1870.] COVENT GARDEN MARKET IN APRIL. 247 



to be seen, thus doing credit to their name, which is too seldom the case with 

 that variety grown in the north of England. Wretched foreign Pines, plentiful 

 enough ; English Queens, small and badly swelled ; Smooth Cayennes put in a 

 good appearance ; Lady Downes Grapes, which seemed, however, the last wreck 

 of bunches gathered together in baskets to keep each other in countenance. Alas 

 for the foreign Grapes ! No wonder the West-Euders cannot eat them ; to witness 

 the resurrection of those bunches out of barrels of sawdust, and the clipping and 

 blowing and sputtering necessary to make them presentable, is enough to cure 

 any appetite for foreign Grapes. Fortunately, our foreign bonne louche, the Or- 

 ange, has to be divested of its skin before being eaten ; not so the Grape. For 

 this very reason alone, the foreign Grape, unlike any other imported fruit, cannot 

 become a favourite with the wealthy. Home-grown Grapes must always hold 

 their own place. Apples consist of nice little Russets at six for Is. ; Keen's seed- 

 ling Strawberries, not large, at Is. per oz. 



What do our northern friends think is the staple vegetable at present in the 

 London market ? why, Turnip-tops, said to be very nice ; but the craving for 

 Greens at this spring-time must be strong to induce so large a consumption : they 

 are heaped up at the stalls in cart-loads, wizened and smoky, especially at the east 

 end. Fine white heads of Broccoli come more prominently forward westward : 

 nice firm heads, the size of a man's fist, can be bought for 3d. in Whitechapel ; 

 further west, the quality and price increase, and yet are plentiful. The leaves 

 are cut off round by the margin of the flower, which, although objectionable from 

 exposing it to dirt, yet makes the flower show itself better. Fine Kidney 

 Beans are to be had by those who like to pay for them. Mushrooms, French, 

 plentiful and cheap. Peas, to judge from their bruises, have come from far ; 

 ditto Globe Artichokes at 6d. each. Long Surrey Carrots, as usual, are fine, clean, 

 and tempting, tied in bunches, with a few Birch or Hazel twigs among the tops 

 to keep them together. On asking a dealer where these fine Carrots were grown, 

 he could not tell, but thought they came across London Bridge : many more good 

 things come out of that quarter as well Oranges and Carrots, we soliloquised. 

 Punnets of Seakale of six or eight heads, laid side by side on moss in round chip 

 baskets. Salads are on the whole abundant ; long young Cucumbers, Turnip 

 Radishes, Mustard and Cress, green and brown Water Creases, forced Chicory, 

 Endives beautifully green on the outside, inside fine creamy white, crisp 

 and firm, the perfection of an Endive— Cos Lettuces, shall we call them French ? 

 we did not inquire. Here let us throw in our evidence in favour of the cloche 

 or bell-glass ; we have satisfied ourselves that with its use French Salads can be 

 grown in England, and we shall pay no attention to any assertion to the contrary 

 in future; but we must have these "blisters" of glass at a payable rate. Woe 

 betide the teeth which chew those sticks of Asparagus, white to the tips, stringy 

 as whalebone, a foot long and thick as a man's thumb ! They are just the thing 

 to feed the first live gorilla which comes to the Zoological Gardens. M. Du 

 Chaillu tells us that Mr Gorilla feeds on the ribs of the leaves of the Pine-Apple, 

 which are tough enough, although a specimen in the British Museum is absorbed 

 in contemplation of a ripe fruit made of gilt plaster, as if he preferred it to the 

 leaves. 



The trade in cut-flowers and flowering-plants does not seem pushed to the same 

 extent as it is in Paris. There is no flower-market in London to compare with 

 that at the Madeleine, or what we have seen at the bridge near Notre Dame. 

 Covent Garden, in its way, is the only place we know approaching either. The 

 high prices asked would indicate that there was room for further supplies, or a 

 more eligible and comeatable market is desirable, say near Hyde Park Corner or 



