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different qualities. Some of the roguish farmers mix more or less of the three last sort with the first; and it requires a complete knowledge of the colour, taste, and smell of the ashes, to be able to detect their knavery.
Barilla is sown fresh every year; its greatest height above ground is four inches; each root pushes out a vast number of little stalks, which again are subdivided into smaller sprigs, resembling samphire[1]; and altogether form a large, spreading, tufted bush. The colour is bright green. As the plant advances to maturity, this colour vanishes away, till it comes at last to be a dull green, tinged with brown.
- ↑ Samphire, or St Peter's Herb, a plant which generally grows upon rocky cliffs in the sea. It is usually pickled, and eaten for a dainty dish.
