Chap. V. POT-HERBS. 315 



were thin fown, two hoeings. Moft of them grew to four and 

 four inches and an half in diameter. 



M. Duhamel concludes his account of this culture of pot- 

 herbs, with the following extraft of a letter from a gentleman near 

 Lyons. 



" My pot-herbs in beds are the admiration of all who fee them. 

 ** My colliflowers were very fine, and on the fifth of July (1755) 

 *' run up to feed, and in all probability will produce a great deal j 

 *' whicli was never known before in this country *. I have cab- 

 " bages which, I dare fay, will weigh upwards of 45 pounds. I 

 " had fome laft year which weighed 35 pounds, but the ground 

 ** was not fo well cultivated then, as it is now, nor were they fo 

 ** early. They have fuffered nothing from the drought} but, oil 

 *• the contrary, the warmer the weather has been, the finer they 

 ** have grown. They have not been watered at all : nor have my 

 *' carrots, which are now a foot in circumference: and I have 

 *' cabbage lettices which weigh five pounds. One great advantage 

 " which I find in the new hufbandry, is that plants are preferved 

 ** from the danger of too much rain,, or too great drought. The 

 ** earth, when well cultivated, is always in a moift ftate. The 

 *' more I reliedt on this new method of culture, the more I admire 

 *' it. None but thofe who are thorough judges of agriculture, 

 ** can fofefee the immenfe advantages that will hereafter attend 

 «' it." ,' 



The great ufe that may be made of fome of the plants treated of 

 in this chapter, for the food of cattle, feems to have efcaped M. 

 Duhamel's attention. As their fize, and confequently their quantity, 

 is capable of being prodigioufly increafed by means of the new 

 hufbandry, this confideration is the more important. We fliall 

 therefore endeavour to fupply our author's deficiency in this re- 



S f 2 fpedl, 



* The colllflower, as Mr. Miiler obferves, has been much more improved in Eng- 

 land, than in any other part of Europe. In France, they rarely have colliflowers till 

 Michaelmas ; and Holland is generally fupplied with them from England. In many 

 parts of Germany, there was none of them cultivated till within a few years part; and 

 moft parts of Europe are fupplied with feeds from hence. This plant was firtt brought 

 to England from the ifland of Cyprus, where it is faid to be in great perfcclion at pre- 

 fent; tho' it is fuppofed to have been originally brought thither from fome other coun- 

 try. It was not brought to any degree of perfection in England, till about 1680, at 

 leaft not to be fold in the markets; and fince the year 1700, they have been fo much 

 improved in England, that (uch of them as before were greatly admired, would at pre- 

 fent be little regarded. 



