hee eee abated Re OT tee oe te cy Oe eae et se Pi Ratnd Secibsgth Machete Yis ene 8 a a : ao aaa : aka tet ace malin AOS ea Pay Meme Meg Bom “ew at “se Pine = 4 Ee A pcs ys ect aa mths tn arte esto ates Mn ne . i eS ni arte nat Fae Mea ewe Mis Pa on te: aimagheniihe Mc ahaa inn Derihor tay Menthe SE ee eee ied Mp Tine figge e ao nb i ITN inn Ra Man Sp po can tere ae EC Oa pai ee ic Brotha Sa a rir bicnine Bae Stag he Me = “ psn Fenty Rtn wA 2 ee otitis git, Mer Mato eth Jott tt AA aag The Ms Praha ee im ‘ Nhe een Finer hen = oe Toon in a Teta, There =thg ithe Pau tea _~ tet Dae age teep ee ee oak iain See a anes eee) Si adieth igen rare ro Dn v meine mtn Sy ee OE ea Sa Rag hae. a Agta. Dette. Moe The - = = Me a RS Reh aT aM ade HM CaP Mandigo mPa siti Te on Agnes etn Senet tee eticiii tla anette eS er : Tac nnn tg Mig Am Ae Sap istics ete hapa tern aa eee ne aid Sn gthn Pay Nhat Mee Ninna es oe ~ Simolities RN eal Tee oe on. vation int eidenteetn aid say ens en ae Mee - W “act Paw ARiggR: :Ban Mics aw hte Pc Se npg Pee Fugit ee oF = ‘ s > — Rod teal pe 2h Fo ahag SBT Msi ea TT a nt a ME et Na To ~ = - “a Pe ae airs orm Tee Aneta ste ane tm 9M. Toe wg, Paar NT aln Meg Sag tes : » “ Remittance Meg! a a ee ee —— Oe Fee eran Ce ee actin Tne Sins Pan aca Mag Mee as Mh = Tal NR Alien ta agen im Ne Mey EM Bose he Sele Sven's Ant PS EN a aetentind : Gi ce ag ee tn dh mig ataaeeysete~ en ee eee ent tate a Fg ve Mg Pe Man See ean he 2 aaa TATA Tee tateemgt-os Kg sg thn, domi a ae s Sri he Pn a meen am eon Hes RMI rN Ri em Beh ty ince mee Mit Bae ” OM as Mt ee ele alin SMe APT I she Vig ween Mae TTT! Rae R on Rann Ma = ny > eo hit tw Nin Rac, Ho oe rE Sacto Mba. ee ath a eee ae Me tame = the 1S Hh aMe Naan Bc thee en en Nn eet MM A RAH 8 = ae ai Rieti Mi in, Dita ixn arta Baha ila in main Ho Maso ee aan Ae igs eon nc P= Mil ata Bed we trae te Ao en a IT EEE OT glee ee orate eg Rag en tar HB xpi eZ ee Fig na P'c Bren oe retin Pte: BO Aen Oolt, “PM Pngat site Domes Wem Hain te eS arty, ee Teta Menage tn ste mag BAP, Ma ARie ay er hn PD Pron sTeatilon tina Maas Ba offhand sets So eaten HM Foe ae: ; 8 oo aera ae ear Sr al Mca ota mB wn pec ct th erat her FiOS ena Mma Tes mete gta Haley hn Mimi Pee Patient tits Rathgael n Ie Bin Papen te MPa RD AE En fae Me Hom Ragin ele niet ote Man tet tm «een ne che Fig Rim tite Sy PP ce A , . ge DAD er nS a Ri A TGR tes Baan aN im cee ice each Sita lag ag iT eH alte Faphetuetnte™ a seen Se in fy Ma Sr fe nD i! = er ee I en in MMM an Benth nM Moy Fn She Se Yan, on Te Re th Rin ag STey ans lcm ee Nine cM lae tee To Sn flats i cardial rs Sy-SF , tang, Tyee api — 4 aaa Pa Page Mn Hass shaw! dor atten tah be nan Pett aes anette Reap elinseT ss altNe He» sent 2 IT I oh Pets *, NE RI =" eS aie al Phan Tigntem cM tonite, mig A Pe Foss ps ae Malin ots Bec sate a | y Be OR eel tie i Ee a area eee = Oa . r as _ rte rer ae ete a see Aes Bani H ht Aner Mina" en Ta egg Pte Mage Sone Bette ghetto od —s a Se fea a ee ad — Mtn Soe _ Fin Haga ee oi ee en ag ae Pa ie 2 Me: few ae oe ™ setig hn ta To he eta tesa: ee motel n eT te LT es, aerate Seip Tua Bethea gene Myraty a = Rind nf Beanie ly oe 2 tt >>9 - - — fier’ ~ = an - * , = = - - . a ; - . = 7 tna gat< =m oy - a a » e as -4>D ~ pepe “ > S ~ a fm a = - > 2 ad > _ Jat ie f ‘ be Be “> a 2 ; , ’ £ “ bs . gf ye ‘ P ‘ fig PRs por S cf ae o. 2 ? >. _ ‘ ‘ ai ate A ‘ e . - a ‘Uae * ™ . St oN « ¥ . : ‘ atin Noe et: ape Peay - Z z pA Famer le ° iJ 7 : An t=, oo lates , — re igi Owe eer + tate AE EE EDS ; hues omcitty, My FP be iat ae — 7 : mai Mar a ee ae ’ 4 af . or reo ee me were Ye i : ¢ no oe i o> ‘A “ ‘ e a rs i= 4 é rm ’ ~* we ~ " ~ ’ . 3 ye od F c7 PC oe see ae ie mi A ere Sa three ae 4 w ‘ ‘ oe eed if > ee ee ee £m tT ‘ Pilar Fitch, del et hth. Loess Plans 2. Coffee Plant . $3 Cocoa Plant. 4. Rice Pilsant- Sie Suger Cane. a ASRS vray: ; ea ee POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY; OR DESCRIPTION OF THE BOTANICAL AND COMMERCIAL CHARACTERS OF THE PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN, USED FOR FOOD, CLOTHING, TANNING, DYEING, BUILDING, MEDICINE, PERFUMERY, ETC. BY THOMAS CROXEN ‘ARCHER, COLLECTOR CF THE LIVERPOOL IMPORTS Oe AT THE GREAT INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION OF 1851, AND APPOINTED COLLECTOR FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED BOTANY IN THE NEW CRYSTAL PALACE, SYDENHAM. © LONDON : REEVE AND CO., HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1853. A \O : 5 ae S, yA ‘ JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, PRINTER, . LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS. 23 oh TO JOSEPH DICKENSON, M.D., PRESIDENT OF THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF LIVERPOOL, AND AUTHOR OF THE ‘FLORA OF LIVERPOOL;’ AND PRALTHWATTE POOLE, ESQ., AUTHOR OF ‘STATISTICS OF BRITISH COMMERCE,’ This Bittle Polume IS WITH SINCERE ESTEEM DEDICATED, BY THEIR GRATEFUL FRIEND, THE AUTHOR. PREFACKH., pe Irv will appear strange to many when they hear for the first time that no popular work has yet appeared, devoted exclusively to the commercial products of the Vegetable Kingdom; much however has been written, and written well, in various large works, by several authors upon Botany and Materia Medica, especially by Sir William Hooker, Dr. Royle, Dr. Lindley, and Dr. Pereira, and from their writings much of the information contained in this volume is derived. Tam more particularly mdebted to the last-mentioned gen- tleman. No one has done so much as Dr. Pereira towards dissipating the cloud of ignorance which envelopes the his- tory of vegetable products ; and it is much to be regretted that, by his melancholy death, the splendid edition of his large work should have been left unfinished; it is however v1 PREFACE. | in able hands, and will, doubtless, be completed in a manner worthy of the author. Vegetable products constitute nine-twelfths of the whole commerce in raw produce which employs the vast mercan- tile marine of this great kingdom. ‘They furnish us with the bulk of our food and clothing, our medicine and our building materials, and with many other necessaries and luxuries. It may be argued, that most of the benefits we derive from the vegetable kingdom have been discovered without the aid of science. ‘True, but is not this a great and powerful argument in favour of the application of scientific investigation in this department ? for if so much has been done without its aid, how much may we not hope will be effected when the principles of scientific research, which have effected such miracles in every other depart- ment, are brought to bear upon that of Economic Botany ? Had not a scientific and practical botanist discovered the Gutta Percha, how many benefits would perhaps have been lost to civilization (unless some other article supplied its place in the submarine telegraphs) ; and, latterly, the inves- PREFACE. Vil tigations of botanists have added hundreds of articles to our list of commercial products. What is still in store for us we know not, but we are certain that vast fields for discovery are still untouched, and remain to reward the scientific investigator. I was preparing to enter very fully into the commercial statistics of the articles described, when the glaring discre- pancies which met me in the different works professing to give this kind of information, almost led me to abandon the idea of giving any statistical details. The appearance of a work by my friend Mr. Braithwaite Poole, upon the Statistics of British Commerce, has however led to the removal in a great measure of my difficulties in this particular, and it will be seen that I have availed myself largely of his publica- tion; besides this, | am indebted to him for other useful information, which he has obtained for me through his ex- tensive railway connections. The classification adopted in the following pages is simple, being a mere division into groups, and the botanical in- formation is slight; they are, however, sufficient to show, Viil PREFACE. along with the account of the uses of the articles described, that quality and price do not constitute the only interesting — points in their history. : My experience in matters connected with commercial materials has been somewhat extensive: besides twelve years’ employment in the Import department of the Cus- toms, which has brought me into contact with most of the articles of foreign produce, I also formed the extensive col- lection of Liverpool Imports which was exhibited at the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851, for which I received the Prize Medal and Certificate. Since then I have been acting for the directors of the New Crystal Palace at Sy- denham, as their agent for the collection of raw produce; and in these occupations I have obtained some information which I trust may be useful, and obtain for me a lenient judgment for the literary defects of the book. TO HIGHER TRANMERE, CHESHIRE, May, 1853. LIST OF PLATES. eee Prate I. Fig. Page Fig. Page’ | 17 Guava plant 3.54...) 43 Pet planh 0.3. pe. see. 118 | 18 Great American Cran- 2 Coffee plant ............. 129 berry nota ace A = wocdd plant ............. 134 | 19 Pomegranate ............ 29 eo Iulee planib.ys..0.28..08: 11 eS a ouear Cane .....)...:. A, 135 Puate V. vw 20 Maree) SO es ht eye 4A, Prats II. 2h Prickly Pear ia, 3ha i 4A, ie Wiaae 6 ioc Oi 22 ie ea eee 26 7 Buckwheat.....5.0.0.0.2.. £6: | 25.-Pecean Nut? 3 . 64 & Long Pepper .....:.:.... 103 | 24 Hickory Nut. ..25.07 64, 9 Black Pepper...c........ 102 | 25 Pistachio Nut ......... Oe Poetilove piant............. 98 ra a Prats VI. Praga 11, 26 Sapucaia Nut............ 53 11 Nutmeg plant .......... 99. | 27 -Drazal Nut 5 eae 51 E2-Ginger plant. 6206... 104 | 28 Surahwa Nut............ D4 | f5 Cimnamon plant..,...... 86) 2o-Cashew Nubi oo: 5d (14 Allspice plant ........... LOO |) 30 Almond onan 67 va 31 Ground Nut ...... 65, 270 Prats LV. i 15 Tamarind plant......... 42 Prats VII. 16 Olive plant .......... 34, 264 | 32 Cotton plant ............ 170 x LIST OF Fig. Page so) aaxplant eee 148 Be tlenp ets. ees 151 eae yeh). yess 10s 156 Se OU TH eCMDp. , <3... tek se, 158 37 China Grass ............. 163 PLATE With 38 Carnauba Palm ......... 281 39 “actan Palm®: ¢ P27. > 167 40 Coquilla Nut Palm...... 165 Al Manilla Plantain ...... 158 a2 the Oi Palm. ......, 264 iA Prag EKA 42 Sage Palm 3:3). i003. 81 44, Cocoa-nut Palm 67,161,263 45 American Aloe ......... 160 46 Gomuti Palm ...... 140, 164: af Date Palm ;..:7...:. ae 30 Vv PuaTE X. 49 Vegetable Ivory Palm 296 50 Vegetable Ivory Nut 296 51 Section of ditto ......... 296 a2 Coquilla Nut .0...:.0.. 297 53 The Nut turned ...... 7 297 U/ Pruate XI. 53 Arrowroot plant ...... 76 PLATES. Fig. Page 54 Turmeric plant, with starch tubers .......... ‘Ki 54.@ Section of rhizome... 77 55 Section of Starchtuber 77 56 Granules of Wheat Starch 57 Granules of Potato Starch ...... 13 73 58 Manihot utilissima 78, 79 Prave Xe 59 Divi Divinte eS eee 191 60 Valonia .:. 2235 189 61 Camata .‘s hisp eee 189 62 Camatina, <7) eee 189 63 Pi-Pi «2... Sine 192 wh Pratt XIII. 64 Persian Yellow-berries 219 65 ‘Turmeric 40.0 213 66 White Gall...........08- 227 67 Blue Gall. 2: 227 68 Myrobalan ...)\.ccsigk 198 69 Orchella Weed ......... 220 70 Cudbear or Rock Moss 225 Y PratE XIV. 71 Safflower plant.......... LIST OF PLATES. Xl Fig. Page 72 A cake of Safflower .... 217 fe indivo plant ../;.......:. 229 74 Block of Indigo......... 231 75 Gamboge tree.......... »» 235 Pirate XV. ‘ MEPTOTBOOd 60... nels seen’ 201 me Pueue t£ee (..u..... ss 207 Te WTIMICEE, 0.5.6 eee 211 foeoumach ..........:. 208, 220 a Mindder .000.0 ec... 209 Puate XVI. (s: er: Cardamom....00 0.20.0... 322 82 Castor Oil Seed......... 321 83 Iris or Orrice Root.... 300 a4) Patchouly .:.0.0.../..5... 299 $5 Camphor tree............ 314 go Nux Vomica......:..:.. 314 Pirate XVII. E 87 Senna shrub ...... 317, 318 88 Peruvian Bark tree.... 318 69 dalap plant's ot... 316 Fig, Page 90 Scammony plant....... 310 91 Liquorice plant........ 313 Prats XVIII. ‘es 92 Gum Benzoin.......... 301 oy Manna dor staan ees 312 94 India Rubber plant... 253 95 Gutta Percha plant... 255 96 Piece of Raw Gutta Pereban i oe. 256 in Puate XIX. 97 Turpentine tree ....... 249 98 Canada Balsam tree . 251 99 Piney Tallow tree .... 281 100 Tar and Pitch tree 251, 252 101, Somiper 274, 298 ae Pratt XX. 102 Mahogany tree ........ 330 103 Lignum Vite tree .... 336 104 Cedar tree (Pencil) ... 333 hOdS Gumytree! AL). clageas. 340 106 Ebony tree ............. 330 ERRATA. In PuaTE X., the figures numbered 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, should be num- bered 48, 49, 50, 51, 52: they are referred to by the correct numbers in the descriptive portion of the Work. In PuatE XIX., for Gum Dammar, read Piney Tallow Tree. CONTENTS. ———- 4 DIVISION Tf. SUBSTANCES USED FOR FOOD. CHAPTER I. FARINACEOUS PRODUCTS CHAPTER IIT. FRUITS . CHAPTER IIT. NUTS CHAPTER IV. FECULAS OR STARCHES CHAPTER V. SPICES CHAPTER VI. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. PAGE 22 50 ii 87 118 XIV CONTENTS. DIVISION IT. PRODUCTS EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURES. CHAPTER VII. PAGE VEGETABLES USED FOR TEXTILE FABRICS .. . . I47 DIVISION III. MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS USED IN THE ARTS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES. . CHAPTER VIII. WANNEING MATERIALS |. --000 6-0. he 4 eer Re ite ee CHAPTER IX. MATERIALS USED IN DYEING. ~.°.3-. 3 . 35> CHAPTER ix: GUMS USED IN THE ARTS yey eee . et oe CHAPTER XI. Dis. Olb-SUEDS,. BTC. iss Se oe a rr CHAPTER XII. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES Be Roth Gol aS a CONTENTS. DIVISION IV. MATERIA MEDICA. CHAPTER XIIT. MISCELLANEOUS MEDICINAL PRODUCTS DIVISION V. CONSTRUCTIVE MATERIALS. CHAPTER XIV. BUILDING AND FURNITURE WOODS . XV PAGE 307 325 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. CHAPTER I. SUBSTANCES USED FOR FOOD. FARINACEOUS PRODUCTS. | Wuen the fiat went forth, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,’ Almighty Justice pronounced a deserved sentence; but, much as fallen man had offended his Divine Creator, he was not forgotten entirely: labour, it is true, had become his lot, but the fruitful earth was left, as before the fall, clothed with every necessary for man’s wants, and re- quiring only the full exercise of those powers with which his Maker had gifted him, for their development. The class of substances which come under this chapter are peculiarly of this character: the staple food of more B 2 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. than four-fifths of the human race is formed from the small grains of various grasses, which, even if they required no more labour than merely collecting and preparing, would at least enforce industry; but requiring, as they do, careful cultivation in well-worked soil, it is indeed only with the sweat of the brow that we can eat the bread which is neces- sary to our existence. | Foremost in the rank of food-products, and especially of those called cereals, stands WHEAT, too well known to re- quire any particular description. It is a true grass (be- longing to the Natural Order Graminacee), but has been so changed by cultivation that we are totally ignorant of its natural state*. Botanists have named it Z72ticum hybernum, or Triticum vulgare, variety B hybernum, Winter Wheat,— this is the commonest kind of wheat; another, which is almost as well known, is called Zriticum vulgare, variety a aestivum, or Summer Wheat. The former is biennial in its habits—that is, 1t is sown one year and flowers and fruits * Unless the experiments of M. Fabre may be relied upon. He states that he found by successive experiments upon the apparently insignifi- cant grass Zgilops ovata, that it first sported (as gardeners call it) 44. triticoides, and from that, by successive changes, extending over seve- ral years, it passed to wheat itself,—not so fine as our highly cultivated varieties, but nevertheless wheat it was, unmistakeably. WHEAT. 3 the year following; but the latter is sown and perfected all im one year. Much discussion has arisen amongst scientific men, as to the native country of the wheat; the evidence however ap- pears to be in favour of a district of Russia in Asia, inha- bited by the Bashkirs, where it is supposed the wheat-plant has been found growing wild. ‘This district is in the Russian Government of Orenburg, and is inhabited by a warlike race of men, of Turco-Mongolian origin, who are admirable cultivators of various kinds of grain, and are particularly celebrated both for their excellent management of bees, and bravery in defending the Kirghiz steppe for the Emperor. If this Tartar province is indeed the original country of the Triticum vulgare, the culture of which em- ploys millions of our fellow-men, and the produce of which feeds hundreds of millions, it should be to us the most in- teresting spot on the globe, instead of an almost unknown corner of the Czar’s dominions. Besides the two varieties mentioned, there are several others which are occasionally grown, viz. variety d, 7. turgi- dum (a name which signifies swollen), the ear is short and irregularly thick ; variety c, 7. turgidum compositum, this is not only short and thick, but several small secondary ears 4, POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. take their rise from the principal ear, giving the appearance of a small bunch of ears. Itis the Mummy Wheat, which has latterly excited so much curiosity, in consequence of a statement having been circulated, that it originated from some grains found in the hand of an Kgyptian mummy, where it had lam many centuries without germinating, but upon being sown produced plants, from which the seed now termed mummy wheat was raised. This tale is however generally. disbelieved; mummy wheat has always been the chief kind cultivated in Egypt and Abyssinia, and much also is grown in Greece; some botanists have thought it a distinct genus, in consequence of the compound structure of its ear, but this character 1s not found to be permanent. The other kinds are the Polish Wheat (Zrztzcwm Polons- cum): though called Polish wheat, it is more extensively cul- tivated in Northern Africa than elsewhere; Spelt Wheat (Triticum Spelta), and the One-grained Wheat (7. monococ- cum), the ear of which is small, compressed, and only two- rowed, like barley, are not much cultivated. Wheat is im- ported chiefly for the purpose of being ground into flour for making bread ; large quantities are also consumed in the manufacture of fine starch, and as flour in dressing cotton fabrics. It comes to us from almost all parts of the globe: OATS. 5 the finest of the European kinds is from Dantzic, the grain of which is large, white, and very thin-skinned; besides almost every port in Kurope and North America, we receive it from Northern Africa, the Hast Indies, Australia, and oc- casionally from the Brazils. The quantity of wheat grown in the United Kingdom is about 144,000,000 bushels, or 18,000,000 quarters; in addition to this we import nearly 4,000,000 quarters*. In Great Britain it is estimated that 5,000,000 acres of land are annually covered with this grain. The next of the cereals in importance is the Oar—Ave- na sativa—the use of which is also very ancient; it is not however mentioned in the Scriptures, although frequently referred to by Grecian and Roman writers; Dioscorides and Pliny both mention it. It is a true grass (Graminacec), and is one of the most beautiful of its tribe: nothing can exceed the graceful elegance of the oat, with its large pa- nicles of flowers hanging from their hair-like pedicels. Although known to the ancients, there is no reason to believe that this kind of grain was common, for even at an early period of the Christian era the tyrant Caligula is re- ported to have fed his horses with gilded oats: we can hardly * Vide Braithwaite Poole’s Statistics of British Commerce (Art. Corn). ~ 6 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. imagine the oats mentioned were literally gilded, but must presume the expression applied to the golden colour of the grain. oY Many varieties of the oat are cultivated, but the princi- pal ones are the White, and the Black or Tartarian oat; both are annual plants. One called the Potato Oat is a great favourite in Scotland. In the admirable synopsis published by Peter Lawson and Son, the eminent Edinburgh seedsmen, sixty varieties are mentioned. The quantity of oats im- ported is very inferior to that of wheat: in 1850 we received 1,165,876 quarters, nearly all of which came from the northern ports of Kurope; but the quantity cultivated in Great Britain far exceeds that of all other cereal grains added together; the total quantity given for England, Tre- land, and Scotland, in Poole’s Statistics, being 30,500,000 quarters, or 244,000,000 bushels. In the northern parts of the kingdom the oat forms the staple article of human food ; but its greatest use is in feed- ing horses. When the bran, or outer integument of the grains, 1s removed, they are called ‘Groats,”’ or when skinned and partially crushed, “ Hmbden Groats,” which are much used in making the light and easily digested invalid diet called gruel. BARLEY. 7 Bariey. Hordeum distichon. (Nat. Ord. Graminacea.) Another grass, the seeds of which are of immense import- ance to man; besides this, the common species, there are three others more or less cultivated. Barley has long figured as an economic product of the Vegetable Kingdom. Amongst the Kigyptians it was well known, and its discovery and first culture was by Diodorus Siculus and others at- tributed to Osiris. Pliny, in his ‘ Natural History,’ says barley was the most ancient food of mankind. In the Book of Exodus, dating fifteen hundred years before Christ, we find it mentioned as an ordinary crop, thus, in ch. ix., verse 31, “ And the flax and the darley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled;” and we find it again mentioned in Ruth un. 17, “She gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.” Its native country is un- known, but by some authors is supposed to he Tartary. The common names of the four species are Long-eared or Common Barley (H. distichon), Spring Barley (4. vulgare), Winter Barley (H. hexastichon), and Sprat or Battledore Barley (Z. zeocriton). ‘The Spring barley is in Scotland usually styled Bere or Bigg; it is an inferior kind, but valuable from its thriving on poor soil and in exposed localities, 5 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. Barley is not so much used for food now as formerly. Barley-bread, once the common food of the poorer classes, is rarely seen in this country; its great use is in making beer and spirits. For beer it is first malted, (a process which consists in inducing germination in the grain,) by soaking it in water and applying heat; this causes the barley to shoot, and as soon as vitality is once commenced, the starch which existed abundantly in the grain is converted into sugar, which, if fermented, is easily convertible into the half-vinous beer, or, by a little increased fermentation, into alcohol. The quantity grown in the United Kingdom is very large, amounting to nearly 10,000,000 quarters; but the imports are comparatively small, being only 51,000 quarters in 1851, all from the north of Europe. Ryz. Secale cereale. (Nat. Ord. Graminacee.) A native of the Caucaso-Caspian Desert. It is much cul- tivated in the North of Europe, where it enters largely into the food of the inhabitants; it is highly nutritive, but nevertheless is not much used in this country, where a pre- judice exists against it, arising very probably from the serious and fatal accidents which have been occasioned by the vege- table poison called Ergot of Rye. The ergot is a fungous plant which affects the grain, considerably altering its di- Plate Il. 6. Maize. 7. Buck-wheat . 8. Long Pepper. 9. Black Pepper. 10. Clove Plant. INDIAN CORN. 8) mensions and appearance; the diseased grain being usually about an inch in length and of a jet-black colour. When mixed with the rye in large quantities—which happens some seasons—its effects are very dreadful, giving rise to ulcera- tion and mortification of the extremities. These injurious effects could hardly happen now that the means of cleaning grain and the methods of cultivating it are so much im- proved ; nevertheless it is far less cultivated than its other- wise wholesome qualities would seem to demand. The quantity imported into the United Kingdom in 1849 was 241,613 quarters, and in 1850 94,078 quarters. (Poole’s Statistics.) | Inpran Corn—Maizz. Zea Mays. (Nat. Ord. Grami- macee.) (Plate-Il. fig. 6.) | A native of Tropical America. Within the last century this grain has become of immense importance to the human family, furnishing, in countries adapted to its cultivation, enormous quantities of a wholesome and nutritive diet. Its culture has spread over the whole of the American continent, throughout most parts of Asia and Africa, and the southern parts of Hurope; it is remarkably prolific, and is cultivated with less labour probably than any other grain. Its culture has led to the production of numerous varieties, amongst 10 FOPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. which the most conspicuous are the Large White, the Large Yellow, and the Red American sorts, and the Small Yellow of Southern Europe. Owing to its deficiency in gluten, maize is not well adapted for making bread ; it is however made into cakes, which are much esteemed in North America. Throughout the whole of the American continent and islands it enters largely into the common food of the people, in a great variety of ways. Like oats, it is reduced to meal, the pericarp or bran re- maining mixed with the flour. In the preparation called homminy, the grain is first soaked, and then exposed to a drying heat, which causes the bran to crack and peel off, it is then easily separated: in this state it is much used for puddings and other dishes. Pop-corn is another prepa-| ration, made by slightly baking the unripe grains, which, makes them turn inside out, giving them the appearance of tapioca: this is also a favourite method of using the corn. | Several attempts have been made, but without success, to cultivate maize in England: our summer is too short, and our autumn too humid; it is however extensively imported from the United States and Italy, and used for feeding cat- tle, etc., but is not regarded with much favour as human food. The imports in 1847 (the year in which the potato- RICE. te crop failed) were 3,614,637 quarters; m 1850, 1,286,263 quarters*. ‘The maize belongs to the Class Monecia and Order Zriandria of Linneeus, because, like a few others of the Gramimacea, it has its stamens and pistils mn different flowers on the same plant; the staminiferous flowers are borne in a tuft on the summit of the plant, the pistilliferous ones rise from the axils of the leaves, which, as in most grasses, are sessile along an unbranched stem. The peri- anth, or floral envelope, of the pistil flower, remains until the grain ripens, and in the South of Europe is very exten- sively used in packing oranges and lemons; it is also used in South America by the Spaniards in making cigarrettos, for which purpose the very thin Indian corn covers are se- lected, and small squares are cut from them, in which the tobacco is rolled. These perianths have also been manufac- tured into very good paper. Ricz. Oryza sativa. (Nat. Ord. Graminacee.) (Plate I. fig. 4.) This useful grain is a native of the Hast Indies, whence it has spread to all the warm parts of Asia, Africa, and the southern parts of America; its habit of growth is very much like the oat, the grain hanging gracefully from the very * Poole’s Statistics. Fe POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. thin hair-like pedicels of an elegant loose panicle, less how- ever than that of the Oat. Although several ill effects, and even cholera* itself, have been attributed to the use of this food, nevertheless these accusations are not well-founded, for, on the contrary, rice appears from its astringency to ~ be admirably adapted to the use of the natives of warm cli- mates, where it usually constitutes the staple food of the lower classes. Its antiquity is very great: ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters, and it shall return to thee after many days,” evidently applies to rice, which, in Hgypt, 1s always sown whilst the waters of the Nile still cover the surface of the land; the returning floods leave a thick deposit of rich alluvial s2/¢, in which the rice vegetates luxuriantly, being naturally a marsh plant. The rice from the Southern States - of North America is decidedly the best, being much sweeter, larger, and better-coloured than that of Asia, where its cul- tivation is less carefully managed. The States of Carolina produce the best American, and Patna the best East Indian rice. | Like wheat and other grain, the rice is that particular * In the ‘ Lancet,’ 1833-4, vol. i, Dr. Tytler attributes malignant cholera to the use of rice as food, in consequence of which he named the disease morbus oryzeus. | GUINEA CORN. 13 form of fruit which is called a caryopsis: its characters are that the pericarp or seed-covering appears to cover the seed so closely as to form a portion of it: thus the seed-vessel of the wheat is the brown covering which constitutes the bran, and cannot be removed without breaking the enclosed white seed; in the rice however the pericarp is not so closely adherent, and can be removed by slight pressure, which causes it to split and come off without injuring the enclosed seed. It often comes to us in the husk, and is then called paddy, an Indian name. In this country immense quan- tities are consumed, but rather as a luxury, in the form of puddings and confectionery, than as a principal article of food. In India a species of arrack, or strong spirit, 1s dis- tilled from paddy. ‘The straw has lately been much used in plaiting for ladies’ bonnets. The beautiful Chinese ma- nufacture called rice-paper is erroneously supposed to be manufactured from this grain: its proper history will appear in another chapter. The quantity of rice imported into Great Britain in 1851, according to Poole’s Statistics, was 41,121 tons; but of this enormous quantity a large proportion is again ex- ported to our North American colonies and to the countries of Northern Europe. 14 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. Gutnea Corn, Darra, Durra, or Turkish Millet, called in India Joar.—The seed of Andropogon Sorghum. (Nat. Ord. Graminacea.) A roundish grain, in shape not unlike the maize, but not of greater bulk than a small grain of wheat; its colour is a yellowish-white, im some varieties marked with a black spot. It is borne in loose tufts or panicles, several grains being attached to each of the upright pedicels at short distances from each other; the stalks are about eighteen inches to two feet in height, and when dry are very rigid,—in this state they are much used in the manufacture of carpet-brooms and whisks. ‘The grain itself is chiefly used in this country for feeding poultry; it is however strongly suspected that wheaten flour is not unfrequently adulterated with it when it is in the market, but this can only occasionally take place, as the importation of Durra is very irregular. It is much used as food for the black population in the West Indies, whence it has been called zegro corn: they make of it cakes about an inch thick, which are white, and tolerably palat- able. It is also used by the poorer peasants of Italy. All kinds of poultry, pigs, cattle, and even horses eat it with avidity. The quantity imported is very uncertain, some years passing without any arrivals of Durra, while at other MILLET. 15 times many hundreds of quarters arrive. It comes chiefly from Northern Africa; it is however cultivated largely in the United States, West and Hast Indies, and in Southern Kurope. It is a native of India. Mittet.—There are several distinct species of grain com- mercially known by this name; they all belong to the same Natural Order (Grammacee). 1. The Italian Millet—Setaria Italica—is a small round grain, much like mustard-seed, but rather more than half its size; it is sweet and wholesome; its use in this country is almost wholly confined to confectionery. It is cultivated and used extensively in India, under the name of Koon- goonie, Kala-kangnee, and Kora-kang. It is grown chiefly in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. 2. German Miullet—Setaria Germanica—which is very little used, except for feeding cage-birds. 3. Millet Proper—Panicum miliaceum—is a native of the Hast Indies, where it is extensively cultivated, under the names of Warree and Kadi-kane. The principal districts in which it is grown are Madura, Palamcottah, and Tinnevelly. Several other species are used for food in various parts of the world, but those mentioned are the only ones which are brought to this country, and of them only very small quan- 16 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. tities are imported, the arrivals of which are very irregular and uncertain. | Canary Seep. Phalaris Canariensis. (Nat. Ord. Gra- MINACEE.) g | Though not used for human food, this seed is very exten- sively used in this country in feeding cage-birds, for which purpose it-is both grown and imported. Many acres are annually cultivated with this crop in Kent, and we some- times receive several hundred quarters from Germany, where its culture receives considerable attention. The Isle of. Thanet is the chief place of its culture in England, and here its straw when cut into chaff is highly valued as fodder for horses. Bucxwueat. Fagopyrum esculentum. (Nat. Ord. Poly- gonacee.) (Plate II. fig. 7.) 3 Probably a native of England; it is much cutivated in Northern Europe and in North America, where, in the form of buckwheat cakes, it is a favourite food. It comes occa- sionally to this country from Germany, chiefly for use as seed. It forms excellent food for pheasants, and for that purpose is sown extensively in the vicinity of game-preserves. The seed is about twice the size of mustard-seed, rather longer than broad, and having three sharp angles running PEAS. BEANS. 7 longitudinally ; the colour is a dark brown ; it 1s deprived of its husk in a manner similar to that employed with rice, and the kernel is then ground to a coarse meal. Small quan- tities of this meal occasionally reach us from the United States, but chiefly as presents; there is no regular com- mercial demand. Pras, or Prase (both names are commonly used, com- mercially). Paswm sativum. (Nat. Ord. Leguminose.) This is the common white garden-pea in a ripened state. We annually receive large quantities from Dantzic and other northern ports, which are used as food for man and various domestic animals. The quantity of peas imported into the United Kingdom in 1850 was 181,419 quarters, and about four times that quantity was home-grown. Beans. aba vulgaris. (Nat. Ord. Legumiose.) The only kind of bean imported in any considerable quantities is the Egyptian or common horse-bean, which is largely consumed for feeding horses. The same species is extensively cultivated in this country, but the consumption is so great, that not less than 443,306 quarters were im- ported in 1850. Previous to 1845 the average imports of five years was 161,418 quarters, whilst in the succeding five years it increased to 415,655 quarters; the greatest quan- C | | 18 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. tity was in 1848, when not less than 480,706 quarters were received from Alexandria and Cairo. Beans (Amerjcan 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 Mrench bean of the gardens, and the Mrench Haricot, but are an inferior variety. Tarus, or Vetcues. Vicia sativa. (Nat. Ord, Legu- MmInose.») 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. Lentits. Hrvouwm Lens. (Nat. Ord. Leguminosa.) The large lentil, which we receive from France, and usually CHICK-PEA. 19 imported by the “ Italian warehousemen”’ is sold by them for making soup similar to that made from peas. The article so much advertised as food for infants and invalids under the name of ‘ Revalenta Arabica” is the farina of the lentil freed from the outer skin, which is considered unwholesome. The small Egyptian Lentil (Arvwm Lenticula), originally a native of Carinthia, is occasionally imported in considerable quantities: it is chiefly used im feeding cattle. Itis of a red colour, and scarcely half the size of the French lentil. As none of the genus Lrvum are natives of Asia, it is most probable that the lentils mentioned in Holy Writ were the White Lupins (Lupinus albus: Leguminose), which are not only natives of Asia, but are now extensively cultivated in many parts of Asia and Southern Kurope for the purposes of food. These white lupins are occasionally imported into England in small quantities, chiefly for the use of the resi- dent Italians, who are fond of this kind of pulse. Ceci, Cicer, or Cutck-Pha. Cicer arietinum. (Nat. Ord. Leguminose.) This pulse somewhat resembles the white pea, but is rather larger and more irregularly shaped. It is much used in Hastern countries, as a nutritious food, under the name of Gram. When roasted, it is said to sustain life longer than 2() POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. any other food in small quantities ; hence it is much used by travellers over the deserts, where the carriage of bulky food is inconvenient. It is imported occasionally, but for what purpose is not very clear,—it is thought for the purpose of roasting and grinding up with coffee as an adulteration. This probably is the best place to mention a few seeds which are imported in considerable quantities, wholly for agricultural purposes, either because they are better ripened abroad, or because the supply of home-raised seed is insuffi- cient to meet the demand. ) Lucerne Seed—Medicago sativa (Leguminose).—A small teddish-yellow seed, not quite so long, but thicker than a carraway seed, and the skin is quite smooth. It is a native of Britain, but is often imported from Holland and France. Clover (Dutch)—Zrifolium repens (Leguminose).—This seed is extensively imported from Holland and Germany. Although a native of most parts of Hurope, it ripens best in those countries, and the imported seed is much esteemed. It is a minute kidney-shaped seed, less than half the size of a mustard-seed, and of a yellow or brown colour. Clover (American) —Zr7folium Pennsylvanicum.—Of this species we receive very large quantities. It is found par- ticularly well adapted for culture in this country, and the IMPORTED SEEDS. 9) imports have reached nearly 400 tons annually. As its name imports, it is a native of Pennsylvania, in the United States. In form it resembles the Dutch Clover, but its colour is a reddish-yellow. Timothy Seed, or Timothy-grass Seed—Phleum pratense (Graminacee).—A beautifully small and silky little grass- seed, which is sent in rather large quantities from North America. This and the followmg are the only kinds of grass-seed imported in quantities of commercial importance. Italian Rye-grass Seed—Lolium Italicum (Graminacee). - —A large coarse kind of grass-seed, the produce of which is much esteemed for its rapid growth and bulk. From five to six hundred bags and bales are annually imported from the Levant. CHAPTER II. FRUITS. TuHose vegetable products which we shall describe in this chapter naturally divide themselves into two sections—“ The Fleshy Fruits” and “The Nuts.’ They are numerous and very Interesting; coming as they do from almost all parts of the globe, they give us much information respecting the aspect of the Vegetable Kingdom in the distant regions from whence they are brought. Some are rare, and do not often meet the eye of even those who are curious in such things ; others arrive in such enormous quantities as to furnish em- ployment for an immense amount of tonnage in shipping, and many hundreds of thousands of persons, constituting an important source of revenue, and giving us an abundance of particularly useful and wholesome food. THE GRAPE. ~ 20 Tun Frusuy Frurrs.—The most important of these in every respect is Toe Grapr. Vitis vinifera. (Nat. Ord. Vitacee.) With the exception of the “ forbidden fruit ”’ of the “tree of knowledge,” the grape is the first fruit mentioned in the history of the world, for we find it stated in Genesis ix. that: “Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vine- yard: and he drank of the wine.” ‘This was at least four thousand years from the present time; we may therefore safely conclude that the vine is a native of Asia, whence it has followed the tide of civilization into Europe and Africa. It is now luxuriating in the genial climates of North Ame- rica and Australia, where it bids fair to be of immense im- portance. | Since the time of Noah, history furnishes us with a con- tinuous series of facts, proving that this fruit has been con- stantly cultivated for the wine made from its juice. It has furnished an endless theme for poets and for prose-writers, and from its noble qualities has supplied both prophets and bards with striking similes and metaphors. Even the Re- — deemer, who despised nought that the Father had created, said, ‘ | am the vine, and ye are its branches ;” and his own blessed blood he likened to the juice of the grape. 24, POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. Of wine, the manufactured juice of the grape, we could say much that would be interesting, but it does not belong to a history of raw materials; we may however state, as a proof of its importance, that the quantity imported into the United Kingdom in 1850 was not less than 7,970,067 gallons, of which only 1,691,702 gallons were re-exported. We receive comparatively few grapes in a fresh state: about three hundred tons arrive every autumn from Sicily, Lisbon, and Hamburg ; the latter, the produce of Germany, are finely coloured round black grapes; the former, from Sicily and Portugal, are oval berries, in large bunches, and both black and white. They suffer much in flavour from being closely packed, and still more from the use of sawdust as a packing material. Raisins, or Dried Grapes (Uve passe majores), by far the most important form in which this fruit is received, are of various kinds, according to the variety of grape from which they are prepared, or the mode of their prepa- ration ; thus, some varieties are stoneless, presenting the cu- rious anomaly of a true fruit being perfected without seed, a peculiarity which occasionally takes place in highly cul- tivated plants: this, although in the first instance only an accidental variety, yet is capable of being propagated and RAISINS. as rendered permanent. The Sultana raisin, which we receive from Smyrna, is of this kind; the black raisin of Smyrna is quite the reverse, for it has remarkably large seeds and poor berries, besides being of a black, instead of a very light reddish- brown, colour. Other raisins are distinguished by the mode in which they have been preserved ; thus, the finest are dried on the vines, and when ripe the stalk of the cluster is partly cut through, and the leaves removed from near it, by which means the drying is facilitated, and the fruit acquires a fine bloom: these Muscatels, or Raisins of the Sun, are the finest quality. The commoner kinds are gathered when fully ripe; they are then hung on lines, or laid on floors to dry, and then dipped into a /ye of wood-ashes and barilla, of about 1110 specific gravity, to every four gallons of which is added a handful of salt and a pint of oil. The effect of this immer- sion is to make the saccharine secretions exude to the sur- face, giving the fruit the peculiar brown varnished appear- ance which distinguishes the ordinary raisins from those used for the table. The kinds usually imported, besides those mentioned, are Valencias, Lexias, and Denias, from Spain ; Malagas from Malaga; and Red Smyrnas from Turkey. The average annual quantity imported during the last five years has been about 12,000 tons. 26 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. Currants.—