Chickpea

“ When the blossom is off in corn, the stalk gradually thickens, and it ripens within forty days at the most. The same is the case, too, with the bean, but the chick-pea takes a much shorter time to ripen; indeed, it is fit for gathering within forty days from the time that it is sown. Millet, panic, sesame, and all the summer grains are ripe within forty days after blossoming, with considerable variations, of course, in reference to soil and weather. Thus, in Egypt, we find barley cut at the end of six months, and wheat at the end of seven, from the time of sowing. ”

“ The best crops have been obtained when the seed has been sown broadcast; but the preference is usually given to drilling, the crop being more easily hoed and cleansed. The rows are generally from 9 to 12 inches apart, and about 3 or 4 lbs. of seed per acre is the quantity used.
Most of the cultivators of chicory single out the plants so as to leave spaces between them in the rows, each about 6 or 8 inches long; but there are many who do not do this, fancying that four or five small plants produce more weight of root than one large plant ”

“ The wild perennial chicory, which is cultivated as a salad, as a vegetable, as fodder, and for its roots, which are used to mix with coffee, grows throughout Europe, except in Lapland, in Marocco, and Algeria,407 from Eastern Europe to Afghanistan and Beluchistan,408 in the Punjab and Kashmir,409 and from Russia to Lake Baikal in Siberia.410 The plant is certainly wild in most of these countries; but as it often grows by the side of roads and fields, it is probable that it has been transported by man from its original home. ”

“ The nuts are first cooked in eau de vie until their shells and the pellicle of the kernels can be peeled off; then they are beaten into a pulp together with sufficient milk and sugar, with some cinnamon added. The mixture is afterwards boiled with more milk, and frothed up in a chocolate pot.
CHICKWEED. Chickweed—called Alsine or Stellaria media, a floral star of middle magnitude—belongs to the Clove-pink order of plants, and, despite the most severe weather, grows with us all the year round, in waste places by the roadsides, and as a garden weed. ”

“ Wash and dry two heads of chicory salad, slice fine, and fry in a casserole in three ounces of butter. Then add one and one-half ounces of flour, three pints of veal or beef broth, and one bouquet garni; and boil for an hour. Remove the bouquet, and strain the rest through a fine sieve. Put back in the vessel, season to taste with salt and Cayenne pepper, and when nearly boiling add the yolks of two eggs beaten with one cup of cream. Before serving add one lightly-poached egg to each person. ”

“ The Latins called it cicer, which is the origin of all the modern names in the south of Europe. The name exists also among the Albanians, descendants of the Pelasgians, under the form kikere.1621 The existence of such widely different names shows that the plant was very early known, and perhaps indigenous, in the south-east of Europe.
The chick-pea has not been found in the lake-dwellings of Switzerland, Savoy, and Italy. In the first-named locality its absence is not singular; the climate is not hot enough. ”

“ These, in addition to the flowers they had just picked, now comprised many other natives of the wood and hedgerow, such as the purple bugloss, the yellow iris, the star thistle, the common mallow; and, a convolvulus which was brilliantly pink, in contrast to his white brother before-mentioned. Besides these, Nellie had also gathered some sprays of the “toad flax” and “blue succory,” a relative of the “endive” tribe, which produces the chicory-root so much consumed in England, as in France, as a “substitute” for coffee. ”

“ The first part of this story is found also in a Tuscan version given by Corazzini in his Componimenti minori, p. 412, "Il Cecio" ("The Chick-pea") . The chick-pea is swallowed by a cock, that is eaten by a pig, that is killed by a calf, that is killed and cooked by an innkeeper's wife for her sick daughter, who recovers, and is given in marriage to the owner of the chick-pea.
The sexton's doubt as to how he shall invest the money he has found is a frequent trait in Italian stories, and is found in several mentioned in this chapter. See notes in Papanti, Nov. pop. livor. p. 29. ”

“ The chick-pea is the only grain in which no insect will breed while in the granary. Some persons place upon the heaps of the leguminous grains pitchers full of vinegar and coated with pitch, a stratum of ashes being laid beneath ”

“ In the spring one may notice early in the morning a bed of chickory in bloom; it is a clear, exquisite blue; by ten o’clock the blue will be very pale, by twelve the flowers are white, by one they are all folded up, to open the next day as richly blue as ever. The sun plays such tricks on blue cotton cloth. When it is exposed to the sun the blue vanishes, and when the cloth has been put away in the darkness the fled color returns. Other flowers besides chickory grow pale with the excess of light, just as some grow pale from darkness. ”

“ A great part are decayed on the ground, and the sound ones are more palatable than before. The note of the chickadee sounds now more distinct, as you wander amid the old trees, and the autumnal dandelion is half-closed and tearful. But still, if you are a skilful gleaner, you may get many a pocket-full even of grafted fruit, long after apples are supposed to be gone out-of-doors. ”

“ No chicken, one no longer young. [A.S. cicen; cf. Dut. kieken, Ger. küchlein.]
Chick-pea, chik′-pē, n. a dwarf species of pea cultivated for food in the south of Europe and other places. [Fr. chiche—L. cicer, and Pea.]
Chicory, Chiccory, chik′o-ri, n. a plant whose long carrot-like root is ground to adulterate coffee.—Also Suc′cory. [Fr. chicorée—L. cichorium, succory—Gr. kichōrion.]
Chide, chīd, v.t. to scold, rebuke, reprove by words: to be noisy about, as the sea.—v.i. to make a snarling, murmuring sound, as a dog or trumpet:—pr.p. chid′ing; pa.t. chid, (obs.) ”

“ Roasted cereals and chicory are used extensively to adulterate ground coffee. Chicory is prepared from the root of the chicory plant, which belongs to the same family as the dandelion. It is claimed by some that a small amount of chicory improves the flavor of coffee. However, when chicory is added to coffee, it should be so stated on the label and the amount used given. The dextrine and sugar used in glazing are browned or caramelized during roasting and impart a darker color to the infusion, making it appear better than it really is. ”

“ Fill up the trench as the plants grow, to within a few inches of the tip leaves, in order to bleach out white. Set up boards against the rows to exclude light, or cover in the easiest way. For winter keeping, take up plants with roots and place on damp soil in boxes in a cool, dark cellar.
Chicory Witloof—or French Endive.
Often seventy-five cents a pound in the market, but easily grown by the amateur. Seed is sold under name of Witloof chicory, and should be sown in open ground, during May or June, in rows a foot apart. Allow to grow until November, cultivating and keeping moist. ”

“ We are disappointed at the poverty of our dessert in this region of fruitfulness—a few bad oranges, some miserable cherries, and that abomination the green almond. We observe, for the first time, to-day folks eating in the streets the crude contents of a little oval pod, which contains one or two very large peas, twice the size of any others. These are the true cicer, the proper Italian pea. Little bundles of them are tied up for sale at all the fruit stalls, and men are seen all the day long eating these raw peas, and offering them to each other as sugar-plums. ”

“ The roasted root is emptied into iron vessels, and, after cooling, is crushed in vertical stone mills, or between iron cylinders.
The dried roots cut are roasted in this country like coffee. The loss during roasting is from 25 to 30 per cent. The roasters generally introduce into the roasting machine about 2 lbs. of lard for every cwt. of chicory. Some say this is to give the chicory a better face, others state that it renders the powder less hygrometric. Inferior kinds of chicory are alleged to be coloured with Venetian red. ”

“ The pretty little twin flower, or ground vine, as it is sometimes called, has a pair of scales growing about its seed pod, and these scales are covered with sticky hairs.
The soft little mouse-ear chickweed, that grows everywhere in waste places, has several species which are covered all over with fine hairs which have a sticky tip. When the plant withers, it is easily pulled from the ground, and as it remains sticky, even after withering, the whole plant is often carried away by passing animals or people, and its seeds shed in some distant place. ”

“ These onions are well deserving of attention both as objects of curiosity, from producing their bulb at the upper extremity of the stalk, and also for their use. When pickled, they are generally thought superior in flavour to the common onion.
They were originally imported from Canada; are perennial, and are propagated by planting the bulbs in the spring or autumn. Either the bulbs of the root or those on the stalk will grow.
103. CHIVES (Allium schœnoprasum) are the smallest of the garlic tribe, seldom rising more than a few inches above the ground, and the bulbs not being larger than peas. ”

“ The Chickweed and some other of our annual weeds show a hardy disregard of climate. Its seeds germinate and grow at any time, so that flowers and seeds can be formed whenever there is a spell of favourable weather. Now one chickweed can produce 3000 seeds. Suppose that there are only five generations in the year, which is a very low estimate. Then one seed of chickweed might produce 3000 × 3000 × 3000 × 3000 individuals in one season!
Other plants show much the same tendency. In fine warm autumns a great many annuals bloom a second time. ”

“ In Murray’s Handbook, the traveller is informed that “much chicory is cultivated in this district;” and this is one of the roots for the growth of which the soil is specially adapted. The culture was in former years more extensive than at present; but there are still five or six thousand acres devoted to the raising of this crop. The yield in dried chicory from this extent of land is from twenty to thirty millions of pounds. It is largely exported to England and America through Hamburg—that which we receive from this port being chiefly from the Magdeburg chicory manufactories. ”

“ Across the "peach orchard" a cardinal, like a swiftly hurled firebrand, comes toward us and utters his clear metallic Chip, then alighting among some wild grape vines, plays several variations on his clear, ringing flute. From an elm tree, an oriole answers his bold challenge in his rich voice, while a band of chickadees indulge in their querulous calls as they inspect each leaf and twig for larva and eggs. Up in a linden tree, a blue jay is crying "Salute me, salute me." ”

“ A chickadee would fly into the dooryard after a hemp-seed, then fly to a small twig, and, holding the seed between its toes, hammer away until the meat was threshed out. Some of the old birds would carry away as many as four seeds. These birds let their brains save their wings. When a bird carried away four seeds, three were usually placed in the rough bark of a limb until wanted. I fed the chickadees, and a dozen or more were soon busy taking seed from the dooryard. ”

“ Endive is a species of chicory salad, originally imported from France. Cut in two lengthwise and lay on platter or individual plates. Serve with a sauce of salt, pepper, and one-fourth tarragon vinegar to three-fourths olive oil. Sprinkle with chopped chervil.
Chicken hash, Victor. Take the white meat of a boiled chicken or soup hen and cut in half inch squares, and half as much fresh-boiled potatoes cut the same way. Chop six shallots very fine and simmer in four ounces of sweet butter, but do not let them become colored. Add the chicken and potatoes, and cover with clear chicken broth. ”

“ Vegetation of various sorts made up a little less than a quarter of the food; but two thirds of this consisted of buds and bud scales that were accidentally introduced along with plant-lice eggs. These eggs made up more than one fifth of the entire food, and formed the most remarkable element of the bill of fare. The destruction of these eggs of plant lice is probably the most important service which the chickadee renders during its winter residence. ”

“ Chickadee wears well. He is not in the least a creature of moods. You step out of your door some bright morning, and there he is among the shrubs, flitting from twig to twig; now hanging head down from the very tip to look into a terminal bud; now winding upward about a branch, looking industriously into every bud and crevice. An insect must hide well to escape those bright eyes. He is helping you raise your plants. He looks up brightly as you approach, hops fearlessly down and looks at you with frank, innocent eyes. ”

“ The Chickweed is termed Alsine—quia lucos, vel alsous amat— because it loves to grow in shady places This small herb abounds with the earthy salts of potash, which are admirable against scurvy when thus found in nature's laboratory, and a continued deprivation from which always proves disastrous to mankind. "The water of Chickweed," says an old writer, "is given to children for their fits, and its juice is used for their gripes." When boiled, the plant may be eaten instead of Spinach. Its fresh juice if rubbed on warts, first pared to the quick, will presently cause them to fall off. ”

“ ENDIVE is an herb that is used as a salad plant or is cooked and served with a hot dressing or as greens. The three common varieties of this green are escarole, chicory, and French endive, all of which have a slightly bitter taste and may be found in the market from late summer until early winter. Escarole is a broad-leaved variety that is grown more or less in a head. ”