Vegetables 



263 



The Vegetable Marrow (Cucurbita ovifera) is closely allied to the cucumber, and is 

 supposed to have been originally brought from Persia. Like the cucumber it is a tender 

 annual, but succeeds out of doors in summer in this country. 



Many other members of the cucumber family are cultivated as esculents, notably in the 

 warmer parts of the world. Of these the chief are Pumpkins, Melon Pumpkin, Water 

 Melon, Chocho, Bottle Gourd, Squash. 



Asparagus (A. officinalis), a native of maritime parts of south-west England, is abundant 

 in parts of Russia and Poland. It is also common in Greece and was esteemed as a vegetable 

 by the Greeks and Romans by whom it was cultivated about 200 B.C. In this country 

 asparagus is reckoned among the oldest and most delicate of our culinary vegetables. Forced 

 asparagus was supplied to the London market as long ago as 1670. 



Capsicums or Chillies (Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens) are widely cultivated in .the 

 warmer parts of both hemispheres. The fruits vary considerably in shape and size, and when 

 green are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. 



Carrot (Daucus Carota), a biennial, native of Britain, is usually found in its wild state m 

 light, sandy soil. It was introduced into England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and 

 first cultivated in the neighbourhood of Sandwich, Kent. 



Parsnips, the roots of Peucedanum sativum, a biennial,, is a native of marshy places in 

 Britain and elsewhere. The parsnip is closeiy allied to the carrot, and has been cultivated as 

 an esculent from a very early period. 



Celery. Allied to the carrot and parsnip is the widely different-looking vegetable, celery 

 (Apium graveolens). In a wild 

 state the celery is found in 

 the marshy places by the sea 

 in England and Ireland. The 

 blanched stalks are eaten as a 

 vegetable. 



FRUITS 



Our annual import of raw fruits 

 and nuts is an increasing one, 

 and the average for the last 

 ten years is estimated at 

 £8,267,346 value annually. 

 Canada, Australasia, West and 

 East Indies, and latterly Cape 

 Colony grow quantities of fruit 

 for export to the United King- 

 dom. But the continent of 

 Europe, the near Orient, and 

 the United States of America 

 supply the bulk of our imports. 

 Since the advent of cold storage 

 the importation of fresh fruits 

 from distant parts of the world 

 has become simplified. Nowa- 

 days many steamship and 

 railway lines cater especially 



Ey permission of Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading 

 THE MELON 



