THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, August 18. 1857. 
315 
AMARANTHUS OLERACEUS. 
(.The Chusan Han-Tsi.) 
Seeds of this vegetable were despatched 
in a letter sent by Mr. Fortune, dated 
Chusan, September, 1844, and received at 
the Garden January 9tli, 1845. 
Mr. Fortune states that it is “ a vege¬ 
table used as Spinach by the Chinese. This 
variety grows strongly, and ought to be 
sown in beds or rows rather thinly.” 
It proves to be the Amaranthas oleraceus 
of Linnaeus. 
Stems erect, from two to three feet high, 
channelled, pale green; branches nearly 
round; leaves oval, cuneate at the base, 
three to four inches broad, and five to six 
1 inches long when well grown. Petioles 
slender, two to three inches in length, of a 
still paler green than the stems. Flowers 
axillary, crowded, pale green. 
It requires to be grown in a very rich 
light soil and a rather moist temperature 
of about 60°. If proper accommodation 
can be afforded the seeds may be sown at 
any time, and the leaves will be fit for use 
in two months after. Some plants were 
put out in June on a warm border, but 
did not succeed. At the first gathering 
the tops may be cut off, and fresh leaves 
will be thrown out, but they will be smaller 
than those first produced. 
A few leaves of Sorrel improve the 
common Spinach. The Han-tsi possesses 
in itself a very slight but agreeable acidity, 
which renders the above addition un¬ 
necessary. It is to be regretted that it is 
not yet sufficiently hardy to succeed out of 
doors; but it can be easily cultivated in 
pits or in pots in any forcing-house, and 
thus afford an additional variety to the 
culinary list even in winter.— (Horticul¬ 
tural Society’s Journal .) 
[It was cultivated here more than a 
century since by Philip Miller, but was 
neglected.—E d. C. G.] 
REARING LARKS. 
Skylarks’ nests are found on the 
ground in fields or heaths. The eggs 
are of a dirty white, spotted with brown. 
Young Larks must be taken before they 
are quite fledged, or else they will be 
caught with difficulty. They must be fed 
on soaked bread and milk mixed with 
crushed poppy and rape seed, and, if you 
can procure them, on ants’ eggs. The 
cocks may be known by a yellow tinge on their plumage. 
You must give them plenty of water for drinking and bathing, 
and green food. Old birds are caught with nets and nooses 
in winter, and must be put in a cage, covered inside with 
calico, and fed on oats and meal worms at first. The best 
food for Larks when full grown is minced bread and meat 
(cooked meat). They must be kept in a cage with a bow¬ 
shaped projection in front, on which projection you must 
put a small turf of grass, renewing it twice a week. Put 
red sand in the bottom of the cage. They have long claws, 
which must be cut regularly once in eight weeks. They 
generally live for eight years. 
Woodlarks must be reared rather differently. They 
usually build their nests under a small bush or between the 
roots of a tree. Their first brood is hatched in the begin¬ 
ning of April, their second in July. The young must be 
reared on ants’ eggs and bread soaked in milk. The best 
way of taking young Larks is to go at night, and fasten a 
net over the nest, thus inclosing parents and young ones, 
and then the old birds will bring up the little ones. You 
may catch them by setting a trap, and putting a caged decoy 
bird behind the trap. Full-grown Woodlarks must be fed 
on minced crumbs and meat, and ground hemp and poppy 
seed. Once a week give a moist turf for them to cleanse 
their feet on, and sand at the bottom, and plenty of ivater. 
The song of the Woodlark is like the rich and mellow 
tones of a flute, and by some its strain is deemed equal to 
the queen of song, the nightingale. They are delicate birds, 
and rather rare; for half the birds sold as Woodlarks are 
only Titlarks, which are much inferior in song to either 
Woodlarks or Skylarks. They may be reared like Wood¬ 
larks.— Ruris Am at or. 
