PREFACE. V 



even animals have been forced to develop 

 to excess the parts most suitable for 

 human food, at the expense of those the 

 least valuable. Thus the apple and peach, 

 which in their original wild state aimed 

 only to produce their seed, have by art been 

 made to surround that seed with a mass 

 of pulp, which is made greater in quantity, 

 and more luscious in flavor, according to 

 the treatment we bestow upon the trees. 

 Asparagus, in its natural state a sea-side 

 grass, spindling in size and useless for 

 food, has when transplanted into the gar- 

 den and carefully cultivated been made 

 to produce thick, tender, succulent stalks, 

 and is now one of our most delicious 

 vegetables. So with celery. In its wild 

 state, in which it is found in ditches 

 throughout Europe, it is rank, coarse, and 



