Red
Seeded.

* * * * *

CHICKLING VETCH. _Law._

Lentil, of Spain. Cultivated Lathyrus. Lathyrus sativus.

Stem three or four feet high or long, attaching itself to trellises,
branches, or whatever may be provided for its support, in the manner of
pease; the leaves are small and grass-like; flowers solitary, smaller
than those of the Common Pea, and generally bright-blue; the pods are an
inch and a half long, three-fourths of an inch broad, flattened, winged
along the back, and enclose two compressed but irregularly shaped seeds
of a dun or brownish color and pleasant flavor.

_Cultivation and Use._--The seeds are sown at the time and in the manner
of the taller kinds of garden-pease. The plant is principally cultivated
for its seeds, the flour of which is mixed with that of wheat or rye,
and made into bread. It is also fed to stock; and, in some localities,
the plants are given as green food to horses and cattle.

"In 1671, its cultivation and use were prohibited on account of its
supposed pernicious properties; as it was thought to induce rigidity of
the limbs, and to otherwise injuriously affect the system."

WHITE-FLOWERED CHICKLING VETCH.

A variety with white flowers and seeds. The foliage is also much paler
than that of the Common Chickling Vetch.

Other species of the genus also produce farinaceous seeds suitable for
food, but in too small quantities to admit of being profitably
cultivated in this country.

* * * * *

ENGLISH BEAN.

Horse-bean. Garden-bean, of the English. Vicia faba.

[Illustration: English Bean.]

The English Bean differs essentially from the Common American Garden or
Kidney Bean usually cultivated in this country; and is classed by
botanists under a different genera, and not as a distinct species, as
intimated in the "American Gardener." Aside from the great difference in
their general appearance and manner of growth, the soil, climate, and
mode of cultivation, required by the two classes, are very dissimilar:
the American Garden-bean thriving best in a light, warm soil, and under
a high temperature; and the English Bean in stiff, moist soil, and in
cool, humid seasons.

The English Bean is a native of Egypt, and is said to be the most
ancient of all the now cultivated esculents. It is an annual plant, with
an upright, smooth, four-sided, hollow stem, dividing into branches near
the ground, and growing from t