the purpose of sowing, and are usu- 

 ally raised by our farmers and seedsmen; a few hundred 

 quarters are however annually imported from Norway and 

 Denmark and the North of Germany. 



Lentils. Ervum Lens. (Nat. Ord. Leguminosce.) 



The large lentil, which we receive from Prance, and usually 



