INTRODUCTIOX. xv 



wherc, that it is not surprising that growers do not even know 

 liow to begin. No doubt many still suppose that tlie tender 

 Lettuces sent in such abundance to our markets in winter and 

 s])ring come from some paradise in tlie soutli ; tliese all the while 

 being the result, in a harsh northern clime, of the most skilful culti- 

 vation I have ever seen adapted to the growth of a vegetable. 



The French are also far before us in the culture and use of 

 Asparagus, pursuing a system quite distinct from ours and growing- 

 it so abundantly that for many weeks in spring it is an article of 

 popular consumption. Some among us affect to ridicule French 

 Asparagus in consequence of its being blanched nearly to the 

 top of the shoot ; but to avoid this imperfection, if it be one, the 

 grower has merely to adopt the superior mode of culture pursued 

 by the French, but without blanching the shoot. But real 

 students of Asparagus who have had much experience of its 

 use both in France and England, and in its best state in both 

 countries, will probably agree that he has but a very one-sided 

 knowledge of Asparagus who prefers to eat it green. The ex- 

 perience of persons who abuse French Asparagus is frequently 

 limited to samj)les that may have been cut in France a fortnight 

 before they reach the table in England, having passed the inter- 

 mediate time in travelling and losing quality in market or shop. 

 However, nobody will deny that it ought to be more abundantly 

 and better grown in this country. Parisian Mushroom-culture 

 is interesting and curious in a degree of which few have any 

 conception, as will be seen by a perusal of the chapter devoted 

 to it. The sketches and plan that illustrate it will help the 

 reader to obtain a fair idea of places that have been seen by 

 very few people beyond the cultivators. 



Among my own I have given illustrations from trustworthy 

 French sources, such as Dubreuil's ' Arbrcs Fruitiers,' Decaisne 

 and Naudin's ' Manuel de I'Amateur des Jardins ; ' from the col- 

 lections of engravings belonging to Messrs. Vilmorin, Messrs. 

 Hachette, from Mangin's 'Les Jardins,' the 'Revue Horticole,' 

 and ' La Culture du Chasselas,' but these, as a rule, only when 

 they were as useful in their way as if made specially for the 

 book. Such illustrations have been used for the most part in 

 discussing modes of culture at once good and different from those 

 employed by us, and which have naturally been treated of by 



