NOTES AND ABSTEACTS. 



307 



impossible to do more than call attention to these most interesting 

 articles. — G. S. S. 



Cicer arietinum. By C. Sprenger (Bull. B. Soc. Tosc. Ort. 7, p. 192 ; 

 July 1905). — No one knows the native place of origin of this plant. 

 No one has ever found it growing wild. It was cultivated by the Greeks 

 and Eomans ; Pliny mentions the threshing of peas in autumn, but this 

 can only refer to the chick pea, as peas proper mature at Naples in 

 April or May. The same may be said in regard to the allusion by Homer. 

 In India it is one of the chief articles of food, being grown in large quantities 

 and consumed, green and dried, everywhere. It is cultivated throughout the 

 Orient, and occurs everywhere in temperate and tropical Asia. Even 

 China cultivates it, and had already imported it in the fourteenth century, 

 according to Bretschneider. It is found in Africa, especially in the north, 

 being common in Morocco, as in Spain, where the peas form the primary 

 object of rural culture and are daily consumed in enormous quantities. 

 The famous "puchero " of the Spaniards, a daily dish, is chiefly composed 

 of Chick Peas, which are cultivated in Asturias, Leon, and New Castile. 

 They are also cultivated in large quantities in Italy. 



About 50 varieties are scattered over the globe. They are of all 

 colours. A hectolitre (22 gall.) weighs from 70 to 85 kilos (140 to 170 lbs.) 



In Italy the sowing of 60 to 70 kilos. (120 to 140 lbs.) per hectare 

 (2 \ acres) suffices on a rich calcareous soil. The straw makes good feeding 

 for sheep and goats. No leguminous plant can fight the weeds better than 

 this one ; every weed appears to avoid it. It covers the whole ground with 

 its horizontally growing branches, beneath which all else dies. 



In Italy it is eaten chiefly dry, but also green, especially by boys. 

 Roasted and ground it serves as a substitute for coffee, especially the red 

 and black varieties. 



It grows in calcareous and sandy rather than in clayey soil. The 

 dews of night suffice it for moisture, hence it is one of the few plants 

 which can be grown in the interior of Australia, — W. C. W. 



Cider and Cider-making\ By W. B. Allwood (U.S.A. Exp.Stn. 

 Virginia, Bulls. 136, 137, 138, 139 ; U.S.A. Dep. Agr. Bur. Chem. Bull. 

 71, 1902-1904). — The author spent some time in England, France, and 

 Germany, investigating the making of cider. He remarks that a very 

 large quantity of unmerchantable apples might be made into cider. It is 

 estimated that the apple crop of the United States averages nearly 

 100,000,000 bushels per year, of which a considerable quantity is wasted, 

 used for canning, making marmalades, butters, jellies, &c, or in the 

 preparation of dried fruit. The varieties of cider made in different 

 countries, e.g. "pure juice," "marchand," and " boisson " or "petit cidre " 

 in France, are discussed, and a description of the chief cider-producing 

 districts is given, the general aspect, climate, and soil being dealt with. 

 The nature of the soil seems to have a marked influence on the cider ; e.g. 

 M. Truelle says : " We are led to think that the apples harvested from a 

 soil where lime is in excess, as upon the great oolite plains of Caen and 

 of Falaise, are less sugary than those others which grow upon an argil- 

 laceous soil. The cider produced from fruit grown upon our limestone 



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