GOOD FOOD FROM THE GARDEN^. 79 



Progress in both these arts is shown by the very general inter 

 est in cookery displayed by various agricultural organizations. 

 They are recognizing that the quality of food product is not 

 assured when it leaves the hands of the farmer, and that quite as 

 much depends upon its preparation for the table as upon its cul- 

 tivation. 



Among the topics discussed recently by the grangers have been 

 such as '' The Garden of the Farmer versus the Fork Barrel."' 

 Another worth considering would be " The Home Garden versus 

 Patent Medicine." 



A census of Xew England today would fail to show a very 

 general knowledge of the almost infinite variety of vegetables 

 which might be cultivated within its borders. 



It has been said that vegetables, to the early settlers of Xew 

 England, meant only potatoes and beans and corn, with a boiled 

 dinner now and then. That was a slight advance upon the habits 

 of the Indians, bu.t to their instruction we are indebted for much 

 of our knowledge of corn and beans. 



This ignorance of valuable foods is the result of habit and the 

 inertia which makes it hard to enter new paths. The reason 

 often given is that people generally do not like vegetables; per- 

 haps it would be nearer the trutli to say that we do not know 

 how to cook them so that they will be palatable. 



Not only have we failed to learn how to use new vegetables, 

 but have nearly lost the art of making some of the standard dishes 

 of the past. The increased facilities for obtaining meat from the 

 West, and the cheapness of canned foods packed in California and 

 the South, have rendered it unnecessary for us to exercise our inge- 

 nuity to prepare a variety of palatable dishes from the scanty 

 store of products available to our ancestors. From the corn they 

 prepared hasty pudding, hulled corn, brown bread, boiled and 

 baked puddings, and succotash with the bean, which also furnished 

 tlie bean porridge and filled the bean-pot, to be baked till tender 

 and savory. Sauerkraut found a foothold in some sections of Xew 

 England with early German settlers and remains until this day, 

 and pickles of all sorts and kinds have always flourished. As a 

 whole New Englanders have not taken kindly to soups and 

 salads, and have yet to learn the possibilities of vegetables in 

 these directions. 



The early New England housekeepers achieved wonders with 



